When I joined Metromile, the VP of Brand mentioned she wanted to create a pay-per-mile explainer video — but we got busy with more pressing projects and it never happened. During COVID, the company went through a significant round of layoffs that cut the entire creative and marketing team. I was the only creative who stayed on, moved to the product team.

Even busier than before, I still saw the need for the video. I pitched it to my new manager, got the green light, and produced it entirely on my own. Before writing the script I talked directly with customer service agents to understand how they explained pay-per-mile to customers and what questions came up most often. That research shaped the script, which I then storyboarded and animated myself. For scenes that needed net new illustrations I art directed Kinn Creative to produce additional assets that fit seamlessly within the existing Metromile illustration style.

I presented it at a company-wide all hands. The CEO said he loved it. The video ended up deployed across the marketing site, the quote-to-sale email journey, social media ads, and the user dashboard. This project gave me the confidence to go out on my own as a freelancer.