#WFH Diaries: Jivan Davé of FerebeeLane
As much of the world remains largely in isolation due to the coronavirus, we're catching up with creative people to see how they're doing. Below, we chat with Jivan Davé, an associate creative director at South Carolina-based comms shop FerebeeLane.
Give us a one-line bio of yourself.
I'm Jivan Davé, an associate creative director at FerebeeLane, with a love for pasta and hip-hop only exceeded by a love for my family.
Where are you living right now, and who's with you?
I'm at my home in Greenville, S.C., with my wife (a red-headed, half-Cuban copywriter) and our two (soon to be three!) boys, ages 2 and 4.
What's your work situation like at the moment?
I'm definitely in the camp of loving to go to work—a separate place from my home where I can really get into work mode. Then, I can leave it there and come back to my home life. Now that everything is happening under one roof, it's definitely been an adjustment.
Thankfully, our agency's workload hasn't slowed much since the start of social distancing, so the challenge has been finding the best way to keep up the same high level of productivity in a space where I naturally want to disconnect. Currently, I'm holed up in our master bedroom working “normal” office hours to keep some sense of a routine. Some days I'm able to keep my head in something hands-on and design-related, while other days I've got video calls scheduled every hour, giving feedback and direction to our creative team.
Describe your socializing strategy.
Slowly but surely meeting all our neighbors (from six feet away!) while walking.
How are you dealing with childcare, if applicable?
After our second son was born, my wife, Kathryn, started staying at home and freelance writing for advertising and editorial. So, she's able to continue investing her full attention in our boys during the day, which I'm grateful for. At the same time, her dedicated freelance time has been taken away with school being out. I'm trying to be intentional with my time in and around the “work day” to help balance things so she can have time to focus on her writing.
What are you reading?
A couple of my friends curate an incredible email newsletter, Garden Variety, which is my weekly joy bomb packed full of interesting reads. Subscribe!
What are you watching?
New Girl! We had seen episodes here and there when it was aired, but have recently started it from the beginning. 10/10. Would recommend it during this time if you need some good belly laughs while eating chips in bed.
What are you listening to?
Playlist making is sort of a hobby of mine. I'm always trying to find the perfect vibe for the current season or an upcoming dinner party. But since there's no dinner parties in the near future, my current playlist is called “Staycation,” which is made up of light, spring tunes that sound like you're anywhere but home. Mostly like you're wearing a lot of linen and drinking an Aperol spritz on Lake Como (but that's just me).
How are you staying fit?
Running. A lot. My goal at the beginning of this year was to run my first half marathon in October, so I'm taking this opportunity to train and increase my mileage.
Have you taken up a hobby?
Can being outside in the sunshine be a hobby?
Any tips for getting necessities?
Find a local wine shop that's doing curbside pickup. One that throws in toilet paper (and Ramen Noodles?) with bottles isn't bad either.
An awkward moment since all this started.
Hoping none of our clients have heard any bathroom words being yelled from behind the door during video calls.
Best work email you got since all this started.
My coworker shared a video of what his 3-year-old daughter is doing to pass the time—drifting her tricycle into their driveway at high speeds—and it's everything. She puts Ken Block to shame.
An aha! moment since all this started.
What's been really enlightening, and convincing, is how much of a better, more engaged parent I've been since starting WFH. Recently, pre-pandemic, I felt like work was taking the front seat in my life, but being at home so much has been a gracious forced reset. Injecting work into my home environment has helped balance and bring health to my priorities, where I'm still working hard, but my family is getting all of me. What a surprising gift during such a challenging time.
What's your theory on how this is going to play out?
I'd like to believe that this pandemic has served as a hard reset for our world, like it has been for my own life—allowing us to realign our priorities and reexamine the sustainability of parts of our lives and work. No one would ever wish this to be the way that happens, but I think that good is revealed in all things at the intended time.
