Today we’d like to introduce you to Jennifer May Nickel.
Hi Jennifer May, we’re thrilled to have a chance to learn your story today. So, before we get into specifics, maybe you can briefly walk us through how you got to where you are today?
I started out as a Theatre kid who always thought that I would go into acting and directing. During undergrad, one of my professors saw my clothing sketches on the sides of my notebook pages and encouraged me to try out costume designing one of our department’s upcoming shows.
I quickly realized I was much happier staying up all night designing and sewing than I was when trying to learn lines for acting class. Turned out I was actually good at costume designing too, so again, my professors encouraged me to apply to grad school to continue my education. I was very lucky to get accepted to Carnegie Mellon University and earned my Master’s Degree in Costume Design there. Immediately after graduation, my husband and I packed our cars up with whatever would fit in them and moved out here to LA. Thanks to Carnegie Mellon’s Alumni connections, I was able to start finding little jobs out here during the recession and writer’s strike, that then led to a great solid foundation of a career that I’m constantly working to build upon.
I’m sure you wouldn’t say it’s been obstacle free, but so far would you say the journey have been a fairly smooth road?
Well, moving out here during the writer’s strike and recession was certainly not easy. Especially when you have student loans to start paying, but it definitely helped me to understand how this town can be very “feast or famine” and how to prepare for the worst, but always hope for the best. It certainly gave me a good, stable mindset for going into covid and knowing what that lack of work would mean and how to prepare for that.
Appreciate you sharing that. What else should we know about what you do?
I’m a Costume Designer for Film, Television and commercials, but I mostly design for TV. I enjoy designing custom-made, sci-fi/fantasy, and post-apocalyptic projects…as well as period projects, so, pretty much everything!
While I love all of the projects that I do, I am especially proud of designing “What Just Happened??!! With Fred Savage” on Fox as well as Containment (for the CW, but can now be found on Netflix). Both shows allowed me to flex my down-and-dirty post-apocalyptic design skills, and What Just Happened allowed me to flex every skill from week-to-week as it was a variety show. We did everything from custom-making 5 “Masked Singer” style costumes for a spoof to period pieces- like a wacky 1970’s late night show, high mystery sci-fi, and angsty teen drama. That show was a thrill ride because I got to design something new and completely different every week.
One comment I often receive is that when work gets stressful on any given project, people always gravitate towards my department- and me- for an escape, a hug, someone to brainstorm a solution with, etc. So I guess what sets me apart is that I’m often the calm in the storm. I work too hard to keep the environment low drama and try my best to roll with all the last-minute changes and additions that come with production. Our jobs aren’t easy by any means, but I’m very fortunate to be able to do what I love, and I try to surround myself with a team that feels the same way.
Before we let you go, we’ve got to ask if you have any advice for those who are just starting out?
I tend to be kind of shy, and one of those social introverts, so when I moved out here, I didn’t reach out to as many people as I should have, and I’ve always found it hard to stay in touch with people from production to production. But networking out here is truly the key to success. So my advice would be to try hard to set your shyness aside for the sake of your success. Reach out to people even if you are afraid to. And if you’re like me and have a hard time staying in touch with people, friends or follow everyone on social media, it’s the easiest way to stay in touch!
Contact Info:
- Website: http://jennifermaydesigns.com/
- Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/jennifermaydesigns/
