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

Christina, appreciate you joining us today. Can you open up about a risk you’ve taken – what it was like taking that risk, why you took the risk and how it turned out?

I’m certainly not a stranger to taking risks in life or in business. In fact, many of the risks I’ve taken over the years have changed the trajectory of my life in ways I could have never imagined. The first significant risk I took within the creative space took place over 5 years ago when I was living in California. At the time, I had been doing freelance work as a Photographer and Designer, but after a challenging experience at a brand photoshoot, I quickly realized that I had hit a wall in terms of my knowledge of the craft. I quickly started to feel like I was in over my head and the confidence I had in my skillset had taken a big hit. Suddenly, the negative self-talk started to creep in, which made me question whether or not I was on the right path.

Just as I was contemplating throwing in the towel, I saw an advertisement for a Food Photography Workshop at my local Whole Foods that stopped me dead in my tracks. Although I wasn’t necessarily interested in becoming a Food Photographer, I felt like it could be a good way for me to hone back in on the basic mechanics of Photography in a low pressure environment. I happily paid the $15 to secure my spot and invited two of my friends to join me.

That day I met Kristin Mansky, my now dear friend and the owner of Marra Creative Studio where I currently serve as Creative Director and Lead Designer. Her patience and kindness while instructing the class made me feel comfortable opening up to her about my struggles in the industry at the time and when she offered to meet up for coffee and talk shop, I found myself asking if she might be open to having me as an intern. It turns out she was and after a few weeks of interning, I was offered a job that allowed me to cultivate my creative talents and work towards the leadership role I hold within the agency today.

This goes to show that you never know what opportunities can come your way from taking inspired action, even it seems insignificant at the time. Regardless of the outcome, there’s always a lesson to be learned that we can apply to our lives on some level. The money I invested into that Photography Workshop on a whim unknowingly changed my life and ended up being the best $15 I’ve ever spent.

Awesome – so before we get into the rest of our questions, can you briefly introduce yourself to our readers.

My start in the creative industry came about by accident while learning to design creative assets for a previous business I had in the health and fitness industry in my early twenties. As I focused on learning how to produce high-quality marketing assets for myself, other business owners began to take notice and inquired about me doing the same for them. It started with Graphic Design, transitioned into Website Design and eventually, started expanding into Brand Identity Development and Photography.

I currently serve as the Creative Director and Lead Designer at Marra Creative Studio, a female-owned boutique agency based in Nashville, Tennessee and Madison, Wisconsin passionate about helping entrepreneurs and business owners craft a visual presence as powerful as their impact. My expertise lies within Website Design, Brand Identity Development and Brand Photography with a deep passion for teaching others how to use their creative assets and platforms to cultivate genuine and authentic relationships with their audience. What sets us apart from others in our industry is how we take care of our clients. When you hire us, you’re not only getting a passionate and talented creative team, you’re getting two women who care deeply about our clients and celebrating their success and growth every step of the way. We’re huge believers in lifting up others and fully embracing a community over competition mindset.

In addition to the work that I do at Marra Creative Studio, I’m a multi-passionate entrepreneur who enjoys serving others in a holistic personal development capacity. My passion for helping women to cultivate positive energy in their environment through Minimalism and Feng Shui sparked the inception of a lifestyle blog and accompanying podcast titled “In Love & Simplicity”. Both platforms also serve as a safe space for destigmatizing mental health, encouraging self-love and facilitating deep conversations that inspire and help other women feel less alone. What sets me apart in the personal development space is my willingness to be fully transparent about my own life experiences — the good, the bad and everything in between. I believe that transparency has the power to unite and heal us through shared experiences and the world can always use more of that.

On the personal front, I proudly hold the role of Mama to my 1 year-old daughter Amelia and wife to my husband Anthony. They are my “why” and my greatest source of inspiration for everything I do.

Can you share a story from your journey that illustrates your resilience?

I had a very challenging pregnancy with my daughter and as a result, was in and out of the hospital for 9 months. I became high-risk at 15 weeks and suffered from Subchorionic Hemorrhages, High Blood Pressure, Gestational Diabetes and severe Preeclampsia leading up to her delivery. Despite these challenges, I was able to stay consistent in my career up until my maternity leave continuing to deliver high-quality large scale projects with the help and support of my work team, family and friends.

Little did I know that would end up being the easy part! I’ve quickly learned that balancing a full-time career as a mother is very challenging and despite your best efforts, sometimes things will not go as planned forcing you to pivot on a moments notice. The resilience of mothers in all seasons of life truly deserves to be recognized and celebrated.

Are there any resources you wish you knew about earlier in your creative journey?

Mentorship and engaging with an uplifting creative community are two resources that I wish I had connected myself with earlier on in my journey. Entrepreneurship can feel isolating at times and because of that, many people believe that they have to navigate it alone. I was someone who fell into that category and it wasn’t until I made the effort to put myself out there and connect with like-minded individuals that I started to understand the power of collaborative education and community. Mentorship has helped to bring my creative skillsets to new heights while joining the amazing group of women at the Collective615 Coworking space in Nashville has inspired me to dream bigger and be open to receiving the kindness and wisdom of others following their passions on a similar creative path.   

Contact Info:

• Website: www.marracreativestudio.com / www.inloveandsimplicity.com
• Instagram: www.instagram.com/marracreativestudio / www.instagram.com/inloveandsimplicity
• Linkedin: https://www.linkedin.com/in/christinajguzman/

Image Credits
Kristin Mansky of Marra Creative Studio Christina Guzmán Anthony Guzmán