Tess Needham

This post was originally published on October 22, 2022. After my talk at WordCamp US 2025, I updated and republished it.

In the interview process for Automattic, the hiring manager said to me, worried: “Tess, you understand this isn’t a creative role.”

She was worried that my creativity wouldn’t be fulfilled, that without creative expression at work, I would lose interest in the job.

My answer? “I can make anything creative.”

To be honest, I’m not sure that I fully believed that at the time. But it did send me on a journey of self-exploration about what creativity meant in my life. And in turn, it made me realise how valuable it is to be creative at work.

What do I mean by creativity?

The way I see it, creativity is about filtering what’s happening around you — inputs — through who you are… and making something from it.

That is, taking in things you read, hear, watch, experience, which then become these raw materials that are mixed around with your point of view, your experience, your identity, and your skills. And then, forming that into an output that you share back with the world.

My son has definite opinions about who is creative:

But of course, there are no limits on creativity.

What creativity means to me

Eventually, I figured out that creativity is my oxygen. If I can honour that creativity on a regular basis, be sure I’m “breathing” enough of it, I’m at peace.

Creativity requires really knowing yourself, which can be hard. Really hard. For many people, that’s their life’s work right there. But there’s also a next step, which is honouring that knowledge of yourself authentically. That means showing up in the world as your full self, with vulnerability, and without apologies.

But even if we express ourselves in all these creative ways outside of work, a lot of us leave that part of ourselves aside when we go to work. We consider it just a hobby, or unimportant. Maybe we think creativity is only for “creative roles.” Or maybe our workplaces are so busy and results-driven that creativity feels like the first thing to go.

What I’ve learned is that you don’t need a “creative role” to be creative at work. There are many ways to bring creativity to any job.

That thing you think doesn’t belong at work might be the thing that makes you invaluable. And when we hold that part of ourselves back, we miss out on opportunities to stand out, be fulfilled, and stay valued.

Creativity helps you stand out (and get the job you want)

According to the 2024 World Economic Forum’s Future of Jobs Survey, 73% of organisations say creative thinking is an increasingly important skill for future success.

That means recruiters and hiring managers are going to be looking for creative thinkers when hiring for any role. By showing your creative thinking skills when applying and interviewing for jobs, you are putting your creativity front and centre.

Creativity is:

1. Authentic. Because it involves filtering inputs through your own experiences, skills, and taste, it’s impossible to fake creative output. In this way, it’s actually the ultimate antidote to imposter syndrome. There’s only one you.
2. Unique. Since your creativity is tied to you as a person, it can’t be compared with anyone else. It’s also a way you can show, not just tell, who you are.
3. Diverse. Creativity is always personal, and everybody is different, so it’s inherently diverse. No two people are going to have the same creative output. So when we use our creativity, we can ensure that a diverse range of perspectives is included.

How I’ve used my creativity to stand out

A description for a job at Automattic usually says something like “we receive a lot of applications. Make sure yours stands out.” When I applied, I decided this was a perfect vehicle for my creativity. Creativity is a way that I can stand out, by showing myself authentically.

At a previous job, I had experimented with this visual storytelling approach when applying for an internal promotion. In that case, instead of writing a typical resume, I decided to combine images and text, to show myself and my skills in a more visual way. The medium was the message.

I got that job, so building on that success, I decided to draw a comic book that introduced me, showed my prior experience and skills, and demonstrated my enthusiasm for the role.

I spent weeks working on this comic, and then sent it as my application. No cover letter. Nothing else in the email. I just sent this and said: “here’s my application.”

I wanted to make sure that the focus was on the comic, that it stood for itself as the entire application. It was a complete work of art, that whole story of who I was and why I was the best fit for this role. People knew what they were getting with me.

The application had an amazing response. Everyone I spoke with during the hiring process had seen my comic — nobody else had such a unique application. It made people pay attention, but also showed them what kind of person I was, and the level of effort I put into a project.

At Automattic, you do a trial during the hiring process. As part of my trial, I talked about customer personas. And I decided to illustrate these customers — for extra visual impact, but also as an opportunity to show another part of my skills.

I wasn’t being hired for these skills necessarily, but they showed another dimension of what I was bringing to the table. I thought: if they don’t want me, that’s fine, because I’ve shown them who I really am. And if that’s not a good fit, then I’ll find somewhere else that is.

Spoiler alert: it was a good fit, and 8 years later, I’m still at Automattic. Also, my creativity got me from a non-creative role into a creative one.

Creativity helps you feel fulfilled at work

When you’re able to bring creativity into your work, you will enjoy that work more.

A 2019 study by Oxford University actually proved that happy workers are up to 13% more productive. The increased productivity for the business is great, and that’s a good stat to show your boss.

But — there is also value in your own happiness and joy as a person. It’s incredibly satisfying to know that you’re able to bring your whole self to work. There are plenty of ways to do that, even in non-creative roles.

Creativity is:

1. Joyful, which is valuable on a personal level because it makes us happier humans. Creativity reduces burnout and makes work more personally meaningful.
2. Caring. The way you do something shows a lot about who you are. By doing something in creative way, that only you can do, you’re showing that you care about your work.
3. Productive. As the Oxford University study shows, happy people are more productive in the workplace.

How I’ve used my creativity to feel fulfilled at work

Presentations and talks

One reason I like to give talks at internal meetups and at conferences is that I get an opportunity to be as creative as possible. There are rarely any limits to how creative you can be in a talk. I like to spend a lot of time thinking about how to visually convey the ideas of the talk, and add another layer of meaning through the visuals. I treat each slide deck as a mini art project, which also makes it creatively fulfilling for me.

In 2020, I was asked to speak at a virtual conference about content marketing for small teams. I had two little kids at home during the pandemic, and we spent a lot of time playing, looking at, tripping over, and tidying up Lego. So I was inspired to create all these little Lego scenes and lettering, and photograph them to use as my slides. It was a really fun project — although my kids think I have the strangest job ever.

Sometimes we do flash talks at internal meetups. At my first meetup, I spoke about the time I was on Who Wants to Be a Millionaire? and I got the $20,000 question wrong. I had found a tutorial about hand-drawn chalkboard-style lettering, so I took this as an opportunity to learn it.

Another flash talk was about the Mac Knot, the last shoelace-tying method you’ll ever need. I’ve always loved the unique style of WikiHow instructions, so I illustrated the pictures in that style. Sometimes, people in the audience recognise these kinds of references, and they add another layer of meaning onto the presentation and helps keep people engaged.

In a presentation for HubSpot’s INBOUND conference in 2021, I was talking about a fairly dry concept: collaboration between content marketing and customer success. I wanted to illustrate this concept in a way that would be fun and memorable, and also give me a structure that I could use for the sections of the talk. So I drew characters for content marketing and customer success, and made them fall in love and go on a journey together.

In 2024, I spoke about leading remote creative teams at the MarketingProfs B2B Forum. Since my talk featured a lot of communication tools, I thought it would be interesting and fun to use illustrations of obsolete communication technology. But of course, it wasn’t enough of a creative project to just draw these, so I actually hand-embroidered them. I spent a lot of time working on these in front of the TV at night, and yet again, my kids are wondering about this strange job I have!

For my talk at WordCamp US 2025, I wanted to try a technique for digital paper cut style art. So I did all the illustrations in that style, and even animated some of them, and it was really fun. I’m sure it seems weird to a lot of people that I spend so much time on these slides. But as well as being creatively fulfilling for me, it also shows how much I care about the topic.

While reading a seminal book on comics, Understanding Comics by Scott McCloud, I got inspired about the potential for using comics in documentation. I shared these ideas in a talk at the Write the Docs conference in 2019. To reinforce the ideas I was talking about, I made a comic to illustrate how effective comics can be for documentation. Then, the comic became my slide deck.

These presentations are a big part of how my creative needs are fulfilled at work. Looking back, what I realise is that each of these creative projects gave me a double return: I felt the personal joy, and attendees remembered the talk more clearly because of the creativity.

a8c Creator’s Club

One other example I wanted to share is the a8c Creators Club. This was a group comprised of anyone who wanted to work on a creative project for 12 weeks. We all had our own projects, but being part of this group helped motivated us and keep us accountable. At the end of the 12 weeks, we had an online “art show” — on a website housing all of our creative projects. This experience not only helped make new friends at work with shared interests, but also brought a truly enjoyable additional facet to work every day.

Creativity helps you be valued at work

Creativity can have real business value.

According to a 2017 McKinsey study, companies in the top quartile for creativity are 67% more likely to achieve revenue growth. The more creative a company is, the more likely they are to grow.

From my experience, there are several ways this plays out. Creativity is:

• Playful. Creative thinking enables an environment of play, which leads to lateral thinking and problem-solving. That means creativity often leads to novel ideas.
• Communicative. When you deliver a message in a creative way, whether internally or externally, you can cut through the noise and really stand out.
• Team-building. By spending time on creative activities that benefit your team members or bring them joy, you demonstrate your care and build trust. This fosters a level of personal attention that strengthens team bonds.

How I’ve used my creativity to be valued at work

I actively look out for projects, both big and small, that I can lend my creativity to.

Internal communication

For example, in written internal communications on P2, which is our network of WordPress blogs we use instead of email. Sometimes, I include an illustration to help communicate the idea.

I am one of those “inbox zero” people, and I was asked to do an internal learning session about it. I did this comic for it, which I think is a really fun way to get people engaged and give them an idea of the tone of the session.

This is another comic I made to illustrate an internal document I was writing up about our code review process. There were a lot of people couldn’t tell that I was drawing myself as the ship-it squirrel. Which I don’t take as any slight on my drawing skills, but I just thought I’d add that there for reference.

These are some other comics I’ve made for P2s. Something I love about comics is how you need to distil the message down to its essential parts, and communicate in the fewest amout of words possible. I also love how the interplay of words and images tell more layers of the story.

External communication

Because I’ve shared these things internally, I’ve had the opportunity to use my creativity in external communication, as well.

We needed some diagrams for our content, and I decided to illustrate these. This can give a fresh take on a concept, and a more personal touch.

Our designer had seen my cartoons on P2, and asked me draw some for our marketing site when we were creating competitive pages. The goal of these pages was to highlight how we were different, so it was a great place to be a bit more creative.

Another example is when we needed a way to explain the difference between vertical and horizontal scaling on our platform. One of our support engineers had a great analogy about how scaling was like a house with everyone calling between the rooms to communicate with each other. So I was asked to make the analogy into comics, to aid in the explanation.

These opportunities came about because I showed my creativity at work, any chance I had. I demonstrated how my particular creative output could enhance communications, and make them stand out.

Team-building

Another way that creativity is valuable at work is in team-building. I love being part of a team, and bonding with my teammates. Creativity is one way that I can show I care about them, and in the process they can also get some value out of it.

For example, at meetups, I often spend break times taking headshots of my colleagues. It’s a great way to meet the people I work with, by sharing a fairly intense moment with them, and then giving them something from the encounter that’s valuable for them.

Some teammates told me they’d never had a professional photo taken before. Others said they always hated photos of themselves, but that they loved the one I took. That impact has stuck with me. I see these headshots I take popping up across LinkedIn and Slack, and it always gives me a little thrill to see them. I treasure these interactions and I love being able to use my creativity to build relationships with my teammates.

I sometimes also like to draw colleagues, just for fun or to use on P2s. This adds a fun visual component to the P2, but I hope it also makes the subjects of these drawings feel cared for. I took the time to draw them, and that attention shows a level of care for them and for the team in general. As artist Wendy MacNaughton says, “Drawing is looking, and looking is loving.”

Since we all work with WordPress, Wapuu is a great vehicle for creativity! This is a writer Wapuu I made, to represent our team of content marketers. Every team should have a mascot, and the opportunity to create one was very fulfilling for me, and also valuable for the team to have.

And just a quick note about AI. It’s important to remember that your creativity can’t be generated by a machine. It’s tied to your skills, your experience, and the way you see the world. That doesn’t mean that you shouldn’t use AI, but that it should be considered as a tool, and not a replacement for your creativity. But that’s literally a whole different topic.

Conclusion

Creativity isn’t just for certain job titles — it’s a skill, a mindset, and a way of showing up that’s available to everyone. I didn’t really believe it myself when told that hiring manager that I make any role creative, but the journey it took me on has made me see that it’s absolutely possible to do just that.

I think there should be more creativity in the world — and I want to encourage people to bring that part of themselves to work.

And moreover, organisations need to nurture and develop creativity and imagination in workers. A 2024 Deloitte Insights report found that while 73% of organisations recognise the importance of creativity, only 9% are actually doing great things to ensure that this keeps pace with technological innovation.

Because the way you take in the world, filter it through who you are, and turn it into something new could not only make your work more joyful, it could make it more effective. And in a world where AI is taking over so much, that kind of creativity can’t be copied.

I didn’t think I’d ever get to make comics at work. But it just goes to show, that the thing you think doesn’t belong at work might become the thing that makes you essential.

Creativity can help you stand out and get the job you want, because it is inherently authentic, unique, and diverse. Once you’ve got the job, being creative at work can also help you feel fulfilled, because it brings joy, shows care, and makes us more productive. And let’s not forget, that our creativity has real business value, because it enables play, enhances communication, and builds team bonds.

Put creativity to work, and you’ll be more valued — for being yourself.