Meet Libby VanderPloeg

Libby VanderPloeg has been working as an art director at Bonnier Corporation for two years with Saveur and now the Luxury & Lifestyle Group. The native Midwesterner has lived in Brooklyn, New York since 2006 but now she'll be spending the next months in Stockholm as a GROW participant. "I'm now a book designer for Bonnierförlagen, working for both Bonnier Fakta and Albert Bonniers Förlag," she says. "I've always wanted to design and illustrate books, so I'm truly loving this job."

Though she's been on the job for less than a month, VanderPloeg, 32, has already managed to take in a lot. "I've been surprised at how much I've already learned about book design, its structure and rigor, and also at how simple it was to operate Indesign in Swedish," she says. She also is impressed with her new offices. "Beautiful paintings hang throughout the building. Every room has a window, allowing everyone to get some natural light in their work day. Employees are encouraged to take a fitness class in the building's gym once a week.  Lunch in the matsal includes a really great little salad bar.  It's things like this that make a job that much nicer."

VanderPloeg already has a long list of things she'll be bringing back with her from the experience, from rubber boots for mushroom picking to a fondness for Saltå muesli and a few choice Swedish words - grävling, the word for a badger, for example. And she recommends that any who are interested apply for GROW. "This program is an amazing and unique opportunity to see the world, so if you're not sure about whether to apply or not, I would suggest being bold and taking the chance!," she says. "You're bound to learn something about yourself as well as the place to which you are travelling."