Lara — Full Circle
Lara is one of the people who had the biggest impact on Cowboys from Space. She made the blog logo you can see and is the person behind the two blog booklets. But most of all, she’s a good friend of mine whom I met when we were both in Transylvania. Meeting very often for coffee in the cafes of Brașov, talking about our lives there and sharing ideas. Even after years, she keeps giving me suggestions and has a supernatural instinct to understand when something is going wrong with me, even if we don’t speak every day.
A few months ago she had an interview about her job as a graphic designer and social media manager and I realized I never asked her to write something here. So it’s time to read her story and the impact that those months in Transylvania had on her life…
When I moved to Romania in 2019, I didn’t have a clear plan.
I was in that strange moment of life where nothing is exactly wrong, but nothing feels completely right either.
I had studied Business Administration, but deep down I knew that wasn’t where I belonged. I was drawn to marketing, to design, to the creative side of things. I had tried different paths, different companies, but none of them quite felt like my place. On a personal level, things weren’t making me happy anymore, so almost instinctively, I decided to leave.
I went to Brașov to do an internship in graphic design. I didn’t know it at the time, but that decision would quietly change everything.
Like many people who move abroad, I found myself surrounded by others who were also far from home: students, interns, workers from different countries, all trying to build some sort of temporary family. That’s how I met Matt. A group of foreigners, with different accents and stories, meeting mostly on weekends to explore, talk, and feel a little more grounded.
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Matt is one of those people who truly listens. The kind of person who always seems to have the right words and a thoughtful perspective. Conversations with him had a way of bringing clarity, making ideas flow, doubts settle, and thoughts feel more ordered. He’s creative, brave, and generous, someone you can talk to about anything and walk away feeling inspired.
When I came back home at the end of 2019, the world was about to change. COVID arrived, everything stopped, and I found myself back at my parents’ house, unsure, but strangely determined. I registered as a freelancer, almost without overthinking it. And I haven’t stopped working since.
Romania was a turning point. I am not the same person I was a week before I left. In fact, I feel much closer to the version of myself I was there than the one I was before. That experience taught me how to stand on my own feet, to fight for what I want, to trust my intuition, and to choose growth over comfort.
Today, I work as a graphic designer and social media manager. I love what I do because it allows me to work with entrepreneurs, people who, like I once did, choose not to follow the easiest path. People who decide to step aside from what is expected, take risks, and build something aligned with what truly motivates them, even when it’s uncertain.
My work is deeply shaped by my experiences and by the people I’ve met along the way. Romania gave me confidence. And people like Matt remind me why connection, creativity, and honesty matter so much, not only in life, but also in the way we create.
In the end, everything connects back to that moment: a decision to leave, a group of strangers becoming friends, and conversations that stayed with me longer than I ever expected.
