Today we’d like to introduce you to Maelisha Boclair.
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?
I am currently a freelance graphic designer located in St. Louis. I graduated from the University of Missouri- Columbia last year with a degree in Journalism and a minor in Black Studies. Throughout most of my college career and for quite a few years before college, I wanted to be a news reporter because I really thought that was my dream career. However, when in my last year of college, I started to learn more about the day to day expectations of a news reporter and learned a lot about what the career would look like for me when gettin g actual shifts in the newsroom and other hands-on experiences through my senior classes. I liked it, but I knew that I would not be happy in that field for the rest of my life. I have always been extremely creative, I was in my school’s G.A.T.E ( Gifted and Talented Education) program, I love creating DIY gifts and home decor, at this point I had even started a skincare business making all natural, homemade skincare products. I liked to be able to show my creativity through everything that I do, and as I got close to graduating, I realized I would not have that within my career as a news reporter. I did not want to stay in school for extra time so I decided to go through with my degree. However, with the remaining elective classes that I could take, I searched high and low for subjects that interested me that was still related to my degree. This is when I found digital producing. I took a few classes that allowed me to become a digital producer for all 3 of my school’s newsrooms (KBIA, KOMU 8, and the Columbia Missourian). In this position, I managed the social media accounts. I created new posts for the accounts, turned stories or podcasts into social media posts, learned about SEO basics, and I even was able to fully design posts for the newsrooms that did not yet have social media templates. For KBIA, our radio station, I even used one of my projects for class to create a new brand hub for them including brand guidelines, social media templates, and more. This is when I realized how much I loved designing. I also had been unconsciously creating designs before this. I designed social media posts and labels for my skincare business, social media posts and other graphics for my sororities, and even logos, branding items and other graphics for family members or friends with small businesses. When I began to realize I liked digital producing, I looked up other careers similar to it to see what else I could find, because at this point I never even realized that digital producing or designing graphics was a career. This was when I stumbled upon graphic design and I knew that this was what I wanted to do. In my last semester of college, I was in a group at school called “Mizzou Black Creatives” and one day, they sent a link to apply to BLAC’s paid internship that aims to help African Americans break into the advertising industry. The application was due that night at 11:59PM, and it looked like a perfect opportunity so I hurried up and shot and edited my application video and filled out the form. I got the internship and was able to become an art director intern at Moosylvania, an advertising agency in Maplewood. Although I was a little disappointed to move back home since my goal was to move out of state after college, I did not regret my choice. Although I had imposter syndrome and struggled with learning the Adobe Suite and Figma (I had only done basic DIY’s before, and any work I did in the Adobe Suite was very basic photo and video editing for my videos for the newsroom, so the job was a whole new territory for me), this job was the best job I ever had. I had worked as a barista, server, assistant manager at Smoothie King, and digital producer, but this job was better than all of them in my eyes. Even though I did not know how to do everything, that helped put me in the position to learn so much from my mentor Jonathon Neal and other coworkers. I learned so much about designing and the advertising industry, and the more I learned, the more I wanted to put in even more effort to grow my skills. I worked on graphics for E&J Brandy and even assisted with projects for Rumchata and Venmo. I met so many great, creative individuals while at that job and grew a new, heightened passion for graphic design. I was so sad when the internship ended, but I knew I had to figure out how to turn this passion into a career. I applied for so many different positions with no luck, so I went back to serving. However, I created my own branding & content design business named “Nahlee’s Creations”. I took and managed client projects on my own despite keeping 2-3 other jobs as well and I have continued to grow and elevate my business’ brand. I recently deciding that my main job as a server was no longer working for me due to some issues within the job and me being unhappy and I had been seeing so much content of other graphic designers who had quit and become full time designers and that was my dream. So after much thought and prayer, I put in my 2 weeks for my main job. I figured that my other jobs would hold me off until I could find a job within my career. However, I then applied to over 100 jobs (No exaggeration), and didn’t get any of them. My last day at my main job came, and I was extremely worried about what I would do moving forward. I decided to get some hair for my next hairstyle to ease my mind, so I left my job and went straight to the Hollywood Beauty Supply Store location on Kingshighway. Before leaving, the manager of the store stopped me and we began talking and I mentioned that I am a graphic designer. He mentioned that he actually was looking for a designer and just like that, I had found my next job! I now work full-time for them and still have my other two part time jobs, and I am so happy with the position. I still own my freelance graphic design business and am taking on other clients as well. Although I have so many more goals that I want to accomplish along my journey within my career, I am so grateful for how far I have come and all of the growth that I have made, and can not wait to see what else I will accomplish.
I’m sure it wasn’t obstacle-free, but would you say the journey has been fairly smooth so far?
No, it has not been a smooth road. I have applied for more jobs within my field than I will ever be able to count, and haven’t gotten any of them. (I am happy that my current job landed in my lap the way it did because I did not have to go through a rigorous, competitive application process, I just showed my work and vouched for myself. ) I spent my entire college career pursuing a career that I would have been unhappy in, so I have had to do 10x the work to catch up in where I could have been in my graphic design career if I would have studied that in school. I have faced issues with the amount of money that I have put into my business, and was scared for a while that it would not ever pay off, and with the other jobs that I have, I have had to sacrifice a lot of personal time and time that I could have been spending with my family and friends to stay up working on my business, trying to market my business, and on any client work that I have had. I have faced lots of other struggles as well, but I have persevered through them all and will continue to do so.
As you know, we’re big fans of you and your work. For our readers who might not be as familiar what can you tell them about what you do?
I am the lead graphic designer and social media manager for Hollywood Beauty Stl. I am also the CEO of Nahlee’s Creations, a branding and content graphic design agency. I design logos, social media posts, flyers, websites, and much more for anyone looking to elevate their brands including small businesses within any industry, realtors, hairstylists, other creatives, and much more. I pride myself in letting my creativity and personality not only show through my brand but through every client that I work with. I bring my client’s vision for their brand to life while still making it unique to them, which helps set them apart from their competitors. I also want to begin to offer ebooks, classes and webinars to other creatives, graphic designers, and small business owners to help them learn more about how to elevate their designs and their brands by using professional graphics, marketing tactics, and authentic storytelling. I actually will be launching my first ebook and course by the end of this month! To stay updated, you all can visit my website: nahleescreations.com , or my social media accounts on Instagram, TikTok, Threads and LinkedIn; all @nahleescreations
What do you like and dislike about the city?
I love all of the opportunities that we have here. We are a smaller city with big city vibes with plenty of spaces to mingle, network, have fun, and more. I feel like there is something for everyone. I dislike the violence and the fact that a lot of individuals here have limiting mindsets. There is so much room to grow and thrive and I wish that more people would see that, embrace it, and try to grow and achieve more instead of limiting themselves to the lifestyle that they currently have.
Pricing:
- Flyers: $40
- Full Wix Website Creation & Design: $400
- Logo & Branding Suite: $120
- Business Card Design: $50
- Packaging Design: $100
Contact Info:
- Website: nahleescreations.com
- Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/nahleescreations
- Linkedin: https://www.linkedin.com/company/nahleescreations/
- Other: https://www.tiktok.com/nahleescreations
