Season 2 · Episode 18

Shcarra Benn The Creative Leo of Creative Leo Designs

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0:01Welcome, welcome, welcome back to Alienize Photos Industry Talk.
0:08And I have a special guest, a special creative here in Cleveland, Ohio.
0:15The creative Leo herself, Shakara Ben.
0:20We're talking Goldman Sachs, small 10,000, small business cohort attendee.
0:28Who's who in Cleveland?
0:32Acting you, alumni.
0:34Like, come on.
0:36It's representing Ohio at the fullest.
0:39Ms. Shakara, I know you could introduce yourself more polished and better than I can.
0:46So tell the people who you are and what you do.
0:51Hello, everyone.
0:52I am Shakara Ben, yes, aka the creative Leo of creative Leo designs where I feel that creativity is in everyone's DNA, and that it is up.
1:05It is for creativity to be seen and heard in every space that you're in.
1:10We do graphic design and commercial printing.
1:14We also do a lot of creative consultancy as well.
1:18So I am like a creative guru.
1:21And so what that means is that, as I said, creativity is in everybody and each person has their different types.
1:29So for me, I used to do event planning.
1:33So I love doing things of that nature with decor and floor arrangements and things of that nature.
1:40I also love doing graphic design, but I also love doing set design as far as like on a movie set or something like that as well.
1:50So it's just not graphics that I do.
1:54So, yeah, I miss creative here in the city of Cleveland.
1:59Okay, set design.
2:01I love it.
2:03Cool, cool, cool.
2:05So, when did you first learn about creativity?
2:12Like, when you first heard the word and you learned what it was, when was that?
2:19I would say when I was younger, my parents used to say, Oh, you're so creative.
2:24Were you so artistic and things like that?
2:27Because as a kid, I was that one who had her crayon box and her drawing pad or her coloring boots and things of that nature and was designing clothes and doing all types of stuff, drawing architectural buildings, you name it.
2:44But I cannot draw the best or anything, but my dad, he can draw amazing.
2:51And so I would say I first heard it from my parents.
2:56But I will say that I didn't believe in my creativity until about maybe six years ago, to be honest, because I had to become confident with my creativity as it stands.
3:12Wow, so like in the midst of COVID, just about when everybody started launching businesses or finding themselves.
3:24Yeah, COVID stopped my event planning side of the business completely.
3:30And I had to figure out how do I stay afloat, how do I keep the business going because I was not willing to cave in and so I turned to graphics.
3:37I used to do graphics quite a bit, but it was more so connected to events that I was going to be doing.
3:46Well, I started designing COVID t-shirts, COVID mugs, COVID you name it during that time.
3:52And I made it through COVID, the front end of COVID that way, which actually made it able for me to get my commercial printer.
4:02And so that's how I transitioned.
4:05But like year five, right, it was something down the road that I planned to do.
4:09But then I ended up bumping it up because during COVID, a lot of people were passing away.
4:16And that's when I also lost my grandmother as well.
4:20And one of the things that happened during that time was it came time to do her obituary and my family and everybody believed that I could do it.
4:29You know, you can do it, Cara. I'm like, nah.
4:33And I sat in front of the computer for days trying to do it.
4:36And I could not bring myself to do it.
4:38And so I told my aunt, hey, how the funeral home do it.
4:43So I just couldn't.
4:45Like the creativity just shut off. I don't know if it's because of my grandmother's or I don't know.
4:50It just went away. And I really felt defeated by that though.
4:56Because when I saw her obituary while it was nice, it was.
4:59I knew I could have did it once I saw what was done.
5:02And I said, oh, I could have did this.
5:05But after that, I realized that for my family, at least, I wanted to make our obituaries.
5:14You know, I didn't want to feel like I let the family down in that way.
5:18So I started doing my family's obituaries, unfortunately, as time went on until now.
5:24But I started doing obituaries, period.
5:28And I do a lot of obituaries now and work with federal homes here in the city and some kind of out of state.
5:38And so my creativity began to expand and grow.
5:42Also, I never thought that I would do obituaries, by the way, because it's a sensitive area and still is for me.
5:50Still is. Still is.
5:52But I began to look at it differently from a different perspective, is that I'm preserving someone's legacy.
6:01And culturally, in the back family, we passed out obituaries.
6:05They become part of the family.
6:09So I wanted to be a part of that.
6:11And so I have been a part of creating the one thing that can last within that person's legacy and print for.
6:22So I look at it that way.
6:27That's amazing to hear.
6:29And I definitely commend you for that.
6:32Like, for me, a similar story, just to keep it short.
6:38The reason I got back into photography was it was like more so when I was a young kid, like kindergarten, first grade,
6:50walking around with a 12-shot wound up film camera, disposable film camera, and always wasted shots in like two minutes.
7:01I saw like a lot of my history dissolving and fading away and didn't have that documentation, that photograph,
7:10the show, a family member, a friend, a loved one, key dates.
7:15Like, you know how they have MTV Cribs, they rolling down the street like, yeah, I grew up in that house when I was a kid.
7:22I graduated from this school.
7:23Like, my hospital, Euclid Hospital, gone.
7:27Elementary, gone.
7:30Childhood, home, tore down.
7:34Now, now, Collingwood, my high school, it's no longer in this.
7:38Like, it's crazy, all these things.
7:41It's more, but it's so much.
7:43And it's like, wow, I really don't have a record of this.
7:47So I'm like, in a sense, me being a photographer, yeah, I capture moments,
7:53but it's more so me positioning myself as a historian.
7:58Right.
7:58Like you say, event planner.
8:00That's why I love event planners, because y'all get it.
8:03And like, I just spent three hours on the call yesterday going over an event, and we got the foundation down pack.
8:10That's good, but there's still a lot more to talk about.
8:14And each event only happens that day and that period of time.
8:20So go back to that historian.
8:23And that's why I felt compelled to, like, just go all in.
8:27From an artist being on stage to an artist behind the camera documenting key moments.
8:36For sure.
8:37You know, because as creatives, we have a way of how we can let our legacy live, you know?
8:49And we all can capture it in many different ways.
8:54I know that I always tell people, it's crazy because I was going to do a post about this coming up, but it's true.
9:02I wanted to tell people, hey, in your life, you know, make sure you take pictures.
9:08Make sure you go get some professional pictures.
9:11Make sure you take pictures with family and friends.
9:13Make sure.
9:14Because I can't tell you how many obituary cover pictures I've gotten, and the family say, well, this is all we had.
9:23And honestly, I had a moment one day, and I didn't know the person I was doing the obituary for at all.
9:31But I got emotional.
9:33And I think it might be because I wanted to know the story, but the family said, we only have the driver license picture.
9:43And I just couldn't process it, but I had to.
9:47And that was the picture I had to use.
9:49And in my head, I kept thinking, why?
9:53Why would you only have a driver's license picture?
9:57You know, did no one want to take pictures of you?
10:00Did you not?
10:01And obviously, I would never have the answers, but it made me emotional because I feel like we all should be celebrated while we're living in Africa.
10:14And I just was curious, like, how could you not have pictures?
10:18And how do you go through, you know, without having any?
10:23And again, I won't have the answers, but it just made me feel sad.
10:27And I just want people to know, celebrate, take pictures, capture these moments.
10:34They can be passed down as you see it.
10:37And so I just want for us to really kind of think about the end, even though we may not want to.
10:48It's a real thing.
10:52And what's going to be on that front cover?
10:55Are you going to have a picture?
10:58So, yeah, I resonate with the capturing moments for sure.
11:05Wow.
11:06Wow.
11:07That is heavy.
11:10And I'm thinking like, wow, just the driver's license picture is the only, in a sense, memory we have to show the only memory we have to look back at.
11:23It's like, wow, that's powerful.
11:27And, you know, we have access to these smartphones now that comes with cameras.
11:32So everybody could take a picture every second of the day if they wanted to.
11:38Right.
11:40So, I mean, really, it's no excuse.
11:43But like you said, it's good to get those professional pictures and pictures with family and friends and business partners as well.
11:51Like, it took a while to get professional pictures with my team.
11:57Like, it's crazy.
11:59So yeah, it's important.
12:01It is.
12:02It's actually making me think like, wow, I need to share my story.
12:12Yeah.
12:14Yeah, photos are important.
12:20I might have to do some self-reflection after this.
12:25Yeah, my outlook has been changed drastically because I do a picture race every week.
12:33Is that, would you say, like a target audience?
12:39No, I would say my target audience is still creativity.
12:46And what I mean by that is, you know, I love to be called upon for any types of creativity.
12:54It's not the only thing that I want to print or, you know, things like that.
12:59But it is something that I sometimes it's hard for me to kind of tease it out.
13:11That makes sense.
13:13So let's talk about it.
13:14Yeah, so like I want to so I do a bit to where she is, but also do logos.
13:19I do flyers.
13:20I do websites.
13:22I do business cards.
13:23I do billboards.
13:25You know, I do brand strategies.
13:27I am a creative strategist.
13:30I work with businesses to creatively think about how they can market their business.
13:36How can they position their business for growth?
13:40How can they position their business for different growth levels that may make, you know, phase one, two, three and four.
13:48My creativity comes on everything that I do.
13:52Right.
13:53But does it mean that it's only one thing I want to do?
13:58No.
13:59And I couldn't see myself doing one thing.
14:02You know what I mean?
14:04So that's the thing I'm, you know, sometimes I have a hard time with.
14:10But there are some things that I just know I'm just not in the space no more of doing.
14:14So like event planning, I'm going to refer that out.
14:19Hey, I know someone else because I can't I don't have the capacity anymore to do the work that has to go into that.
14:26But it doesn't mean that I can't maybe creatively strategize with you for your event to help you understand different angles you can use with it and leave it at that.
14:38So it's just interesting.
14:41I'm in different projects, multiple projects.
14:47What would you say is your dream project?
14:50Like if you could wake up and be like, I'm ready to get to work.
14:55What would that be?
14:58My dream project is I want to do the graphics for a movie.
15:06I would like to do opening credits, ending credits.
15:09I would like to do the graphics within the movie.
15:14As far as like, like you may, you know how we might see a city and the bus may say that city's metropolitan bus district, da da da da.
15:25But that's really not real. It's graphics that's put in within the filming.
15:30So it can look like it's there.
15:33So I want to be on a movie set.
15:37And I want to be active in that space.
15:42So I joined the Greater Cleveland Film Commission.
15:47I went to learn how you could become a TA on a set and, you know, really putting in some time, really trying to network that space.
15:58But I know I can do it, you know, or have the opportunity to do set design for a movie.
16:06In that space or play or something.
16:10Again, I'm talking about on a large scale movie at that, but, you know, some something big.
16:19But yeah, that's my dream.
16:21Have you ever done a movie before?
16:24No, I've done some set designs, but not for a major movie at all.
16:30So I could tell you the story.
16:35A movie starts with an S, been around for a while, originated in Cleveland.
16:43Superhero. You know what that movie is?
16:47Superman.
16:49Yeah. Yep.
16:51So I kind of got shining really, really cute and looked frowned upon because this was my first movie ever that I got to work on set for.
17:06My first day and I learned Superman as a PA.
17:10And people were just bashing me out.
17:15How you get this? I've been working in the movie for seven years and I couldn't get it.
17:20It was like so much like dang.
17:23But it's going back to who you know and going back to the Cleveland Film Commission who helped get me back.
17:30I'm working with the people, the staff of Warner Brothers in New Orleans.
17:36And it's about the network.
17:39It is. Networking is huge in that industry.
17:43It was huge period. Don't get me wrong.
17:46But in that industry, it's way bigger.
17:51And actually learning who people are.
17:52But I feel like networking in general is something you have to do to get out here to be seen and heard.
18:01You cannot just expect people to heard about you.
18:06And then it don't work like that.
18:08Because even in those cases, people want to see you showing up.
18:14They want to see you getting active in different things.
18:17And so I keep trying to be active as best possible in that space.
18:27Because I know one day it's going to happen, right?
18:29And I got to be ready. But that is my dream.
18:34And just being in some type of production space as well, I actually like that type of stuff.
18:40Okay, okay.
18:41So that's why I say I'm a creative.
18:43It's not just I do the graphics.
18:46No, I can also probably be on set and lean to other different areas creatively.
18:56Creative chameleon.
19:00I like that. I like that.
19:03So yeah, I was speaking with my daughter yesterday, my oldest daughter.
19:08I was telling her about, like you said, event planning, going over different events.
19:16And one of the aspects was networking.
19:17And she's like, what's networking?
19:19So I was just explaining to her, you meet someone typically new that you may not know.
19:25Tell them about yourself, what you do, what they need help in, and how you could possibly help them.
19:33So yeah, networking is definitely, definitely, definitely, definitely powerful.
19:38And that movie is going to come through.
19:41Maybe even if we got to come up with a movie script and create a movie set, it's going to happen.
19:48Trust me, it's going to happen.
19:52Because I'm like, you know, I'm like, okay, you know how you had a bucket list for life?
19:59I'm like, okay, maybe as I get older or something, I'll be on the set or things like that.
20:06And I'll just see it, you know, and I'll feel it.
20:08And so I'm like, okay, it's coming.
20:10You know, but I have my list in general, though.
20:15So that's one thing on the list.
20:16But I still got my list of things I want to do.
20:20So yeah, yeah.
20:23Oh yeah, it's coming.
20:24And I know they do, I think, quarterly networking events.
20:29Yep.
20:29I'm not sure.
20:32It's definitely a great networking ecosystem to be a part of.
20:37It is.
20:39Is that where we met or did we meet at something else?
20:42I feel like we met or seen each other so many times, but we officially met.
20:49I think it was some event with Ray.
20:53It was, but I think it was the commission event.
20:56I really do.
20:58Two years ago?
21:00Yeah.
21:03I believe it was at one of their events.
21:08We met, but we didn't talk talk, but we met.
21:12And then later on we talked and began to talk.
21:16But yeah, pretty sure.
21:19Look, we be out here.
21:21That's how much.
21:22I know, right?
21:23We blend together.
21:24And the memory not helping.
21:26The memory is a little bit glitchy.
21:30I know you, you know me.
21:33Yeah, that's what matters now.
21:35We know each other, like you said.
21:40So I know you transitioned from event planning and more of the creative field.
21:48I know creative is more, like you said, that creative, a different side of your brain than event planning, which may be more logical and logistical.
22:00So how did you kind of shift your brain and mindset to be more creative?
22:08So first I had to start to trust my creativity and be confident in my creativity.
22:16As I said, you know, a few years ago, I made that that that switch mentally.
22:24I was being very hard on myself about my creativity and critiquing it and and all types of things, honestly.
22:32But I realized that our creativity is supposed to be unique.
22:38And so because it's not to be duplicated because it's connected to that person and no one person can be duplicated.
22:48So if that's the case, then my creativity can be liked by someone else, just as well as someone else's creativity can also be liked by the same person.
22:59But it doesn't mean that I shouldn't like my creativity versus the other person's right.
23:04Like somebody else's creativity shouldn't dictate if yours is good or not.
23:09All creativity is good.
23:12All creativity.
23:15Yeah, I feel like all creativity is needed.
23:19Because I do feel like if we didn't have it, the world would stand still and would not have evolved.
23:29Because I feel like creativity also is creating solutions to problems that society is facing.
23:38Whether it's somebody creatively, critically thought about something, then it helps, right?
23:48So the stoplight, you know, somebody said, hey, you know, we got not somebody.
23:54But it actually happened here in Cleveland.
23:59So when the stoplight was created, it was like, you know, hey, we need to do something to control traffic more better.
24:07People are getting killed.
24:09You know, these are happening.
24:11So families were losing people or things of that nature because of an issue, a problem.
24:18And then it was solved by having traffic lights, you know, to keep people safe.
24:25That's something that has withstand the test of time, period, hands down.
24:31And it's actually one of like my little quirky, corny things that I love as far as that has been created.
24:37I'm a very creative nerd when it comes to how things are made or why they were made and things like that.
24:46But without that, you know, if we didn't have stoplights right now, what would be going on?
24:55Well, how would this be processing, you know?
24:59And so each and that was in that space.
25:02Right. So I just like creativity in different spaces matter.
25:07You can have open heart surgery now with microscopic arms.
25:13Somebody had a thought first.
25:15Creativity always starts with a thought before action happens.
25:19Then it gets turned into the action that it needs to be or however in each different spaces.
25:25I'm not in the medical space at all.
25:29But if people are able to have open heart surgery or that massive surgeries without having open heart and risking that and things like that, that's amazing.
25:39That's helping somebody.
25:41If I had a heart problem, I would be happy.
25:44Somebody creatively begin to engineer that and to create it.
25:49You know, so I just say that creativity is needed.
25:54Like everybody needs it in their space because it's saving lives in that case.
26:01Right.
26:02And then it's saving lives with the traffic light.
26:04But at the same time, in the medical field, you know, the when they're pumping air, when you're doing a CPR first day, somebody thought about that.
26:15That's it.
26:16It's things out here that is when you sit back and really look at things around you, you will see creativity totally different.
26:25But you're like, wait a minute, or, oh, they made it this way for that reason.
26:31This is adapting to evolution.
26:36Our creations are adapted.
26:38This is why we got iPhone 17.
26:40When I first got an iPhone, I was sophomore in college and I was so excited.
26:45I had an iPod and an iPhone 4.
26:48I had a 4.
26:49Now we have 17.
26:51If you go look at the versions of iPhones and the versions of Androids over the time,
26:57mind you, I'm only 38.
27:01I used to have to hit A, B, C, you know, J, K, L to text.
27:08Now I can just talk to my phone, you know, text.
27:12I can record it to the voice note.
27:14That is because of creativity and evolution over time.
27:21Period.
27:22Started with thought.
27:24Yeah.
27:25Well, when I ask all creativity, because, you know, you've seen these chat GPT flyers,
27:37and I want to get your opinion on that too.
27:39Is that still creativity?
27:44For me, it is.
27:46Here's what I'm going to say.
27:47Now, is the output not the best when it comes to if they start looking alike?
27:53No, but I am going to say this.
27:56You can also talk to it differently to make it change the look as well.
28:00I think AI in itself is creativity.
28:05Hands down, it is.
28:07We watch futuristic movies all the time, right?
28:12I do believe one day there's going to be some hover cars.
28:15I might not live to see it as far as like the actual cars that people are using or things like that.
28:23But I do believe that technology is going to continue to advance.
28:28It's going to advance because we are advancing it.
28:32We are creating the advancement.
28:35And it's just the truth.
28:38For instance, the other day, I was on the airplane, and I'm used to the airplane having plugs or the port to plug on my phone.
28:48And this airplane didn't have that.
28:49And I was just, my mouth was wide open, like, where's the plugs?
28:55Acting as if I was not born in 87.
28:59When we, you know, growing up, no plugs or no airplane, you know what I mean?
29:06But technology is convenient for us.
29:14And it makes things easier.
29:16We are becoming a society that is adapting to easier.
29:26Kids now, you know, can I get an Uber?
29:29Can I get a Lyft?
29:30They're not doing the RTA.
29:32I don't know.
29:34You know, we didn't have money for taxis.
29:36Okay.
29:37So you had to go ahead, bust that move, get on Auntie Rita, get to where you got to get to go into if you want to meet your friends now.
29:45Or walk.
29:46Yeah, or walk.
29:48You're right.
29:50You got to, can we get an Uber?
29:52And kids ultimately don't want to do stuff because they, I don't have a ride.
29:57Get on the bus.
29:58No, I'm not doing that.
30:00Times are changing.
30:02But it's because of creativity that is changing.
30:07So if the Uber app was never thought, it never happened, Lyft never happened, what would these kids be doing?
30:16They can't have money for the taxi, right?
30:18So they need to get on the bus.
30:20The bus system will still be active, but times keep changing.
30:25So I think that AI is a part of our time change.
30:30And then eventually, you know, the next decade and decade after that, things are going to continue to evolve.
30:37But it's not necessarily a bad, bad thing unless, unless people begin to rely on it in such a way where they forget the fundamentals.
30:50So would you say you stuck somewhere if it's an emergency versus getting on the bus?
30:58Like would you not get on the bus?
31:00You know, that type of stuff.
31:01When it begins to maybe alter the mind process of thinking, I'll say, OK, we got some problems.
31:10But for some people and for some designers, they're not liking AI.
31:16I get it.
31:18I mean, because it can affect us, you know, honestly.
31:22But at the same time, I know that AI can't do some of the stuff we can do still.
31:31Now, again, maybe down the road, who knows?
31:34I don't know.
31:34But I know it's not going to stop because the creativity, the evolution of creativity is evolving.
31:42And we can't stop it.
31:44We can't stop it because we if we did stop it or if it does stop society, the world will stop.
31:55I mean, you know, I mean, we will be stuck in time.
31:57You know, just. Just imagine, you know, when I remember being gas being 99 cent when I was younger.
32:06What have we stayed in that?
32:08What if it stayed right?
32:10You know, what the with that pricing that's going up, would the economy be able to withstand if things stayed at a certain cost?
32:19So that means that minimum wage will stay where it's at.
32:22Everything is evolving with or without us.
32:25We can't stop it.
32:27It just it's naturally happening.
32:32I mean, it'd be nice if we'd spend 99 cent a gallon.
32:35Don't get me wrong.
32:36And I wouldn't mind my 25 cent bag of chips, you know.
32:41But yeah, no, that's that's that's a pastime now.
32:46And only some of us are going to know the pastime at that.
32:49You know, someone who's 18 don't know about 25 cent bag chips.
32:55Period.
32:57Four for a dollar.
32:58OK, four for a dollar.
33:00You know, you have three dollars.
33:02You come back with a nice little store for a nice little bag from the corner store.
33:06You know, a couple days.
33:08Yeah.
33:10Right. Not right.
33:12And so it's crazy.
33:13So it's kind of like, do we want things to be bought or do we want things to stand still?
33:18And I think selfishly, some of us to a degree, we want some pieces to stay the same
33:24and we want some pieces to get better.
33:26Yeah.
33:27And then, you know, I can honestly say there's some things I'm like, oh, we need to do better with this.
33:33But there's some areas I'm like, no, let's just keep it the same.
33:37Like some recipes have changed.
33:39You know, McDonald's fries back in the day used to.
33:43Yeah, those was good.
33:44Now, I don't know what that means.
33:46It's disgusting.
33:48You know what I mean?
33:50And so but I remembered a good version of a milkshake.
33:55And so some things I just don't think should have changed.
33:59But how do you go through years without changing?
34:04Because there's going to be new thoughts, right?
34:07There's going to be new ways to do things.
34:10If you think about like the movie The Hunger Games, how they would have all the holograms
34:17and stuff pop up and things like that.
34:20Well, that's a real thing.
34:23We just haven't seen it out facing yet.
34:27You know what I mean?
34:28But that's possible because this is what I say.
34:33The things we see in movies, the thoughts behind it has to have some possibility.
34:42Some.
34:44I'm not saying all, but some.
34:46If you can create it in a movie, even if it's digitally, you can maybe create it for real.
34:53And that's why people are evolving.
34:58I've had the, if I can go back in time.
35:01All right.
35:01So again, my corny moment.
35:04But I would love to go to like one of those old school, like 1912 world fairs.
35:11You go see the new inventions coming up and what people are trying to do.
35:15I would love to go see that.
35:18Because I know it was creativity in its purest moment, per se.
35:24And so from that type of things to now,
35:27if we had a world fair now, what would it look like?
35:32Well, let's do it.
35:33Let's bring it back.
35:36You know, I thought about it and I really, really, it was on my spirit.
35:40It's on my list.
35:41Let me say that it's on my list.
35:43And I do want to do one.
35:46Only because I feel like creativity again.
35:49Don't people see creativity as art, artistic form, drawing, color?
35:55No.
35:56I don't see it that way.
35:58That's a component.
36:00But creativity is in so many different ways.
36:04You can take a picture that can touch millions.
36:08You know, that's powerful.
36:10That's powerful.
36:12You didn't draw it.
36:13You didn't color it.
36:14You didn't paint it.
36:16You know, that's creativity, right?
36:18A person can have some spoken word or a speech that can move people.
36:26You know, when Barack Obama won the presidency,
36:34everybody in the world was crying.
36:36His speech was that powerful.
36:39Whoever wrote it, if it was him, I don't know.
36:42But it was powerful.
36:44Those words were powerful.
36:48Creativity has the ability to move people in many ways.
36:57So that's my, I mean, it's my outlook on AI.
37:03But it's a fad.
37:05I think the fire thing will eventually begin to switch up.
37:09We'll see.
37:12It's constantly evolving.
37:14I try to read an article or watch a video on it at least once a week
37:21just to keep my head around it.
37:23I'm like, oh, okay.
37:25Boy, they got nanobanana now.
37:27Oh, they got GPT.
37:28Got a new imaging system now.
37:31And so it's like every week, every month, there's a new thing.
37:35And if you don't stay on top of it,
37:39it's so much to catch up on and you will get lost.
37:43But do you see any negatives or any harms in being too creative?
37:55I think some negatives may be not harmful,
38:00but some negatives may be that your type of creativity may not resonate with some.
38:09And so you may get some pushback.
38:12You may get some naysayers or non-supporters,
38:19which can negatively impact that person.
38:24But one thing I am noticing is that somebody's creativity is going to be for somebody.
38:33It may not be for you, but it can be for somebody, right?
38:37And one of the things that made me think about that is
38:42R&B music versus heavy metal.
38:50Totally different crowd that may attract and things like that, right?
38:57But there's still an audience for both.
39:00One leads to more relaxed love or kickback feel vibes.
39:07And the other one is more high energy.
39:13Well, yeah, high energy.
39:15The words may be twisted in such a way and things of that nature.
39:20For some people may feel like I'm not sure what they're saying and things of that nature.
39:25And so I think that it's okay to understand that
39:30the negative sides of creative and being creative
39:34is that you're going to have someone who may not see your vision,
39:38but it doesn't mean your vision can't be seen.
39:42One more time, one more time.
39:46So you may, as a creative, you have to realize
39:50that your vision may not be seen by other people,
39:55but it does not mean that your vision should not be seen.
40:02So that's how I kind of walk my creative walk.
40:06And also, even when I'm looking at others creative,
40:11make sure my perspective is aligned with no biases.
40:16Because it don't have to resonate with me.
40:18It don't mean it's not creative, you know?
40:22Wow, this is one of my favorite, my top creative conversation.
40:30I don't have too many creative conversations.
40:32This is refreshing.
40:34I haven't got this high from talking about creativity
40:38or even reading about it since Rick Rubin's book.
40:43Okay.
40:44Like how he wrote that.
40:45I've never heard another author or writer write like that.
40:50So yeah, this is refreshing.
40:56Well, I didn't say this, but my book will be coming out on my birthday.
41:02Being intentional with my movements.
41:05And because it's August Leo, so August 14th,
41:09I am going to be releasing my creative book
41:12that is about creativity being in our DNA.
41:16Do you have a title?
41:17Is the title able to be shared at this moment?
41:21Almost, almost.
41:24I have to meet with my mother and I want to talk to my dad
41:27and then I'm going to finalize it.
41:29I do have like three, but I want them to weigh in on it
41:33because I feel like they made me creative that I am.
41:38Definitely be on the lookout.
41:40And once it's out, I'll definitely add it to the show notes.
41:46Wonderful.
41:47Oh yeah.
41:48So let's keep on this conversation about creativity
41:52and what people see in their perspectives
41:55because we know we have art.
41:58You know, people put their time in.
41:59I'm talking about sometimes years.
42:03And it sells for like $10, $20, $100 maybe.
42:08And then you have those people that just make a dot,
42:11a small dot on a white canvas or a stripe
42:16across the diagonal corner.
42:20And it sells for millions.
42:23What's your thoughts on that?
42:26My thoughts on that is all about how did they creatively
42:31market into a brand themselves?
42:36Because your story and who you are
42:41behind your work is what's going to also sell it, right?
42:49How did they position themselves and or who positioned them?
42:57So, for instance, if you have an art release
43:01and you have Beyonce coming,
43:05folks don't buy your blue line on your white canvas, period.
43:11Influence is huge.
43:14But one thing I'm going to say,
43:17and this is what I've been tapping into lately,
43:21is what is my creative influence?
43:27How does that actually resonate, right?
43:30So we do social media content, things of that nature.
43:34And I personally do some content,
43:37but I decided that I want to do more.
43:39I decided that I'm going to start to speak my raw,
43:43creative truth on a daily, right?
43:46And a lot of people say that,
43:51oh, I know you can draw.
43:53And I say, well, I appreciate that, but I can't.
43:58I can draft.
44:00I can, you know, draft buildings or something, room scapes,
44:04but I cannot free and draw for sale, in my opinion, right?
44:12But it had me thinking one day, people think I can,
44:16and they probably, you know, okay, I like it, right?
44:19It's all about the influence of how you kind of come off the people.
44:25It's also the same creative influence
44:30that I think political people have to utilize.
44:34Because you cannot reach millions of people without having it.
44:40You know what I mean?
44:40It's just the truth.
44:42Even musicians and things like that.
44:45So when you are like in a social space,
44:50you have to begin to look at your creative influence
44:52when it comes to your artwork
44:55or whatever you're creating and putting out.
44:59I did see a show that was in New York.
45:02I didn't go to it, but I seen it online.
45:05And she had crocheted basically watercolor paintings.
45:12It was like, imagine watercolor, but in crochet.
45:17And she didn't have a good sale, but I thought the work was amazing.
45:23I'm like, how did you do that with crochet, y'all?
45:26And I was like, wow.
45:28And so she went on social media and started talking about it.
45:33I was like, you know, I really put a lot into this
45:35and this, this, this, that, and a third.
45:38And somebody ended up sharing one somebody
45:42and then another somebody and then another somebody.
45:45And actually, you know, she's crying because her collection got sold out.
45:53So was it the people who shared it, the influence?
45:58Was it her story that did the influence?
46:00Was it a combination of both?
46:03Either way, when you create, my premise is to be confident
46:09that your work is a million dollars.
46:12Because the way you see it is how other people will see it,
46:17you know, at the end of the day.
46:19And so I had to get out of my own creative self-doubting head
46:26that my designs can move, my designs can empower,
46:33my designs can change things, you know?
46:38And so I wanted to make sure that when we're creating,
46:44no matter what you're doing, realize that it's a purpose.
46:48You're creating with a purpose for a reason.
46:54And you're good from there.
46:56But also, too, and say that red dot, right?
47:04Perspective is key.
47:07That red dot may mean something for one person,
47:09but something different for the other.
47:11We used to do this when we was in school.
47:13When I was in college, we would have our art classes.
47:16You would have to put your work up on the easel and sit down.
47:21And you had to take, you know, people's feedback,
47:25whether it was good or bad.
47:27And then we always would also share what we saw.
47:30Before you say anything, it was what the audience saw.
47:35And it always blew my mind how people were seeing
47:39something totally different than what I intended.
47:41Yeah.
47:42But then I realized that if that piece resonates with them in that way,
47:48then that's what makes this click and connect, right?
47:54So yeah, I went to the fashion talks,
47:58fashion show yesterday under the chandelier.
48:02It was a great show, so many different designs.
48:06But one of the biggest things that I fell in love with
48:08about the whole fashion show was the music choice that they used
48:14for the collection that was walking,
48:17to the point where I shazamed each song and I listened to each one
48:23because creativity is more than just what we were looking at.
48:28It was the words of the song that resonated with the pieces.
48:33I was just like, well, my mind was blown.
48:39But everybody enjoyed, you know, people having a good time,
48:43but you never know what resonates with a person.
48:49So was it some pieces that I personally wouldn't wear?
48:52Sure, absolutely.
48:55But it don't mean that they wasn't nice.
48:56It don't mean that they were creatively done
48:58and it was artistic in the way it looked, sure.
49:02But it made me think like,
49:04oh, just because I won't wear somebody else's, right?
49:08It's your design, your creative, your eye is here for somebody.
49:14And that's just, I can't keep saying that enough.
49:17You know, it's for somebody, period.
49:21You just got to do it.
49:23And social media haven't told us that by now.
49:28You know, back in the day when we didn't have,
49:31Facebook came out my first year in college.
49:35It took a while just for that to get going into how it was.
49:40But before you had all of that type of influence,
49:45you kind of had to hit the street, you know, hit the pavement more.
49:49You would see people set up a lot more back then.
49:51But now we can showcase, yeah, you saw it, right?
49:56But now you can showcase yourself in such a way.
50:00So I say that use your creative influence to influence, basically.
50:14Wow.
50:17That's the segment right there.
50:20Use your creative influence to influence.
50:23And I love when I see creatives, you know,
50:30getting in the political world and helping the politics and politicians
50:36and social causes and using their voice, using their art,
50:40their creativity to help drive that impact.
50:45It's amazing.
50:47But I want to ask, as I ask every creative that I have on a podcast,
50:56this question on creativity, so more about your process.
51:02So I want you to describe your creative process as if it was a weather forecast.
51:12Okay.
51:16So I would say my creative process is going to involve some sunny skies,
51:26it's going to involve a quiet storm,
51:34and then I would say that it would ultimately also involve some heavy rains.
51:41Then I would say that it's going to describe or include potentially
51:47some drop in weather late at night.
51:53I mostly create at night, I'm up all night,
51:58just something about the nighttime and still the calm of it for me,
52:03and the energy, you know, everybody's at rest.
52:08Then I would say it's going to include some cloudy skies,
52:13and sometimes I have to step back from a design,
52:17and I may have to go listen to music,
52:19or I may have to go take a breather or a pause before I can come back to it.
52:27But then after those clouds have moved,
52:30we're back to the bright sunny skies,
52:32and I'm in my Zen space of finishing what I'm working on,
52:39but I ultimately sometimes have to sit and think out my creativity,
52:46or I have to hear it.
52:50So I would say that that's where the other storms come from,
52:56is listening to someone talk.
52:59Most of my clients, I need to hear what they're envisioning.
53:04Usually when I hear it, I can take it on and get it going
53:08because I'm an audio visual learner.
53:12So I just kind of hear that's where the storm comes from,
53:15is them talking to me.
53:18And then I'll also say, so the rain is the ideas pouring.
53:28Once I kind of hear different things, ideas get to going.
53:32I start seeing it.
53:34I'm like, okay, I got it, right?
53:37But I also have started projects, and then like I said, I hit that block,
53:41and that's where the clouds come from because I'm a little foggy.
53:45I'm like, hold on, okay, see, okay, wait.
53:48And I have to go readjust, you know what I'm saying,
53:50realign and come back to the sunny skies.
53:54So I would say my creative process includes that and a whole lot of music.
54:00I create with music of all types of genres while I'm creating.
54:07Listening to music a lot, probably 10 hours of my day if not more.
54:12I was going to ask, what is that song,
54:14your go-to song when you want to get in your creative mindset?
54:21Okay, so I am a big instrumental person,
54:27big band type person to a degree, if that makes sense.
54:32And I used to play the clarinet and was real big into music.
54:38And so as far as like when I was growing up.
54:44So when I was younger, I used to play the B-flat clarinet,
54:48and I loved band music and I loved instrumentals and things like that.
54:52But I love music that can make you feel like you're moving
54:58or you can feel the energy.
55:01So one of my songs I listen to quite a bit is the dawn of the planet of the apes.
55:09It's on that movie soundtrack.
55:11It's the great eight processional, it's the name of the song.
55:17Okay.
55:18And it makes me just feel like I can conquer Mount Kilimanjaro or something,
55:26to be quite honest.
55:27And so that's a song that I really kind of get into for sure.
55:34Okay, I'm about to check that out.
55:35See, I love photo editing because you get to listen to music, like you said,
55:42but when I'm doing videos, I got to listen to the audio and the dialogue
55:46and this and that, so it's not a lot of music time.
55:50But yeah, editing photos.
55:54I know I listened to, it was this one soundtrack.
55:57It was a car movie.
56:00I'm trying to think which one it was.
56:01But they had a nice intro song to the soundtrack.
56:06It was, man, I had that on repeat for hours.
56:14Trying to think who it was.
56:16I know it was some car movie in the last five years.
56:21But man, yeah, I love a good instrumentalist.
56:23I always find that one or two good songs in a movie, like you said,
56:28to examine different songs at different events.
56:32Like when I go to a movie, I'm like,
56:34oh, I love how they created that scene with this song.
56:38You know, you listen to the song sometimes without the movie.
56:41It's like, ah, duh.
56:42Exactly.
56:43You see, and that's like why I love all aspects of creativity, right?
56:48Yeah.
56:49Because you got the person who wrote the script,
56:52but the person who scored the music made it come to life, right?
56:56The script was fired,
56:58but you had to build the layers of creativity to make it be.
57:02Right now, the person who wrote the script may not be good at scoring.
57:06You know, they don't.
57:07They ain't they cup of tea.
57:09But with these layers, we are creating masterpieces as creatives.
57:14And I'm here for it every day.
57:19We don't hear that word anymore.
57:22Like back in the day, oh, this is my masterpiece.
57:25You don't hear that anymore.
57:28No, you don't.
57:30You do.
57:30You don't.
57:31We got to bring that.
57:32You don't.
57:34We do.
57:35We do.
57:36I might just make that on my T-shirt.
57:40This is my masterpiece.
57:42Yes.
57:44Yeah, we're bringing it back.
57:46We're bringing back all the good times.
57:48All the good times.
57:49The 25 cent.
57:52You might not get as much, but it's still going to be 25 cent.
57:56Right.
57:57Man, can you imagine if they had a store that was kind of price-like back then?
58:03Shoosh.
58:04I think they'd be sold out.
58:06They'd come out with a store, right?
58:11Well, not a store like that.
58:13I can't even do no convenience store.
58:14I mean...
58:16Maybe I'll sell some stuff in it.
58:19Now I'm getting this vision, have a back-in-the-day event,
58:25where you get that feel, and even teaching a younger generation
58:30what it was like to live in different time periods.
58:35Mm-hmm.
58:36That's my historian brain coming to me, in fact.
58:40I love it.
58:41That's different.
58:43I like it.
58:44I'm alien.
58:45I got to be different.
58:47Yes.
58:47That's my higher level, higher consciousness.
58:53I think creativity is one of the highest levels of consciousness.
58:59It is.
59:00Whatever you imagine to come alive, you should think about it.
59:03You definitely can and will and shall.
59:06You just got to do it, you know?
59:09Yeah, the doing it, the execution is the key part.
59:14And I think that the low noise is every four to five minutes,
59:19four and a half, five minutes.
59:23But, yeah, creativity, to me, is a lifesaver.
59:29I know being depressed, especially as a teenager,
59:33before I even knew what depression was,
59:37creativity, it helped me.
59:38I'm not a freehand jar, but sometimes I just need to draw it out.
59:43Like I'm more of a writer and a musician.
59:47And sometimes that don't work because you in this mind state,
59:51but just drawing it out, still being creative,
59:55or doing something unorthodox, like writing on a roll or something.
1:00:01Like, uh, being a creative mess.
1:00:05And then, like you said, like that rain and then the sunshine come out
1:00:10after the clouds.
1:00:13Like my creative process as a weather forecast
1:00:18is a warm, sunny day with light drizzle rain to refresh you occasionally.
1:00:30Because, you know, intense heat sometimes,
1:00:32like all right, it's a little overwhelming in that rain.
1:00:36Almost like you see a loved one that you ain't seen in a long time.
1:00:40Or, you know, if it's a husband or a wife,
1:00:44you ain't seen them in weeks.
1:00:46And then it's like, man, I've been struggling.
1:00:50I'm going to get out this rut.
1:00:52And then they come around or even be your best friend or something.
1:00:56And they come around and just change your whole mood and momentum of your day.
1:01:00Yeah, the whole mood and momentum.
1:01:05That's what I aim for with everything.
1:01:07I mean, like, with my poetry, it was like that horror, that gritty,
1:01:12like, oh, you're going to feel it.
1:01:13You're going to feel what I had to go through.
1:01:16But it's always ending it on a positive note, someway, somehow.
1:01:22Even if I didn't reach that positive note yet.
1:01:25Yeah, and that's the thing.
1:01:27So I love the positivity that creativity can give.
1:01:33It's so natural.
1:01:34It's so pure.
1:01:35It's kind.
1:01:38And it's uplifting.
1:01:39And it can be supportive.
1:01:41You know, it can even be funny.
1:01:44When need be, right?
1:01:47I'll never forget.
1:01:48I don't like going to the doctor's.
1:01:51I get scared and just all types of stuff.
1:01:54But I never forget.
1:01:55The nurse told my doctor that I was like, I have white coat syndrome,
1:02:00like I just get really have anxiety or anxious when I met the doctors.
1:02:06My doctor came in walking like a running a tank or something.
1:02:12And I'm going to stop laughing like, um, hello.
1:02:16First time meeting this doctor, by the way.
1:02:19And I'm cracking up.
1:02:21I'm like, oh, hello.
1:02:22He's like, what's your name?
1:02:24Talking like a whole like monkey type situation.
1:02:29Oh, it was hilarious.
1:02:31He was like, you feel better?
1:02:33I was like, yeah.
1:02:34I was like, why did you do that?
1:02:35He told me why.
1:02:37And I just felt so happy and supported in that moment because I was by myself.
1:02:43And his creativity said, let me go in here and make her laugh.
1:02:49Loved it.
1:02:49You know, changed the game and made me feel more relaxed for my appointment,
1:02:54which wasn't nothing too crazy, but I just didn't want to be there.
1:02:57I'm like, I'm ready to go.
1:02:58Hurry up.
1:02:58Get me out of here.
1:03:00And it was like he didn't have to do that.
1:03:03Right.
1:03:04I appreciated his creative thought and that moment, his caringness and willing to make
1:03:10himself look like a whole orangutan or whatever.
1:03:14And so I'll never forget that moment sticks with me.
1:03:18Right.
1:03:19It's always like people say, well, you can be kind and nice to somebody, you
1:03:23know, and things like that.
1:03:24But the way he chose to do it was his form of creativity in his space.
1:03:30Right.
1:03:30He's a doctor.
1:03:32So he didn't, you know, he didn't have to do it that way because he just
1:03:35hate on, you know, but he took that time.
1:03:39So I just love what creativity can bring in many spaces.
1:03:45Yeah.
1:03:45I love that and love people like that.
1:03:47Like they say, take your job seriously.
1:03:51I feel like even though people will be like, oh, he's I got a doctor that's
1:03:55playing or I act like a monkey.
1:03:57He's childish.
1:03:58No, he took his job seriously because at the end of the day, like you
1:04:01said, you laugh and laughter is the best medicine ever.
1:04:07Mm hmm.
1:04:08Like it heals.
1:04:10Like even looking back, like even me being the co-founder of creative
1:04:16Healing Foundation, nonprofit, like when we all sat down and came, put our
1:04:26minds together to have it come about, like we do see creativity as a healing
1:04:32mechanism.
1:04:33And what ways can we heal creatively?
1:04:37Mm hmm.
1:04:39I asked you, especially in the early stages, mostly as a kid, teenager, what
1:04:49avenues did you see that helped healed you that was creative?
1:04:59What avenues that have healed me that's creative?
1:05:05Music, for sure.
1:05:10When I am going through trying times, I resort to music.
1:05:16Drawing.
1:05:18What type of music?
1:05:20So I really listen to all types of music.
1:05:25So I love reggae music.
1:05:29It's my number one.
1:05:32Afrobeat, soca, but I also love classical.
1:05:37I also love contemporary.
1:05:40I love house music, as it would be called, or techno.
1:05:46Yeah.
1:05:49And I love instrumentals and band music.
1:05:56So I like to listen to band cadences and drum lines and things like
1:06:00that.
1:06:01Okay.
1:06:02But I also like listening to DJ mashups.
1:06:07Love it, love it, love it.
1:06:08Because you never know how they're going to do a lead out or a lead in.
1:06:12And they may do a mashup to chew and even expect them for them to do, but
1:06:16because of their creative ear, they heard that undertone beat from the
1:06:21one song to the next.
1:06:23And so I love that.
1:06:28Drawing or doodling, I'll call it doodling.
1:06:32I don't know.
1:06:33Doodling, I'll doodle.
1:06:37Doodly doodly do.
1:06:42Oh, but I was in school, I used to doodle a lot in my books and stuff
1:06:47and to the point where they call my parents, like, she's not focusing.
1:06:51And I kept telling them I'm having a hard time focusing, you know, and
1:06:55you know, us as creatives, most of us have some type of neurodivergency
1:07:00going on somewhere and somewhere.
1:07:03And so I didn't find out until I got to college.
1:07:07And so I doodle sometimes.
1:07:11It helps my mind escape.
1:07:13I might doodle anything.
1:07:15I might be doing a whole battle on Mortal Kombat just happening.
1:07:21This is my version of my, you know, what I'm drawing, but I might do
1:07:24that when sometimes I'll write a little, like it's a comic book or
1:07:28sometimes I'll write, like, love stories as far as, like, in the
1:07:32little quotes and stuff.
1:07:35That helps my mind escape.
1:07:38Another creative area that I really zen out to is watching movies.
1:07:46I'm a big movie buff, but when I'm overwhelmed, I'll legitimately
1:07:51even go to the movies and pick a movie, watch it.
1:07:55Don't matter what it is, none of that.
1:07:56Don't read it.
1:07:58None of that.
1:07:59Say, okay, which one's coming up?
1:08:01Pick that one.
1:08:02Okay.
1:08:02Watch it.
1:08:04I like the creativity that movies give.
1:08:08Most especially when you begin to look at the deep symbolism or
1:08:10certain things and things like that.
1:08:13So I would say I always look to kind of decompress with other
1:08:22creative things that's around me.
1:08:26Do you have a favorite artist?
1:08:30As far as music?
1:08:35Music, painting, someone that's like you, creative community.
1:08:42So my favorite artist is Andy Warhol.
1:08:49I like his work.
1:08:52My favorite architect is Courtney, well, generic, but it's Frank
1:08:58Boy, right?
1:09:01Because I like the stories behind his work.
1:09:04When you look at his buildings and the story that's behind it,
1:09:06you can see it.
1:09:11My favorite artist, Reggae, or I would say it's Jacqueer,
1:09:19Egyptian, I mean, this goes on with them.
1:09:26But those men.
1:09:29And then my favorite band to listen to is Clark Atlanta.
1:09:38And then I also like, I like mystery movies.
1:09:51Like movies that make you think, like, okay, you thought it was
1:09:57that person, but it wasn't.
1:09:59So almost like clue movies, but I like that type of movie.
1:10:05Kind of what my mind needs to kind of relax is that.
1:10:09And then I also would watch romance movies.
1:10:13Only because I'm a sappy chick, so I'd be sitting there crying.
1:10:19And I'm a lovey dovey chick.
1:10:20It's got to be a rom-com.
1:10:23It's got to be a laugh.
1:10:25I like rom-coms.
1:10:29Cheesy, but rom-coms.
1:10:32I like rom-coms too.
1:10:36But I'm definitely a hard marching.
1:10:41Oh, that's good.
1:10:44That's good.
1:10:46And transition more on the business side.
1:10:50When was that moment that it clicked?
1:10:53Like, you know what?
1:10:54I can use my creativity for business purposes.
1:11:00Do you remember what our occurrence was?
1:11:05So my occurrence was interesting.
1:11:08It was because my professor was on my neck when I was in college.
1:11:15And I felt like he was picking on me.
1:11:19And one day, he thought that I was in my phone.
1:11:25And I wasn't, but I was.
1:11:30So he was like, Shakur, come up here.
1:11:32And I'm like, man, why this man calling me up here?
1:11:35Dang.
1:11:36And it was only two black students in my whole program.
1:11:41And it was me, one other female.
1:11:45And he was like, I felt like he was picking on me, right?
1:11:49And all my professors were non-minority.
1:11:57So he says, what's going to be your legacy as a designer?
1:12:03And I made this face, and he made it back.
1:12:06He said, well, I'm thinking, call me up here to ask me this right now.
1:12:11It's all random.
1:12:12Like literally, while he was lecturing, he did it.
1:12:15And so I was like, I'm a creative Leo.
1:12:18He was like, we're proving.
1:12:19I was like, all right.
1:12:20So I started my business a month later.
1:12:27Now, when I started it, truthfully, it was because of that moment.
1:12:34But I did not have the mental thought that I would do something with the business.
1:12:44I was studying to be an interior designer, and that's what I was about to go do in life.
1:12:49And yeah, sophomore year of college.
1:12:53And so he became my first client.
1:12:57He asked me to design a flyer for his Christmas party at his house.
1:13:03He invited me to the Christmas party.
1:13:06I went.
1:13:06And again, I'm still thinking, why does man invite me to this Christmas party?
1:13:10But I went and had a great time.
1:13:13And I asked him, why you be being so hard on me?
1:13:18He said, because you don't see your own potential.
1:13:23And honestly, looking back, that was the moment.
1:13:27You know, for when I realized that I do have what it takes,
1:13:34I just need to apply myself and do better.
1:13:38And so then I started taking design classes on the graphic side, fell in love with that as well.
1:13:46And then began to do different things.
1:13:49And my family would always have, like, events and parties and stuff.
1:13:54So I started.
1:13:55I took my business serious.
1:13:57Maybe like, I don't say probably like seven or eight months later,
1:14:03he was having something and I wanted to like brand myself.
1:14:07And so I started figuring out how one of my business logo to be what it is.
1:14:12It took all that time to do that.
1:14:14And he ended up telling me later on down the road down the years that, you know, he was proud of me.
1:14:28He was happy to see me still sticking with being the creative Leo.
1:14:35And I graduated and got a job.
1:14:40The business was still something on the side that I did.
1:14:43It was cool, but it was still something on the side.
1:14:46And then one day I realized I was running somebody else's company and I have my own that I could run.
1:14:54And then.
1:14:56My so the company I was with, they was a situation that happened and basically eluded to that I was not being trustworthy.
1:15:05But somebody was lying on me.
1:15:07So they end up coming out in the rents later.
1:15:09But, you know, so I realized that I wanted to be somewhere of value where I could be valued and, you know, appreciated and not seen in the light that I never would do.
1:15:21So I took that leap of faith and go full time in the business and have not looked back.
1:15:30It's been an interesting journey because, again, there's been so many challenges that have come my way, but I refuse to give up.
1:15:39I refuse to cave in.
1:15:41And, you know, I'm going to try to keep pushing.
1:15:44But I had a couple of different aha moments business wise that solidified me being on this journey, especially that no look back.
1:15:59I'll say if you did look back, we would have never met this conversation.
1:16:04This podcast would have never been had.
1:16:07Like it's so many moments.
1:16:10We went right into so many of the same rooms.
1:16:14That works.
1:16:17But even started an office on like you just jumped and did it and wanted to prove yourself.
1:16:24So where did you learn business from, or was it parents pure experience, pure experience and then I ended up going to get a business degree.
1:16:37I wanted to make sure that I understood it better.
1:16:41So I changed my major and did it up, switching the business and then getting a business degree and then
1:16:54applying what I have learned in my business.
1:16:59And then, but the rest of it was through the trenches.
1:17:05To be honest, just, you know, learn about trial and error.
1:17:10Realize, oh, I was supposed to do that this way.
1:17:14Oh, I need to go fix that my bad, you know.
1:17:20But that type of those moments made me begin to really want to learn more and really make sure that I'm taking this serious.
1:17:27And I realized that I'm only going to get as far as I can based off of what I put in.
1:17:34So I've been putting in, pouring in, learning more and more and more to elevate my business.
1:17:43Yeah, I definitely testify to that.
1:17:46Yes, you are.
1:17:47And even being in the same rooms, like I said, and learning from the same people and same colleges, college programs.
1:17:56Like, yes, you are.
1:17:58Yes, you are.
1:17:58Yes, you are.
1:18:00About that growth and constant learning and the more you learn, the more creative you could be.
1:18:06Absolutely.
1:18:07The more you're exposed to different things, the more you see, the more you hear.
1:18:12The different stories that's being shared.
1:18:16The different angles, the different perspectives.
1:18:18It's always something to learn from.
1:18:21Even if people that, they draw the same picture over and over and over.
1:18:28It gradually evolves or changes and gets better.
1:18:33Because they did it 10,000 times.
1:18:35But the million time they did it, it may look completely different from the first time they did it.
1:18:42But it's the same picture.
1:18:48Did you have a biggest business lesson already or is this something that's still in the works?
1:18:57Biggest business lesson?
1:19:02I'm going to have to go with this.
1:19:06I'm learning through the $10,000 Small Business Program.
1:19:10Knowing your numbers.
1:19:14That, to me, that's been my biggest stand-in-all moment so far on this journey.
1:19:21That I wish I'd approached and known my numbers the way I know them now.
1:19:26To help me make decisions that I probably would be further ahead.
1:19:30Oh, I like that.
1:19:31And I probably wouldn't have made some of the mistakes I made, you know, financially and things like that.
1:19:37If I knew the numbers.
1:19:39But sometimes when you're in business, you, just like in life, you're like, okay, well, I feel this is right or I feel this.
1:19:46No, everything in business, run the numbers.
1:19:50Let the numbers dictate your decision.
1:19:54Period.
1:19:55Don't add up.
1:19:57If it makes sense number-wise, don't do it.
1:20:00Or see how you need to alter it to maybe make the sense for the numbers.
1:20:04But if I would have just had that beforehand.
1:20:10Oh, my goodness.
1:20:13I just would just so many things differently.
1:20:16So now I don't make no decisions without knowing my numbers.
1:20:19So before you knew your numbers and you was making those decisions, what was that like?
1:20:25It was me feeling like, okay, this seems like it'll be right, you know?
1:20:31Or I think people will buy this shirt, right?
1:20:38But I didn't do no research.
1:20:41I didn't do no perspectives.
1:20:43So I'm going off what I think I feel.
1:20:47That's fine and dandy.
1:20:50But I think I feel only go so far if you didn't test out what you're thinking of, you know?
1:21:00Kind of like when you're doing research and development.
1:21:04If you got a product, that's the reason why they test it.
1:21:07That's the reason you got to test products because you got to know the numbers behind it.
1:21:11When you did the product testing, how many people liked it?
1:21:16Didn't like it?
1:21:17The taste was great.
1:21:17Taste was bad.
1:21:18The smell was good.
1:21:19The smell was bad.
1:21:21The after effect was this.
1:21:22How many did you do?
1:21:24Test 100 people or not?
1:21:27Because what if they do no testing?
1:21:30And you say, like I remember I bought for my printer, I should have bought one pack of paper, tested it out.
1:21:39No, I bought a whole three cases of this paper because it was a good deal.
1:21:45The paper ended up being not the best paper for the obituary.
1:21:49So now we're stuck with three cases of this paper that you can't return, right?
1:21:58So I should have tested it out.
1:22:01There's some R&D on that paper, right?
1:22:04But not even looking at the cost of running the numbers.
1:22:08How much is it going to cost me if this is not good paper?
1:22:12I didn't look at that.
1:22:14So that was a waste of money.
1:22:17Should have did some numbers.
1:22:19Should have looked at the cost better and should have realized the cost was going to be substantial if the paper didn't work out.
1:22:29But I went with the, I think it might work.
1:22:33And because they had to sell a cut to three cases.
1:22:39So yeah, that was a fail for sure because I never, you know what?
1:22:47To this day that paper is in my storage unit.
1:22:51Come to think of it.
1:22:53Well, I know you hold different workshops and you have almost 500 plus attendees at these workshops.
1:23:05I think you could use them at your workshops.
1:23:08If I probably should just use a prescribed paper.
1:23:11I probably should.
1:23:13I really should because I can't print on it, you know, or I can even, you know what?
1:23:19I probably can't even donate.
1:23:22Now I'm talking to you through other programs that they're doing with the Youth in the City Artwise.
1:23:28I can maybe donate it.
1:23:30And that's probably should do something.
1:23:33It's definitely sitting there.
1:23:35It has a new home.
1:23:38I didn't get rid of it.
1:23:40You know, I didn't have to thought of repurposing and use it.
1:23:44But I had a little delay on my actions.
1:23:50Some come abouts, cool.
1:23:54Yes.
1:23:54Well, know your numbers.
1:23:56Yeah.
1:23:56So know your numbers.
1:24:00How much do your dream cost?
1:24:02You know your numbers.
1:24:03You want to do set design and graphics for a movie.
1:24:08If the right movie was to approach you with a limited budget, what would you charge them?
1:24:22Probably 100,000.
1:24:27Know your numbers.
1:24:27Why you come up with that number specifically?
1:24:32Because you look at maybe how much time it's going to take to do the filming and things like that.
1:24:40And maybe how many hours, you know.
1:24:43So when you break all that down, what does it equal to?
1:24:47And then you also got to think about if you're going to have to pay somebody.
1:24:50But that is for like a three month film time.
1:24:55Now, if it was six months, then we tripling it.
1:24:58I mean doubling it, I'm sorry.
1:25:00But yeah, because I might have to pay somebody within that time frame to assist or something like that.
1:25:08So it depends on the type of set, but I'm thinking like a smaller set.
1:25:16Now we got like eight different rooms, two hospital views.
1:25:21That's a different story.
1:25:24But I'm thinking something small.
1:25:27Okay.
1:25:30And as you mentioned, team, you need these key players.
1:25:34Excuse me.
1:25:35Not just for the movie, but for your business right now.
1:25:39The creative Leo.
1:25:42What are some of the people that you need on your team right now?
1:25:48I need fellow creative strategists that can take on different key project areas.
1:26:00So as I said, we do commercial printing, but we also do graphics.
1:26:04So someone that can be over a commercial printing side would be cool and try to drive that area.
1:26:11Someone to drive the graphic area.
1:26:14And then myself will more or less kind of play a role in those key areas, but also drive the creative brand side of things as well.
1:26:29Okay.
1:26:29And when you say creative strategist, because I mean, I consider myself as a creative strategist in a sense.
1:26:38Not necessarily brand myself as that, but a wink wink.
1:26:43We could definitely talk about it.
1:26:51But wrapping up, wrapping up, wrapping up.
1:26:54When we think about legacy, what does legacy mean for you and then also for your business?
1:27:06For me, legacy means how did I make people feel when they met me or when they spoke to me or when they saw me?
1:27:19Legacy for me personally is about community impact as well.
1:27:25I'm big on the community, big on volunteering, big on helping out where I can in any way.
1:27:34Because I feel like my community poured into me as I was growing up and I feel that it still does.
1:27:45On a business side, connecting to a community.
1:27:51You're asking the community to support your business, but not support the community as a business.
1:27:57It's crazy work to me.
1:28:00Because there's areas as business owners we can have great impact when it comes to our community.
1:28:06Whether you donate into local community center to help them with feed, doing meals or something like that.
1:28:16The impact can go all the way.
1:28:19And most especially when you collaborate with other business owners to make a bigger impact.
1:28:25Legacy for my business is how can we preserve certain moments in time and become a part of history
1:28:36that will ultimately evolve history.
1:28:44I would say that's my legacy.
1:28:49And as you talk about preservation, I just took a walk last year downtown multiple times.
1:29:01Just around downtown looking at the buildings, looking at the art, looking at the statues.
1:29:08You see a lot of grief, a lot of sadness.
1:29:13War and poverty and these statues and monuments and even the architecture on the buildings.
1:29:21If you really look at the detail of certain buildings downtown, it's grief and it's sadness.
1:29:29And then it reflects the city.
1:29:33And when people look at that, it's almost like a mirror.
1:29:35They reflect what they see.
1:29:38And you see the homelessness, the poverty, the war with the shootings and everything.
1:29:44Because our downtown looks like this.
1:29:46This is what we're reflecting.
1:29:49What is your thoughts on those images,
1:29:57visualization pieces that are used downtown and on these buildings and statues?
1:30:06You said what is some of the visualization?
1:30:10What's your thoughts on the visualization and the images, the imagery that's used on these buildings?
1:30:21So, you know, obviously going to school for interior design,
1:30:26you really learn and we have to learn architectural history.
1:30:29And we have to be able to look at a building or look at a house
1:30:32and tell you all the designs features and write them down for a test.
1:30:38So, I totally get where you're coming from.
1:30:42I think these features and these things tell history.
1:30:50Just like 50 years from now, the signs, the walls, the monuments,
1:30:59or the areas that have George Floyd on them, the murals, things like that,
1:31:07people are going to go back and look that up.
1:31:11And it's going to speak to our history and our time.
1:31:16But if you go back to some historical parts of Cleveland
1:31:22and you go back and realize that you're standing on a street
1:31:27that was considered a segregated area
1:31:31and you are in a part of it where your ancestors were not welcomed,
1:31:40it changes your whole perspective as you stand in that moment.
1:31:45Because you're now looking at a house
1:31:48or something that stood during that time frame
1:31:53that was a part of the historical society.
1:31:56And it will tell you different histories and stuff.
1:31:59And you're like, whoa, okay, so this house was this.
1:32:04In Akron, John Brown House,
1:32:07so you just live in Akron but not Akron U.
1:32:10But the John Brown House is there in Akron, it still stands.
1:32:17And going to go see that and reading the history
1:32:20and seeing where it is now, it's not on a bad side of town or nothing.
1:32:25It's just like, what did this look like?
1:32:30You know in a movie where they can stand in the middle
1:32:33somewhere and everything around them rewinds.
1:32:39I think that what we see is a part of history,
1:32:44most especially in certain architectural designs
1:32:47and things of that nature as well.
1:32:52The reason why some buildings have gargoyles on them
1:32:55or like Grecian people or all that is the story behind it.
1:33:06And they creatively, to me, preserved history by putting that there,
1:33:13which is why murial walls and things like that
1:33:17where people, artists who are creatively expressing their feelings
1:33:20about maybe what's going on in society, if it still stands, you know.
1:33:31You surely influenced me and stopped me from cussing out the city of Cleveland.
1:33:37Y'all need to change this.
1:33:40It's a different perspective.
1:33:43That's actually different.
1:33:47Okay.
1:33:49And for someone that's listening to this as we explore your creative mind,
1:33:56what is three to five takeaways from this podcast interview
1:34:01that you would love to leave?
1:34:06Understand that your creativity deserves to be seen and heard.
1:34:14Make sure that you use your creativity to influence.
1:34:20And ask yourself, what will your legacy be with your creativity?
1:34:29I would say those are minds.
1:34:33Creative influence is like the overarching theme in my mind for this.
1:34:42This has been beautiful.
1:34:44But I know you said you have a shop, a book.
1:34:49How can we find more information about that?
1:34:53Or can they look you up, book you, all that good stuff?
1:34:57Sure.
1:34:58So I'm on Instagram at the underscore Creative Leo
1:35:05or at Creative Leo Designs, business-wise,
1:35:09I'm on Facebook, Creative Leo Designs,
1:35:13or my name, which is spelled S-H-C-A-R-R-A.
1:35:19Last name being with two N's, B-E-N-N.
1:35:23I'm on LinkedIn.
1:35:25Connect with me where you may like.
1:35:28If you want to have more conversations or dialogue about creativity,
1:35:32how you view it, what you think, I'm here for it.
1:35:35If you're interested in maybe understanding what your creativity may be,
1:35:41I'm here for that as well because I help people understand that, you know,
1:35:45you have it as well.
1:35:46And so I normally, I have yet to not bring it out of somebody
1:35:51because I want to make sure everybody understands their creativity
1:35:55and why it's needed.
1:35:57So book will be coming out August 14th,
1:36:01named to be determined by collaborating with Mom and Dad.
1:36:06And my Creative Hub, again, will be opening August 14th,
1:36:11if everything goes well, as well.
1:36:14So August 14th is my birthday.
1:36:16We're going to be celebrating a lot of different things,
1:36:18but ultimately that day we celebrate creativity.
1:36:21So follow me for more so you can come out and support.
1:36:26Creative Freak, I was going to say, yeah, August 14th,
1:36:30you're definitely living it up creatively.
1:36:34Yes.
1:36:35I'll be there.
1:36:36I'll be in the building and also purchasing a book.
1:36:41I love to see the progress and love to read what you got
1:36:45and your thoughts with all you've written.
1:36:48If it's anything like this conversation, oh yeah,
1:36:51I know the book is going to be great.
1:36:54Yes, it's me, 100%.
1:36:581000%.
1:36:59Yes.
1:37:01Yes, I appreciate you and taking the time.
1:37:03This is beautiful.
1:37:05Absolutely.
1:37:06Thank you for having me.
1:37:08Yeah.
1:37:10And then y'all know me, Mr. Photographer Jackson,
1:37:13Steve Jackson of Alien Eyes Photos Media.
1:37:17And this is another episode of Alien Eyes Photos Industry Talk
1:37:23with Shakara Ben, the creative Leo.
1:37:27And you can find me online at Alien Eyes Photos on all media.
1:37:35And check out the website and book me, alieneyesphotos.com.
1:37:41And everybody know we love holding creative entrepreneurs accountable
1:37:46and getting them started, getting them over that hump.
1:37:50We are purpose pushers for creative entrepreneurs
1:37:54helping you stay on a creative frequency.
1:37:58So follow us on a creative frequency on all media, especially Instagram.
1:38:05And hey, again, this is another episode of Alien Eyes Photos Industry Talk.
1:38:10Shakara, we did it.
1:38:11It's another one in the books.
1:38:14Absolutely.
1:38:14History.
1:38:15History, history, history with the creative and the historian.
1:38:21We are out.
1:38:24Bye.