Life & Work with Melanee Marshall

Today we’d like to introduce you to Melanee Marshall.

Hi Melanee, it’s an honor to have you on the platform. Thanks for taking the time to share your story with us – to start maybe you can share some of your backstory with our readers?
I’m so thrilled to be able to share! I used to call myself a Creative Groupie! I’ve always had a deep love for creative energy and surrounded myself with it. In fact, most of my good friends are artists of some type or another, but I was always the outsider looking in. I wasn’t born with the creative “gene” so there was no way I would ever have considered myself one of them. That was until life circumstances led me to depression. Somehow, in the dark place, I found the courage to try to do some of the things I saw so many of my creative friends doing. What I found was that every time I sat down at the table to “work” I immediately felt better. With each endeavor I was getting a peek at some light at the end of this deep, dark tunnel. Discovering ways to creatively express myself was providing healing for my soul. And the more I did, the more I wanted to do it. I didn’t care whether or not anyone else liked it, I loved the process and what it was doing for me. It was when other people started showing interest in what I was creating and asking could they purchase, that I was starting to believe that perhaps there could maybe be a ‘creative’ inside of me that had never been encouraged to show herself. Through this process, I am convinced that every single one of us has that same inner creative energy buried deep down that is waiting for the right circumstance and setting to be liberated. Closet Creatives Experience was born to provide just that kind of space. A space where all who come can become acquainted with their closeted creative!

Can you talk to us a bit about the challenges and lessons you’ve learned along the way. Looking back would you say it’s been easy or smooth in retrospect?
The road has NOT been smooth by any means! Closet Creatives Experience is completely out of the box! The people who participate in the experiences have no idea what they are coming to do until we actually begin the creative session. So I have to be diligent in building a know, like and trust relationship with potential participants from the very beginning to buy into the concept. Each month we do something different creatively so finding spaces that can accommodate our different creative pursuits remains a difficult task. Fluctuating ticket prices, because of the variety of different things we do, has been a hurdle as well as marketing strategies.

Alright, so let’s switch gears a bit and talk business. What should we know about your work?
When I first started Closet Creatives Experience and shared the concept with others the first reaction I would hear is, “most people aren’t going to pay to do something they have no idea about upfront.” But keeping the creative workshops/sessions a mystery was the one thing I was not willing to compromise on. My whole goal was to place people in spaces they would normally never choose and the only way I knew to do that was to remove the choice. I’m most proud of sticking to my guns because what I believed in my soul is actually manifested each and every experience I’ve done so far. I can’t count how many times I’ve heard at the end of one, “oh my gosh, I had no idea I could do this/that!” Every time someone tells me that, I beam and answer, “mission accomplished.” I do what I do so that I can hear comments like I just heard from a participant (co-creator) at the last experience I hosted. She pulled me aside and told me this, “I needed this today. I am going through a rough time right now and almost didn’t come but I’m so happy I did. It felt good to forget for a moment and have so much fun. It felt great to smile again. Thank you for doing this.”

In terms of your work and the industry, what are some of the changes you are expecting to see over the next five to ten years?
My goal in the next 5-10 years is to have my own space, specifically designed and specializing in all the creative experiences I can think of! I’d love to build a team so that I can concentrate on creating the concepts and rely more on others for the execution. My ultimate goal is to have Closet Creatives Experience be a travel destination “don’t miss.” I want people to come to Charlotte just to have a Closet Creatives Experience.

Contact Info:

• Email: [email protected]
• Website: www.closetcreativesnc.wixsite.com/ccotc
• Instagram: @closetcreatives
• Facebook: @closetcreatives
• Twitter: @outtheclosetnc

Image Credits:
@reelshutter