Today we’d like to introduce you to Ellyn Cox-Hoff.
Hi Ellyn, we’d love for you to start by introducing yourself.
I’ve always been a creative person but looking back, my artistic origin story is less “young prodigy discovers hidden talent,” and more “third-grade injury creates accidental indoor gremlin.”
The summer before third grade, I broke my arm and suddenly found myself stuck inside while everyone else was outside having a proper summer. My mom bought me an art kit, set up a TV tray in the living room, and unknowingly started the chain reaction that eventually became my career.
I tried everything. Paint, pencils, watercolor, markers. If it made a mess or permanently threatened nearby furniture, I wanted to try it. Alongside endless support from my parents, I was lucky to have teachers who saw potential in me early on. Mrs. Burns taught me more than technique. She helped me find my voice as an artist and understand the value of a good critique. Not criticism for the sake of tearing something apart, but thoughtful feedback that helps people grow. Another huge influence was Miss Wander-Verell, who taught after-school art lessons that my parents enrolled me in. Eventually, in high school, she offered an early bird class in something I had never considered before: Graphic Design.
The moment I opened Illustrator, I knew I had found something. It felt suspiciously like discovering the answer before seeing the question.
After high school, my parents strongly encouraged college, so I earned an Associate’s degree in Electronic Publishing. Graphic Design wasn’t even offered. We learned QuarkXPress, which should immediately reveal both my age and the era. It was 2004. Design archaeology.
Finding work in the field wasn’t easy, so I balanced freelance projects with other jobs until persistence and sheer stubbornness landed me a Graphic Designer position at a woman-owned print shop in Godfrey, Illinois. That job taught me everything. This wasn’t just design. We designed, printed, cut, bound, assembled, and handled every step in-house. I learned how ideas become physical products and what happens when good design collides with real-world production.
After about five years, I decided to go back to school for my Bachelor’s degree. Nearly a decade had passed and design had evolved at warp speed. I graduated at the top of my class and i even met my husband along the way. Very efficient use of tuition.
During my final year of college, I interned with the St. Louis Surge basketball team under Khalia Collier. I expected to learn more about design and social media. Instead, I learned what leadership and passion actually look like when someone lives it every day. Khalia built something with purpose and conviction. Watching her made me realize I didn’t just want a career. I wanted work that meant something.
After graduation, I spent nearly five years at a local design company. The technical experience was incredible. I learned apparel design from start to finish and gained a deep understanding of what works, what fails, and what happens when a design leaves the computer screen and meets reality.
The less technical lessons hit harder.
I experienced workplace environments that ultimately clarified my values. I learned that advocating for respect, inclusion, and yourself isn’t always comfortable, but those experiences helped shape the direction I wanted my life and work to take. I learned that speaking up for yourself and others can sometimes be viewed differently depending on the room you’re standing in. That experience changed me.
I had spent years doing what I was supposed to do. Work hard. Earn the degrees. Keep your head down. Push through. Follow the rules. Then one day my husband asked a question that completely short-circuited my brain:
“What do you want to do?”
Not what needed, Not what was practical. What did I want?
Turns out I had never really asked myself that.
After taking a class in digital illustration and digital pattern making, I finally found my answer.
I wanted to make stickers.
Not exactly the dramatic movie moment people expect. No orchestra. No inspirational montage. Just me realizing: wait… I can make tiny pieces of art covered in sarcasm and feelings? I can help people express themselves in a subtle and beautiful way?
I’m in.
I formed an LLC, completed my first thirty designs, and my family immediately transformed into my unofficial startup team. My mom helped me purchase my first set of stickers and dad built displays. My sister helped prepare for my first event ans man the booth. My in-laws bought me an amazing printer for Christmas and loaned me a tent and tables.
Then people started buying them.
People laughed. They connected with them. They understood them.
Somewhere in the middle of all that, I realized I had finally found myself.
Today, Wildcard Graphic Design has grown into more than 150 sticker designs, products in shops across St. Louis, prints, pins, keychains, and a third coloring book currently in progress.
Wildcard Graphic Design is my brainchild. Equal parts creativity, rebellion, overthinking, and years of frustration with being told to fit into spaces that felt too small.
I’m not just making stickers. I’m creating tiny interruptions. Small bursts of humor and honesty that break through bad days. Little reminders that people deserve to feel seen, accepted, and occasionally empowered enough to kick outdated expectations directly in the shins.
In the end, I don’t think I’m here simply because I’m talented. Talent helps. Determination helps too, along with a healthy amount of stubbornness. But the real reason I’m here is because people invested in me, encouraged me, taught me, and believed in me long before I fully believed in myself.
None of this happened alone.
Thank you to my parents for supporting every creative phase and somehow surviving the art-supply explosions. Thank you to my sister and my in-laws for showing up, helping build this dream in very real ways, and cheering me on every step of the way. Thank you to Mrs. Burns and Ms. Wander-Verell for seeing something in me early and helping me find my voice. Thank you to Khalia and Cherie for showing me what passion, leadership, and purpose can look like.
And finally, thank you to my wonderful, handsome, endlessly supportive husband, Aaron, for asking one deceptively simple question: What do you want to do?
Turns out that question changed everything.
The world already has enough beige, i’m just out here adding some more color to it.
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 touched on support systems earlier, but burnout is very real. There’s still a voice in my head that likes to whisper all the greatest hits: you’re not doing enough, you’re falling behind, this won’t work, you’re not good enough. The voice of self-doubt apparently never runs out of material. I took RuPaul’s advice and gave that voice a name. Now when she shows up uninvited and gets all up in my business, I call her by name and politely, but firmly, remind her she is not in charge here.
Thanks for sharing that. So, maybe next you can tell us a bit more about your work?
I’m probably best known for my stickers and coloring books. I’m proud of all the art I create, but nothing compares to hearing someone say they saw themselves in something I made. My mental health stickers hold a special place for me because we need to normalize self-care, anxiety, and the reality that struggling doesn’t make someone broken. Sometimes people just need a reminder that they’re not the only one winging it through life.
What makes you happy?
Dogs. lol. I find joy in creativity, community, time with family, and spoiling my fur-son Stanley, who remains a very important member of both the family and quality control team.
Pricing:
- $4-30
Contact Info:
- Website: https://wildcardprintdesign.etsy.com
- Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/Wildcard.GD
- Facebook: http://facebook.com/Wildcard.GD
- Other: https://wildcardgd.myportfolio.com/home
