My Persona

I am a 23 year old female finishing up my 5th year in college. I will be graduating in May with my MPA degree. I live in an apartment in northwest Austin with my 30 year old boyfriend and his 4 year old son. We met each other while attending community college in Killeen, Texas (both of us finished 2 years there before coming to UT). I am currently doing an audit and tax internship with an accounting firm (yes, it’s busy season… and yes, I will have very very very little free time unitl after April 15th!). My boyfriend has a merchandising/counseling job with The Scotts Company (the company that makes Miracle Grow). We also have a 4 year old German Shepherd who we adopted from a no-kill animal shelter. We have very hectic lives, and we greatly appreciate any chance we have to spend time together. We spend our free time playing together, finding cheap family activities nearby, and keeping up with household chores.

While trying to find a persona that would best describe myself, I realized that a combination of two pre-existing cohorts (described in the Cohort Personas reading) most closely resembles my life. I feel that I fit in both the “Young Families” and the “Young Married Starters” cohorts. In order to more accurately describe myself and my family, I have decided to create a new persona. Below is the persona I have created for myself:

Dan & Jess

“Young Working/Schooling Families”

Young up-and-coming families with modest incomes who are balancing children, pets, work, and school.

Personalities
• I can drop him off at daycare in the morning, but I need you to pick him up.
• Do you want me to pick up anything on the way home?
• I only have one semester left of school and so does he.
• We spend a lot of money on toys, especially for birthdays and Christmases.
• We like to have family movie nights and family bookstore visits.
• I can walk the dogs if you get him ready for bed.
• We should go to visit our parents this weekend if we don’t have to work and don’t have homework.

Demographics
Median Age: 25
Median Income: $25,000
Children: mostly under 5
Most rent
Few graduate from college

Lifestyles
Audio/Video: rent movies; buy few CDs; DVR recording; play video games; own a camera; watch sports on tv; own smart phones.

Outdoors: pool; park; neighborhood bike rides; zoo; fishing.
Sports/Fitness: yoga; running/jogging.

Home life: play-time; movies; scrapbooking; cooking; baking; cleaning; studying; visiting with family.

Investor: tries to put money into savings account after monthly expenses.

Shopping habits: likes to buy things on sale; cuts coupons; splurges on children but not themselves; does research on large purchases; brand loyalty; purchases online for special occasion gifts; grocery shops bi-monthly.

Traditionalist: family time is very important.

Other interests: small family trips; family-oriented events/shows; education; planning for the future.

After re-reading what I have written about myself and the persona I have created, I am confident that you will have a much better understanding of who I am and what I do! I love my family, and I am very grateful for all that I have in my life!