Tessa had spent seven years climbing the rungs at Vanguard Creative, a mid-sized marketing agency in Portland that punched well above its weight. She adored the work—the brainstorm frenzies, the campaign launches, the small thrill of watching a ho-hum product become a must-click headline because of something she’d dreamed up at 3 a.m.
Her portfolio glittered with regional awards, and clients requested her by name. She wasn’t just good at her job; she was alive in it, her coworkers joking that the neon ideas on her whiteboard practically hummed.