Meet E.s. Keen | Writer and UX/UI Designer

We had the good fortune of connecting with E.s. Keen and we’ve shared our conversation below.

Hi e.s., why did you pursue a creative career?
I chose the career path of a creative because regardless of the size of your audience, who you are or what you do outside of your 9-5, you have no limits to your creative expression and freedoms in how you express your story, your pain, your happiness and life experiences. The ability to ‘create’ is different amongst all of us and how strangers interpret that art is a beautiful experience all in itself. Those intimate conversations you have with each individual beats having a huge following in a sea of people that you may never have a chance to converse with.

Let’s talk shop? Tell us more about your career, what can you share with our community?
A poet’s work is never done, and the definition of ‘success’ can be subjectively viewed differently for all of us. At the early age of 18, I told myself that one day I wanted to self-publish a book to my name just once in my lifetime, no matter how many copies it sold.

I wrote, self-edited, cover-created, and self-published ‘Love, Space & Loneliness’ on August 10, 2023, through Amazon’s KDP program, and simultaneously landed a full-time job as a UX/UI Designer in the same month (August 13th).

UX/UI design was not an easy field to break into; I was almost two years into my job search before I was debating pivoting to a new career field entirely. I’m happy I stuck it through, though. If you asked me what a UX/UI designer is, I’d tell you that we’re creative problem solvers who have to juggle user empathy with usability and business needs. We make for very unique middlemen/women, haha.

Any places to eat or things to do that you can share with our readers? If they have a friend visiting town, what are some spots they could take them to?
A week long trip huh? Well I’m an introvert so I can’t say I get out much, but I’d probably take them anywhere to get coffee matcha in the morning (Aviano Coffee in Cherry Creek, Legends Coffee in Southlands). I recently had a chance to try out the Delectable Egg in DTC which I had a good experience at despite how busy it was. Crepes’n Crepes in Cherry Creek was amazing, but they’re permanently closed unfortunately!

I don’t drink too much, but Retrograde or Williams & Graham would both be amazing visits as they have the speakeasy setup, Retrograde being a place that you can buy ice cream with a hidden long in the back and Williams & Graham giving the initial vibes of a corner book store.

Hang out? Well I love me a good book store so Tattered Cover or 2nd and Charles are definitely up my alley. Twist and Shout is pretty cool if you want to browse a plethora of records and cool collectibles.

Who else deserves some credit and recognition?
I would definitely have to say Sky The Creator (@thereal_skythecreator on IG). We shared a few profound conversations as I was publishing my first collection of poetry, she’s a fabulous poet in her own right and also shares a love for the works of Edgar Allen Poe!

Website: https://www.eskeenpoetry.com/

Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/e.s.keen

Other: https://www.threads.net/@e.s.keen, @e.s.keen on TikTok