Pepita Sandwich grew up feeling like she couldn’t be an artist because her work wasn’t realistic enough. Josefina — who goes by her nickname Pepita Sandwich — is a Brooklyn-based illustrator and cartoonist who loves to capture “crappy magic” and nostalgic emotions with her creative work.She was raised in Buenos Aires, Argentina and grew up visiting art museums and eating endless amounts of ice cream at her grandfather’s ice cream shop. Pepita pursued a degree in Fashion Design from the Universidad de Buenos Aires, but after graduation, she quickly followed her passion for illustration and comics.Once she published Survival Diaries in 2016, she made her way to the US to pursue an MFA in cartooning at The Center for Cartoon Studies in Vermont. While studying for her MFA, she wrote and published her second book, Women Move Mountains, with Penguin Random House. She’s gone on to work with clients such as The Washington Post, The New Yorker, and Adidas.In this episode, we go over how she discovered cartooning and illustration, why she decided to move to the US, the pressure that comes with sharing your work on social media, and why she just loves to cry.Listen to the episode on Apple Podcasts, Spotify, Amazon Music, Stitcher, iHeartRadio, or on your favorite podcast platform.Topics Covered:Growing up in Buenos Aires with an Art Historian mother and Engineer FatherFrequenting Art Museums in her childhood and how it impacted her workFeeling the pressure of being a “Fine Artist”Graduating with a Fashion Design degree from Universidad de Buenos AiresHow to explain a creative career to your parents and familyThe pros and cons of the rise of social mediaDealing with social media comparison and toxicityPursuing an MFA in Comics at The Center for Cartoon Studies in VermontPublishing Women Move Mountains in 2019 and Survival Diaries in 2016Experiencing culture shock from moving from Buenos Aires to VermontThe origin story of the name Pepita SandwichMaking bilingual comics in order to expand her audience and reach the US marketDeveloping a book on crying and the associated taboos of cryingLaunching her new class about having a visual diary to capture a feelingGuest InfoCheck out Pepita’s Instagram, Patreon, and new visual diary course on Domestika.Special OfferListeners of the podcast can get a free, undated weekly and monthly planner inspired by the show from our website here.Follow Host Fabiola Lara between episodes:InstagramYoutubeTikTok