Today we’d like to introduce you to Kia Perry.
Kia, please share your story with us. How did you get to where you are today?
After graduating from the University of Central Florida with a degree in Event Management, I moved to Atlanta in search of an opportunity in Fashion Events. Unfortunately, that wasn’t a very lucrative industry at the time and I ended up at Nordstrom as a Sales Person. Although I was in fashion, I was still very unfulfilled and had a huge craving for creativity. So, I started to become interested in Visual Merchandising. I would do various things around my department to help the visual team but wasn’t able to get on the team at the time. It wasn’t too long that I left Nordstrom to pursue a career in the Film/TV industry as a Production Assistant in Wardrobe. It was probably one of the most fun but strenuous jobs I’ve ever had. Oddly enough, It was there that I discovered my love for graphic design. I downloaded Adobe Photoshop and I haven’t looked back since. This was in 2013. I then made the transition over to the Art Dept where I assisted with graphics and set decor. I loved it but it wasn’t long before I got the itch to go back into retail and take advantage of an opportunity to be on the visual team back at Nordstrom as a Visual Stylist. I learned a lot but I also realized that retail just wasn’t for me and I ended up back in the Art Dept of another film.
Throughout all these transitions, I still continued with graphic design, so much so I started a freelance business on the side. Something had been tugging on me to go full-time freelance and I did in May 2017. Now, I’m working full-time with women-owned businesses to develop and implement visual brand identities through my brand She’s Kia. Logo design, aesthetic development, and social curation are my main focuses but are umbrellas to all the things I do as a Graphic Designer.
Last year, I started to become more cautious about my health and what I was putting in and on my body, which let me discover the world of indie brands. This discovery developed into a passion and I created HerMarket, a platform that collaborates with brands to create a space for indie brands to connect with and gain exposure to the Millennial and Gen Z markets. We launched in September of last year and have had 3 successful events with more on the horizon partnering with some amazing women-owned indie brands.
Great, so let’s dig a little deeper into the story – has it been an easy path overall and if not, what were the challenges you’ve had to overcome?
It definitely has not been a smooth road. It took me a while to even figure out what I was meant to be doing. I was one of the people who thought after college I would walk into a high paying job and live happily ever after but that, of course, wasn’t how things went. I had to take jobs I didn’t necessarily want before things started to fall into place. I’m still not where I want to be, so I’m still working hard to get there. Even though I’m now a full-time freelancer (and I love it), the hard work doesn’t stop. I now have to work twice as hard because now, I’m not depending on a large company to pay me every week or biweekly, I’m depending on individual people. Staying ahead of the curve, practicing self-discipline with my finances, constant marketing, and, of course, depending on God is what I have to do to stay successful.
While I’m still learning, what I can say that I’ve learned is, it’s ok if you don’t know what to yet. Explore different things until you find that thing that keeps you up at night and that you can’t stop thinking about during the day. I guarantee your passion, gift, skill, is right under your nose and always has been. I’ve always loved graphics but I didn’t know it was something I could pursue as a career. Another thing I did was envision myself doing what I wanted to be doing every day on my commute to work, I would envision myself going to meet with a client or simply going to a coffee shop, to work and it wasn’t until recently that I realized, I’m doing those things now! That was only a year ago! I still can’t believe it sometimes. So, have a vision and put your focus on that. That job you have now is just temporary so don’t let it suck all your energy and through you off track.
Alright – so let’s talk business. Tell us about your business – what should we know?
Currently, I’m a graphic designer and I work with women-owned brands on designing and implementing their visual identities. This includes everything from logo and web design to helping them curate their Instagram profiles and designing on-brand social media graphics. While a lot of my inquiries are for brand identity design, the inquiries for Instagram coaching and curating has been growing lately, so I’m constantly thinking of ways to grow my business in that direction.
My design style is very minimal and feminine which while it’s something that more and more people are seeing the value in, it’s still a very new concept that people are trying to grasp. In addition to that, I try to set myself apart with the experience that I give my clients starting from the very first time I communicate with them. What I love is that my process and the way I do things is very intuitive and instinctual. I’m very good at reading my client, so I’m able to deliver what my clients want by trusting instincts and what I feel would be good for their brand. I’m also very good at communicating this to them so they trust my expertise. Lastly, I try to be understanding, generous, and relatable why maintaining the structure.
We’re interested to hear your thoughts on female leadership – in particular, what do you feel are the biggest barriers or obstacles?
Comparison is definitely one of the biggest barriers I’ve come across. Which so many women becoming entrepreneurs, markets become saturated and it’s hard not to compare yourself to some you may admire in your industry. We tend to compare our beginning to someone’s middle and that can cause discouragement. There were times where I didn’t even want to continue pursuing what I was doing because I just felt so many other people were doing it better. It wasn’t until I started focusing and really caring about me and what I could bring to the industry, that things started taking shape. While I think I’m over the biggest part of that hump, it’s something I battle every day.
Another barrier is women not supporting other women. Sometimes we can have that ‘crabs in a bucket’ mentality and that can limit or discourage someone who’s trying to get to a certain level in their industry. I feel that it’s mostly with women who have gotten to a desirable level in their career and I think sometimes they forget how they were once in a place where they needed help. If you’re in a place to help someone, help them.
There’s enough room and work for everyone, so helping the next woman get to where they want to go only helps you in the end.
Honestly, I think we’re in a great day and time where women are really thriving and glass ceilings are shattering, so I think it’s really us, that’s holding us back because women are killin’ right now, so there’s no reason why you can be all you want to be!
Contact Info:
- Website: sheskia.com
- Email: hello@sheskia.com
- Instagram: instagram.com/sheiskia
- Facebook: facebook.com/sheskiahq
- Twitter: twitter.com/sheiskia
- Other: hermrkt.com
Image Credit:
Kaye McCoy
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