Nicole Beuerlein

By Zoë Eitel
In 2015, before graduating with a degree in graphic design, Nicole Beuerlein took over the @iamdepaul Instagram account that looks at DePaul through a different student’s eyes each week. Nicole highlighted her experiences utilizing DePaul’s resources to further her career and working on campus in the Office of Student Involvement.
“As the graphic designer on OSI’s Marketing Team, I was able to not only do what I love every day, but also connect with amazing people and the DePaul community,” she wrote in a caption.
Nicole was inspired to do the @iamdepaul takeover because she felt really grateful and lucky for the opportunities she had while in college and wanted to share her experiences with the community.
“I got really lucky and wanted to put the word out there that you should step outside of your comfort zone and do smart things and just take advantage of opportunities,” she says. “You’re paying a bunch of money to go to college, so you might as well take advantage of the opportunities because they can really change the direction of your life.”

Graphic Design and Marketing Manager at Weimann-Maclise Restaurants

BA Graphic Design 2015

One such opportunity was DePaul’s job fairs. Desperate for a summer gig, Nicole attended a fair and spoke to a social media and marketing representative from a company that handled large festivals like Riot Fest. They got her an interview with the company the same day. She learned during the interview that she was actually overqualified for the internship, but the interviewer put her in contact with a representative from Riot Fest, who then connected her with the festival’s graphic designer. This path of connections eventually led Nicole to an internship helping Riot Fest’s graphic designer.

“You’re paying a bunch of money to go to college, so you might as well take advantage of the opportunities because they can really change the direction of your life.”

Since then, Nicole has worked as a graphic designer for Walton Isaacson, the Seattle International Film Festival and currently for Weimann-Maclise Restaurants. Nicole also spent a few years freelancing while nannying full time, which she feels was important to do to open up more opportunities, including the one that got her her current job.
“It’s not like I’ve just been graphic designing since college. I’ve definitely had moments in my life where I’m like, ‘What am I doing?’ But it all happens for a reason,” Nicole says.
From the variety of companies she has designed for, Nicole learned that unpaid internships aren’t for her and that the hours can be unpredictable and stressful toward the end of a high pressure project, but she has also gotten the opportunity to see her work on the sides of buses and on billboards. Since she had never worked for a nonprofit before, the Seattle International Film Festival was a particularly cool organization to work for.
“It was nice meeting people and learning the ins and outs of the nonprofit and the stressors and the successes that come along with working for a nonprofit in cinema,” Nicole says. “In graphic design, we’re so lucky that so many people in all sectors of life need a graphic designer, so you can follow your passion and intersect that with graphic design.”
Through one connection Nicole made at a job fair, doors were opened to her that led to future opportunities—like her supervisor at Riot Fest connecting her to her next design role—that she wouldn’t have had otherwise. She says it’s important for students to put themselves in situations where they can meet people in their fields.
“The way we learn is through making friends and sharing stories and picking the brains of people you respect and admire,” Nicole says. “Just having one more person in your life is another whole set of doors that get open that otherwise wouldn’t.”