TIME AWAY WITH PURPOSE
I work with Ilyssa Kyu to build Amble, a sabbatical program for creative professionals to take time away with purpose. It’s designed to reduce workplace burnout and help folks recharge their minds and revitalize their creativity, all while bringing good design and creative talent into under-resourced-yet-essential environmental organizations. Ilyssa founded the company in 2018, and since January 2019 I’ve been collaborating with her to grow the program into a sustainable business venture.
Creative professionals are increasingly burning out and employers are losing good talent.
Not everybody has the ability or interest in dropping everything to quit their job and backpack around Asia for 3-months. Some of us even love our jobs but just need some time away.
Amble provides one-month sabbaticals in beautiful places across the USA. We partner with nonprofits, conservancies and small towns to provide unique opportunities and affordable lodging to top-notch creative professionals in exchange for their skills and expertise.
PRESS ON AMBLE
Anyone who has ever taken a walk in the woods knows the rejuvenating effects of the great outdoors. Amble believes that re-envisioning nature as an optimal work venue is one key element of its long-term success — and that of its participants.
~ The New York Times
One study showed that 87 percent of sabbatical-takers surveyed said they had “increased job confidence” after their leave, and a third said the sabbatical allowed them to stay in their job longer than they’d originally planned. A sabbatical can also be a good time for a company to “stress test” its organizational chart.
~ Smithsonian Magazine
If you’re a weary creative—a visual designer or illustrator, product designer, e-commerce and marketing expert, content strategist, photographer, digital project manager, or a maker of any kind – Amble wants to whisk you away to Montana for some R&R
~ Lonely Planet
Suffering from creative burnout? Crowd-funded start-up Amble is helping artists find inspiration with intimate month-long retreats that pair participants with National Park Service projects.
~ Travel Noire
After talking with executive directors from participating conservancies about their experiences collaborating with participating designers, the impact of design has never been more clear: the world would be better if we were to liberate the principles and practices of quality design from designers in the tech world and bring them outward to the people, organizations, and communities who need them most.
~ Me, writing for InVision