We caught up with the brilliant and insightful Jessii Marie a few weeks ago and have shared our conversation below.

Jessii, looking forward to hearing all of your stories today. We’d love to hear about a project that you’ve worked on that’s meant a lot to you.

The most meaningful project I’ve worked on was with my mentor, Natiq Jalil right before he passed. He encouraged me to keep going and to freely be myself. This project pushed me beyond my limits showing me that I am capable of so much more. I truly felt like I grew as an artist. I learned this year, I was eager yet afraid to do exactly what I needed to do and it was truly amazing. I will thank him forever. His faith in me gave me the power to enter into the next phase of myself and for leaving his imprint. The most meaningful part of this project was that I got the chance to complete my best piece yet with him; A true legend! Rest in POWER Natiq Jalil…

Great, appreciate you sharing that with us. Before we ask you to share more of your insights, can you take a moment to introduce yourself and how you got to where you are today to our readers

My name is Jessii Marie; Founder and CEO of Imprinted by Jessii. My business represents everything I embody. Its me artistically, professionally, personally and everything in between.

I’ve been an artist since the age of 3 and it’s always been apart of me. Art is not only how I express myself, but it’s my therapy and my way of life. Imprinted by Jessii started with an art class, a conversation with my late grandfather and 8 years ago I would have never imagined my business would have impacted my community as it has.

Thus far, we’ve raised funds to keep a local studio open through the pandemic and proved that art is essential.. We also raised over 10K for my cousin who was involved in a life threatening hit and run accident in Cleveland, OH. The Imprinted club on Facebook was also born in the mist pandemic; It actually started as a bookclub and turned into a private art club where artists feel free to express themselves unapologetically. We have done hybrid shows where artists from all over the country performed both in person and virtually.

Lastly (for now anyways) We taught painting classes for free to children to encourage them they can be anything they want to be even ARTISTS! One last thing Imprinted by Jessii was featured in the Mayor of Pittsburgh office 3 times and also was featured in the First Lady of Pittsburgh’s art exhibition, which was apart of the 2022 Cultural Trust Artist Crawl.

My late grandma taught me to be better today than I was yesterday and as long as you do that you’ll always fail forward. I believe if you stay true to yourself and trust in God you will always win ultimately. I’m not a cookie cutter, I create my own lane, and stay there. stay tuned

Let’s talk about resilience next – do you have a story you can share with us?

Two years after I decided to start this business I lost my grandparents, my aunt, & my granny, back to back. I also pretty much hit rock bottom after that; however, I was raised that troubles don’t last always. I kept my faith that I would make it through and I did. I trusted in God and put one foot in front of the other everyday; eventually those steps count for something

What do you find most rewarding about being a creative?

The most rewarding aspect of being an artist/creative is the impact left on those around you; the community. We are nothing without our supporters!

Contact Info:

• Website: Imprintedbyjessii.com
• Instagram: imprinted_by_Jessii
• Facebook: Imprinted by Jessii
• Linkedin: Jessica Jeffries
• Twitter: Imprintedbyjess
• Youtube: Imprinted talk

Image Credits
Tosin Adebayo Tomi Adebayo