Certified Lego artist created own job
There are a lot of great jobs.
Lead guitarist, movie reviewer and Prince of Wales come to mind.
This one has to be right up there: professional Lego builder.
“Find your passion and do it,” Lego pro Robin Sather said from his home in Abbotsford, B.C. “Life’s short. Don’t put it off until you have more time to do it. Do it.”
Sather makes a living travelling around Canada building with Lego: for corporations, museums, schools, malls, you name it.
In 2004 Sather, who worked in IT at the time, wrote a white paper, which he pitched to Lego to travel around and, you know, play with Lego and be paid.
Lego loved the idea and hired him as its first independent contractor, or Lego Certified Professional.
Sather is still the only professional in Canada, but he’s been joined by three in the U.S. and 13 worldwide.
About 20 per cent of his income comes directly from the Lego corporation; the rest from private commissions.
“I’m an independent contractor,” he said.
“There’s a lot of demand for cool Lego stuff to happen.”
He was paid, for example, by the Tillicum Centre in Victoria to build a B.C. Ferries-sponsored coast-class transporter.
“People think I get to play every day and, in a way, I do. It’s something I love to do, but it’s still work — there’s a lot of planning involved.”