Welcome Catleah!

Formidable's strategic design team is growing quickly. Time to meet one of the newer members, Catleah Cunanan!

What brought you to Formidable?

The opportunity to help build and join a world-class design team. I've worked with the Creative Director and other Formidables in the past; the idea of working full-time "in-house" with this powerhouse team was too attractive to pass.

What are you most excited about now that you are here at Formidable?

Partnering with incredibly smart, kind, wickedly funny people to build work we can be proud of. The award that Formidable got for Best Small Places To Work isn't hyperbole, it truly is one of the best places I've ever worked. Culture, the clients, everything.

Catleah has a deep & fulfilling relationship with her dog

What are you currently doing to "level up" your skills?

I am a lifelong student, not just in design. Literally, I am always taking classes, usually on topics like design psychology, writing, and other creative verticals.

Paying attention helps. I look to people who have failed or succeeded greatly and listen to what they have to say. Learning is one of the most fulfilling things in life!

I like to get book recommendations and absorb what I can from our team members. Here's a great list of book recos (full disclosure—it comes from the podcast I help produce!): https://bookshop.org/shop/designer

What's your favorite part about working at Formidable? Maybe something people on the outside wouldn't know?

I'm sure lots of people say this, but I'm going to, because it is true. The people culture! Our Slack is a world of its own with many hamlets and so many colorful characters.

She draws inspiration from her bookshelf

Who or what inspires you and why?

It changes as I learn more or do deep dives into individuals, but people really inspire me. Others' creative lives. Currently I'm inspired by the works of Emily Dickinson. Brilliant, emotional, poetic obviously. She was fiercely independent as an artist, but stayed at her family home until her death. We share botanical interests. She couldn't or didn't want to publish openly, but that didn't stop her from creating a body of work so significant in the American landscape of intellectual and artistic feats that people are still optioning movies on her life story. Creative endeavors was a calling, a lifestyle for her, and I really feel that in my own work and life. She worked at it constantly and quietly, and she's still touching lives. That helps me keep going.

Catleah very much enjoys growing edible plants