I believe there are people who enter your life in order to change your destiny. John Sayles was such a person for me, and I for him. What may be unusual about our catalytic relationship has been its longevity and its evolution. But I am getting ahead of myself.

I began my career in 1980 as an administrator at Drake University in Des Moines, Iowa. A native of upstate New York, I had planned a two-year stint after which I would go back home to the Northeast. Instead I found myself exhilarated by my low-paying but challenging job. I stayed four-plus years before tendering my resignation. I didn’t know what I would be doing next, but at that point felt as though my time with Drake had run its course. I was 28. Among my responsibilities at the University was the promotion of events. Before one such event, I learned the graphic designer I had worked with previously had left the area. A former student recommended an unknown freelancer who, she said, “has a studio in your neighborhood and thinks you’re cute!” Of course I hired the designer and of course his name was John Sayles. Little did I know my life would never be the same.

Our first project together was far from a success. It delivered late (so late, in fact, we had to hand-deliver some of the invitations —there was no time to mail!) and considerably over budget. A complicating factor was that by this point—actually less than a month after we met—John and I had fallen in love. Still, the project was a mess and I told John that I couldn’t work with him again. But John turned the tables on me. John knew my resignation had already been offered up to Drake, and proposed we go into business together, with me handling client services and business operations and him focusing on design exclusively. It took a while for me to accept the idea, but on June 1, 1985, we officially established Sayles Graphic Design.

NOW (above): Sayles and Clark in the lobby of their current studio in Des Moines, Iowa.