Alright, so thank you so much for sharing your story and insight with our readers. To kick things off, can you tell us a bit about how you got started?
My relationship with art is very much tied to my family. My great great grandfather was a potter and there’s even a town in South Georgia named Jugtown where he ran a family business making large butter churns. My grandfather was a self-taught painter (he learned to paint from a paint by number he bought at a drug store). I used to have weekly art lessons with him learning basic techniques about art and also learning to appreciate the freedom that making art can provide. My mom’s side of the family is full of creatives: graphic designers, interior designers, potters, landscaping designers, and painters.
Art has always been a part of life. I was very involved in art programs in high school and have had my work displayed at Hartsfield Jackson airport and participated in the Capitol Art Exhibit. To me, its something that comes naturally. I began doing digital illustrations back in 2014 and have developed my style over the years. I truly enjoy doing illustrations and branding design work for new businesses and non-profits. After selling my art as a side hustle for years, I landed a big illustration job that forced me to dream bigger, and I realized that this really could be a full-time business. On July 4, 2019, I left my full-time retail job of almost nine years and began Pamoja Keepsakes.
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?
I think it’s important as a creative professional to stay true to what you do best. Start where you are. Create without expectations. If you’re in a creative funk, I heard someone say once that you should make while you think and think while you’re making and that advice has helped me a lot. Inspiration doesn’t have to be grand, it can be sketching objects in your current space. Despite creative funks, making artwork is a natural process for me, the foreign part was adapting that into a business. Since shifting to full-time artist, I’ve had to learn to create systems and structures, and that comes less easy for me. When you work for someone else its easy to show up and follow the guidelines of that organization.
Creating a business is figuring out what all of those guidelines look like for yourself and your team and there are so many details! One mistake that I made was assuming that being a small business owner means you do everything yourself. Lies! Approaching all of this alone is too overwhelming and unrealistic. I have learned to ask questions about how other owners do things, ask for help, read blogs, listen to podcasts, and utilize online resources (like skillshare) to expand my own knowledge and build confidence when making my own moves.
Thanks – so what else should our readers know about Pamoja Keepsakes?
I lived in Nairobi, Kenya and lived in rural Kenya for part of my childhood. Pamoja is a Swahili word that means “togetherness” I really value that experience because I was able to see and experience what a functional community really looks like. Community members have work to do and not everybody’s work is the same. At the end of the day, everyone’s tasks are important and each person’s work has its own value. This is a philosophy that has always stuck with me. In my business, I create artwork with subjects that are representative and inclusive. I love hearing that an image I made reminds someone of someone that they know. As a biracial person, it was often hard for my 7-year-old self to see stories like my own out in the world. I aim to create visuals that help everyone feel more seen and my childhood self is a great measuring stick for me.
Brand wise, I am most proud of the work that I have done with nonprofits. Often these organizations do really important work for our communities, but not everyone knows who they are, who their members are, or exactly what they do. I have been able to create work for organizations that went from using generic clip art to having illustrations of what they do and portraits of their actual members. The feedback and the energy that this level of visibility creates is a payoff that I’ve really fallen in love with. I have a degree in sociology from Kennesaw State University and I love blending my love for social justice work and art into something that everyone involved is benefitting from. My business clients also bring me so much joy. One of my clients shared with me that the visuals we have created for her business has been instrumental in growing the reach of her brand over the last year.
The design portfolio on my website features a few of my amazing clients and (of course) links to the unique brands that they offer. I love networking with other folks and watching the process of growth over time. I’m growing and learning as well and it’s a beautiful evolution to experience together. Pamoja Keepsakes offers custom digital illustrations and portraits, subscription box design, label design, logo design, instruction card design and more. For the personal artwork that I make for a fun, I sell on my website and vending at pop-up events around the city. Some of these items include stickers, magnets, keychains, apparel, tote bags, and art prints.
Do you have any advice for those looking to network or find a mentor?
In true Kenyan fashion, I think we also cannot undervalue the concept of bartering! It doesn’t work for everything 100% of the time, but sometimes there are perfect moments to implement a trade of services or products through a key partnership. It’s 2020, and not everyone has the extra capital to shell out money for every single thing they need, and they’re not alone. I was able to secure a business mentor who I met at a local conference. She loved my work and my design style and needed a logo for her consulting business, and I desperately needed her advice so I could set up the long term goals and structure of my own company. We agreed to simply exchange the services that we work best at. My mom always told me that “you don’t get what you don’t ask for” and that advice has always stuck with me. This amazing mentorship began with a conversation, with appreciation, and on the other side was pure gratitude. The tag line for Pamoja Keepsakes is “When we work together, we have everything we need,” and I truly live by that model of cooperation.
Contact Info:
- Website: www.pamojakeepsakes.com
- Instagram: @pamojakeepsakes
- Facebook: @pamojakeepsakes
- Other: https://airbnb.com/h/tinyartstudio
Image Credits
Emmanuel Rivers, K. Leclair Photography
