Atelier Doré is…Veronica!
6 years ago by
Veronica McCarthy, Managing Editor
Where are you from?
Los Angeles, California.
Do you have a nickname?
Yes, all of them. Vero, Vern, Ronnie, Ron, Veroni, V. Basically the only person who calls me Veronica is my mother. She is the one who named me so she’s partial to the full thing.
What’s your sign?
Scorpio and way too proud of it.
Describe yourself in 3 words.
Will (probably) die laughing.
Describe what you do at Atelier Doré in one sentence.
Words! All the words! Pia, Vanessa, and Tori handle visuals and then they just yell out “WORDS! BRING IN THE WORDS!” And then I click clack away on my computer with white noise streaming through my headphones so I don’t start typing the conversation I’m hearing two desks over. That is definitely not one sentence but it is a lot words! Can’t stop, won’t stop with the words!
Ideal weekend includes…
Unlimited funds to do whatever the hell I want.
Favorite cocktail?
Very much depends on my mood, but I drink my martinis up with twist.
Do you have a secret talent?
I do not. But on that note, can someone please help me locate the Oscar Wilde quote that goes something like, “the worst thing one can do is be good at more than one thing.” Unless I’m misremembering things and I just brilliantly penned that. In which case please put it on my epitaph.
Craziest thing you’ve ever done?
When I was twenty-three I bought a one way ticket to Amsterdam and swapped apartments with a complete stranger on Craigslist so I could be alone and write abroad for four months.
Describe your style in 3 words:
Afraid of color.
Favorite place you’ve ever been?
My bed on a Sunday morning.
Advice to your teenage self?
Don’t be afraid to be funny and take up space.
One thing you can’t live without?
A sense of humor.
Love this! Best one I’ve read yet of the team! Even though they are all amazing :)
Veronica I would love for you to write a story about your Amsterdam experience and the idea of doing something like you did! Like where you fixed on Amsterdam or did you had any other cities in mind as well? And how did you come up with the idea of spending four months alone in another city to write? Were you that alone in the end or did you make tons of friends and had a completely other life there than you had originally planned on/imagined? Were you productive in your writing? At what stage or in which phase of your studies and professionnal (and/or private because they do influence each other) were you at that time to decide to do this? etc. etc.
I have been living my life a little bit like this the last years, managing through my will of movement and world discovery internships and studies abroad (6 months in Barcelona, where I was (against all thoughts people have when I tell them) a loooot alone -but because I wanted it-, then 3 months in the most special city in the world..Venice – where I thought I would be alone and productive again as in BCN, and ended up with tons of friends and a crazy social life with bearly enough sleep. And on sunday I am heading for another 6 months to…Amsterdam! So this time I don’t plan on anything and will see what life has in storage for me..!
Hope you will find my post idea inspiring,
xx Jordane
PS: Why afraid of colours?? They are so happy and full of life and laughter!
Hi Jordane! Thank you so much for your thoughtful inquiry. I’ll definitely have to mull on how I could talk more about my time in Amsterdam. For the time being I’ll say it was an impulsive decision based on where I was emotionally in my life (not in a great place). I always say Amsterdam forgave me and subsequently healed me. And I was completely alone! I made zero friends — minus a few late nights at a cafe ;) — and only one friend from the states visited me for a week while I was there. The alone time created the turning point in my life — I became bold enough to say I wanted to be a writer and dumb enough to pursue it :) It marked the end of my bartending years, and the beginning of me taking my writing seriously (so at the very beginning of career!). Your travels and experience sound amaazing! Traveling alone is one of the healthiest things anyone can do. And one day I will incorporate colors again! One day! Just not today xoxo