Career: Executive Creative Director
Location: NY
Who are your Freds?: Hank & Norman
New York City is synonymous with bustling activity. Yet the giant metropolis has a quiet charm of its own, and the discerning traveler will be delighted to discover peaceful, walkable neighborhoods full of children, pets, and aromatic flowers. For Brooklyn-based brand whisperer Sara Worthingon, the relaxed Carroll Gardens neighborhood is the perfect backdrop to create, dream, and chill with her supes adorbs rescue pups, Hank and Norman.
We reached out to Sara, Hank, and Norman for insights about a creative career, city living with pets, and what makes for a badass dog collar. Whether you’re an aspiring urbanite or a longtime city-dweller, the New York City vibe is contagious!
Fred: Let’s get into it! What’s your career like and how does your creativity motivate what you do?
Sara: “My career is very busy and constant. I oversee 3 brands and I have lots of creatives working under me. My job is to maintain a high level of creativity and effectiveness for the brands while making the process fun. At least, I do my best to make sure it’s fun, even though it gets stressful sometimes.
Most of my job involves solving problems with creative solutions as well as quickly thinking of visual and design solutions. Creativity is how I get paid.”
Fred: What inspires you aesthetically, especially when it comes to personal style?
Sara: “Omg so many things! I am all over design blogs. I absorb culture and seek it out. Also, there’s so much inspo in all things old/ retro/ tacky/ trashy. I also love extreme contrast, like really really girly or really dark and morbid.
Fred: Tell us a little bit about where you live: is it busy, vibrant, full of personality?
Sara: “I live in Carroll Gardens. It’s an adorable part of Brooklyn that’s very cute and full of families. It’s not the coooooolest and hippest, but it has a ton of trees and flowers and I love it.
In some sense, Carroll Gardens is one stop before the suburbs. Imagine classic brownstones like the opening credits of the Cosby Show with little gardens in front of each house. There are a lot of Italian restaurants and plenty of strollers. You can walk to cute shops and cafes and it’s really safe IMO.”
Fred: What’s your favorite chill-out activity?
Sara: “Laying on the couch and binge watching trash and murder.
When it comes to music and film, I’m all about dark wave, new wave, disco and ANYTHING John Waters.”
Fred: YES for John Waters! Tell us about your pups, Hank and Norman: how did you meet them and how do they fit in your family?
Sara: “My husband Ryan and I got them both from Badass BK Rescue. After attending an event, we were approved for adoption, and I saw Norman curled up in a ball on a puffer jacket on the floor. I immediately fell in love with him and took him home.
Later on, we wanted a bigger dog and reached out to Badass to see if they had a good fit. They wrote to us about a dog who needed a home. Of course, we brought Norman to the foster parent’s house to meet the pup and he was a big chonky white boy. Norman was a dick to him and he didn’t care and we took him right there.
Our dogs are our life. My husband and I are obsessed with them and we try to bring them on all our trips, outings, and even to work.”
Fred: These stories make me so happy. It looks like you love to travel, too. Been anywhere incredible lately?
Sara: “Mostly, I travel a lot for work. I had never been to Vancouver, so I visited recently. It was sooooo pretty and the nature was insane. We try to bring Hank and Norman whenever we can, even if we have to drive 15 hours with them!”
Fred: Love that. When it’s walk time, what makes for the most badass dog collar?
Sara: “I have a Just Fred collar for Hank and a body harness for Norman. They’re both great. It’s funny: I call the collars their necklaces, and I added a cute name tag to each.
Hank’s is a lemon that says Main Squeeze with our phone number on the back and Norman’s is a flower because he’s a brat and it softens him!
When it comes to going on walks, they’re hilarious. If we stop during a walk, Hank always lays down and rolls on his back and lays there in the middle of ANYWHERE and everyone loses their minds. He’s just an upside down blob of cuteness.”
Fred: Question for the dogs! What makes you wag your tail the hardest???
NORM: “Any toy at all literally. And balls especially.”
HANK: “Food. Any food. Especially croissants.”