How I got that job: Eric Hanson

Age: 33

Home: Mounds View

Occupation: Design director at Clockwork Active Media Systems, a Web development and design agency; softball player.

Industry salary range: $60,000-$150,000.

Background: I have a degree in business administration with an emphasis in marketing and a minor in management information systems from the University of Minnesota.

How did you decide to do something other than what your degree was in? It was a decision I made when I graduated from college. I had a path ahead of me that was either to be a marketing analyst ... where I'm doing more research or I can do what makes me happy. And what makes me happy is being creative.

How did you break into the design industry? I was just out of college. I didn't have a portfolio. I didn't really have anything worth showing. But I think the most important thing that got me [my first job] is that I had passion. I was able to talk about what I wanted to be in the future and where I saw myself going rather than having it there to show [my potential boss]. He really grabbed on to that and gave me a chance.

When did you start designing? I think I've really always been a designer and creator. I really enjoyed all things about art in high school. I took a pottery class and just loved it and really thought that I was very skilled at it. [I also did] jewelry and painting and other things like that.

Were you always like that? I've always been a tinkerer and a person that's wanted to mess with things, to figure out how something was created. I might learn this [design] technique that I've seen somewhere by working backwards. You see this finished piece and then you skin away the layers to see how the person actually came up with the design.

You play softball on the side? I'm a big sports fan. I've played at the highest level of Minnesota softball for four or five years.

What position do you play? I pretty much play anywhere. Jack of all trades. I play for different teams every year.

Is softball just for fun, or is it also a career? This year is being toned down, but in years past, it was definitely another career. We played at least three to four weekends a month, with probably two of those weekends being out of town (from Thursday to Sunday or Monday). We didn't get paid to play, but all of our travel expenses were taken care of by sponsors.

Are there any skills that transcend softball and design? As a softball player and a designer, I always have the opportunity to look at uniforms. I just look at a logo and think, "Why did they do it like that? I could probably change it and make it better ... " Pretty much every team I've played on, we've worn a jersey that I've created. Once, down in Florida [for a softball game], I found myself, while trying to be a big burly player, going back to my hotel room and working on a little girls' website design: channeling my pinks and purples and blues in between really important softball games against the best teams in the country. That was definitely a defining moment for me. To actually sit down and think, "How does a 13- to 18-year-old girl think about this website?" is often pretty interesting.

SARAH GORVIN