What did I miss?
After sharing her own mini-pep talk with us (above) Saori told us a little about the inspiration behind her words of wisdom and how it related to her personal career journey. We then posed some of the many questions sent in by readers to Saori, including:

• How to find and create opportunities (10:50)
• Finding the confidence to apply for opportunities (20:14)
• Advice on networking (25:11)
• Portfolios tips (42:22)
• What it’s like to work at Google Creative Lab (34:49)

What is Pep Talk?
Pep Talk is an event to share relatable, easy-to-process tips in conversation with inspiring creatives. Each event will start with a ‘pep talk’, where a chosen creative gets to share their ultimate advice for anyone who might be feeling a bit stuck, before answering questions submitted by you, our readers.

About Saori Masuda
Starting out, Saori never expected to be working at Google. After graduating from Chelsea College of Art’s Graphic Design BA in 2014, she spent the next year and a half interning for the likes of Protein, Rose Design and Studio Moross, before accepting a full-time position as a creative designer at a major fashion label.

Eight months later, Saori found herself on the receiving end of an email from someone at Google Creative Lab, who was impressed by the breadth of work in her online portfolio. Despite initially thinking the email was spam, Saori went on to join the Lab as part of the much sought-after Google Five programme, and is now in her third year as a designer on the team.