#WFH Diaries: Jessi Blom of INVNT

As the Covid-19 pandemic gallops along, we’re checking in with creative people to see how they’re faring. Here’s an update from Jessi Blom, experiential art director at New York-based agency INVNT.

Give us a one-sentence bio of yourself.

I am an experiential art director, working in the live media and brand storytelling industry. I create brand experience environments across the world.

Where are you living right now, and who’s with you?

I live in the Swedish countryside, surrounded by nature, my amazing other half, and 2.5 kids ☺.

What’s your work situation like at the moment?

Since INVNT is global, and due to the nature of our business, we all have a healthy, passionate and flexible approach to our work, regardless of time zone or location. We have been pretty well equipped to be mobile and shift to “WFH” (or “WF the road”) when needed, and in times like these, it’s all being pressure tested!

Describe your socializing strategy.

Lots of phone time, lots of Zoom time. Sometimes just having colleagues chilling/working on the other end of a Zoom adds a bit of normality.

How are you dealing with childcare?

Currently, the kids are still in school every day, although at any sign of a sneeze or runny nose, and they stay home! The youngest has been home for two weeks, and she’s pretty happy running around in the garden and keeping herself entertained while we work.

What are you reading?

Recipe books.

What are you watching?

Avoiding all of the “recommended” old shows and movies that are creeping out of the woodwork on Netflix, like Contagion, Outbreak and The Walking Dead.

What are you listening to?

The “Epic Movie Scores” playlist on Spotify helps me stay focused and keeps the momentum up. There’s nothing like designing stuff to the sounds of Hans Zimmer and the like.

How are you staying fit?

TBD … Lots of snacking.

Have you taken up a hobby?

We are using our wooden outdoor hot tub a LOT these days—it’s our Friday night out. And gardening!

Any tips for getting necessities?

Ordering as much as possible online to avoid going to the store. We’re also getting creative with what we cook.

An awkward moment since all this started.

Being asked to turn my camera on when dialing into a call from my bed at 1 a.m.

Best work email you got since all this started.

The emails that warm my heart these days are the ones that come from caring and thoughtful colleagues who are just checking in. We have an incredible tribe of compassionate INVNTrs.

An aha! moment since all this started.

There are incredible moments every day, as I learn how what we do for our clients is immediately applicable in the virtual world.

What’s your theory on how this is going to play out?

I think this is teaching us not to take life for granted. As a whole, we have become very comfortable and seemingly (feel) indestructible. Our world is vulnerable, and so are we. We will emerge out of this with a shifted focus and approach to life.

See the full #WFH Diaries series here.