Shelley Sandiford

About me

I was born/grew up in: Winnipeg, MB, Canada

I now live in: Ottawa, ON, Canada

I completed my training/education at: University of Waterloo

What I do at work

I describe myself as a science animator. I help businesses, organizations and scientists explain complicated concepts to their audiences. My work has a lot of variety to it, and it’s one of the reasons why I love it. I create art and animations so, some days, I’m reading and researching. Some days, I’m writing scripts. Others, I spend recording my voice. Others days, I create artwork and animate.

Everything I need is on my computer. I use special software to create art (Adobe Illustrator) and animate (Adobe After Effects).

My problem solving involves researching and creating a script that’s as short as possible (while still getting a message or information across).

Most of my decisions involve the editing process. Writing scripts is very challenging, and the script (believe it or not) is the most important part of the animation process. I usually have to work very closely with clients to get the length and contents of the script to a point where the message is clear and everyone’s happy.

I have science backgrounds in Exercise Science and Molecular Biology. Because my studies required that I read and understand fairly complicated subject matter, I’m able to understand a lot of the complicated words and jargon scientists sometimes use. Being able to understand what a scientist is trying to say is probably easier for me than for a lot of people.

My career path is

I have a PhD in Exercise Science and, afterwards, I worked in as a scientist in Molecular and Cellular Biology.

When I decided to combine art with my science background, I took an online course to learn how to create 3D art as well as a night class on entrepreneurship. Other than that, I consider myself largely self-taught with my art since I have no formal art training.

Never in a million years did I set out to do what I do today! When I decided I wanted to move away from academia, I challenged myself to try a career that I’d really enjoy and be able to make a living at.

My biggest challenge right now is that most of the interest in my business is coming from outside science all together. I’m trying harder to target the kinds of people I’d ultimately like to be working with.

Mostly, I enjoy being able to combine my two passions, art and science. I feel very lucky to have the opportunity to give entrepreneurship a shot at this point in my life.

I am motivated by

I feel like a crusader at times. I’ve sort of made it my mission to help counteract all the misinformation out there (because there’s a lot of it). I’m motivated by getting the truth out, shedding light on the scientific process, and by helping scientists get their stories into the public eye. For me, the most enjoyable part is wrapping my head around the shear reach my company (and others like it) might have someday.

Mostly, I enjoy being able to combine my two passions, art and science. I feel very lucky to have the opportunity to give entrepreneurship a shot at this point in my life.

How I affect people’s lives

My mission has always been to get information into the hands of those who need most to hear it. There’s a lot of garbage on the internet today, and I believe scientists need a louder voice. If there’s anything I can do to help them get their messages out, I’m happy to do that.

Outside of work I

I relax by spending time with my husband and our six year old daughter. I don’t do as much volunteering these days, but we used to be heavily involved in greyhound rescue. Best dogs ever! Physically, I’m a competitive powerlifter. Training also helps me relieve some stress.

My advice to others

Don’t ever be afraid to fail at something! Failure is how you learn and how you grow, so always be challenging yourself.