A Conversation With: Karly Young

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She is now creative director for Anstadt Communications, which she joined after a time running her own business, Young and Co. While in Georgia, she worked for several companies, including Recall Corp. and IDI Logistics.

Young is a graduate of Penn State University, earning a bachelor’s in advertising with a minor in psychology. She also completed graduate studies in graphic design at the Portfolio Center in Atlanta.

She, her husband and their children, ages 10 and 6, live in Manchester Township.

Q: Tell us about the RTO World Show that Anstadt is participating in later this month.

A: The World Show is for one of our brand channels, Central File, which is responsible for generating marketing results for the rent-to-own industry. My involvement is producing all the creative for the trade show booth. We are creating everything from before-show advertising to direct mailers and additional collateral. We’re creating the entire trade show booth, deciding the flow of the booth and what types of items we’ll create for it.

We share a lot of samples with potential customers, so we’ll be creating purse racks and 2019 calendars, and we’ll be giving a glimpse of Christmas and Halloween direct-mail campaigns. We’re going to show a new spin on a customer retention kit, and we’ll also have a very special golden ticket offer for attendees.

Much has been made of the “brain drain,” as students get their education in Pennsylvania and take jobs elsewhere. What brought you back to the midstate, after several years in Atlanta?

I realized to do what I really wanted to do, I was going to go for graduate studies. That’s why we ended up going to Georgia. The opportunities were greater for someone new in the creative design realm. Ultimately family brought us back – some new job opportunities for my husband and myself. Every graphic designer’s dream – or a majority of those I talk to – they always say, I want to do my own thing. I had the opportunity to do that when we moved back. I actually came to Anstadt and asked them to come on as a client, and it ended up turning into a full-time job offer. It’s a dynamic space Anstadt has created, and I thought I would take on the challenge and the opportunity.

What opportunities do you find as a young professional in Central Pennsylvania that you didn’t in a bigger city?

There’s something to be said for raising a young family in a small town. There’s so much more here now to do. So much has happened for the positive.

Maybe it’s different for me because we’re originally from here, so coming back, it’s a big change to re-immerse yourself. You can make those old connections; a bunch remained here so their roots are super deep. The willingness of people to help other people, by word of mouth, that’s really eye-opening. In the big city you don’t necessarily get that. It was just the four of us there. Here it’s really tight knit and everyone knows everyone. You reach out for one thing and you’re probably going to get six other things on your list crossed off at the same time.

What Pennsylvania food staple did you miss most in Georgia?

My most favorite meal in the entire world is hog maw. To go to a butcher in Georgia and ask for a pig stomach … the look you would get! We just couldn’t whip that up in the kitchen. And my grandma’s homemade coleslaw. York County corn, there’s nothing like it. And it’s not specific to York County, but a true Maryland crab cake – not “Maryland style.” That and pretzel bread … you didn’t really find pretzel sandwich bread.