We recently connected with Alaetra Chisholm and have shared our conversation below.

Alaetra, thanks for taking the time to share your stories with us today Do you wish you had started sooner?

I certainly wish I’d started my creative career sooner, rather than later. In my own community, I often feel like a late bloomer for a few reasons, but primarily, because I allowed outside influences like friends, family and societal constructs, as well as my own internal uncertainty, to deter me from embarking on my creative journey. Even as a college student, I spent my first two years of undergrad studying in a field that I was not truly passionate about. It was an honorable and respectable career field, but it wasn’t my passion. I am thankful for the delay, as it taught me a major lesson related to trusting myself and following my passions. I’m grateful to be in a position now where I can honor my creativity and produce impactful digital and experiential programming in my hometown.

As always, we appreciate you sharing your insights and we’ve got a few more questions for you, but before we get to all of that can you take a minute to introduce yourself and give our readers some of your back background and context?

I’m a creative Southern belle hailing from the great city of Charlotte, North Carolina, with a passion for community, events and digital marketing. My career lives at the intersection of building valuable relationships between creatives and their desired communities, hosting, producing and supporting artist-focused events and programming, and developing authentic and innovative social strategy backed by my tenured digital marketing experience. My community connections run deep throughout the East Coast market, and it excites me to bridge the gap and create opportunities that elevate and empower independent artists, budding creative agencies, and small businesses. This is a lane I’ve carved out for myself by being a humble student of my immediate creative community, immersing myself in projects that interest me, and ultimately, through trial and error.

We’d love to hear the story of how you built up your social media audience?

I am so very thankful for my small, but mighty community on social media. The digital landscape changes daily, and so do the tastes, moods and desires of the users on each platform. I credit my openness, personal taste and knack for storytelling as the drivers of my success on social media. Sharing my journey in an authentic way and being open about my many missteps, highs and lows of my career has been my mission from the start, and it’s proven to attract those who support and engage with me positively on social media. The best advice I can provide: there is no amount of virality that can replace the real interactions and honest DMs that come from relationships fostered through true interest and support. Pair that with interactions in the real world, and this is how connections are made. Your presence on social media and in the world should mirror one other. Make sure you’re presenting yourself in a way that’s easy to maintain and grow with. Keeping up with aesthetics takes real work and can be limiting to an extent.

Have you ever had to pivot?

Pivoting is the story of my life. From changing majors in college, to changing careers and industries, pivoting has become one of my greatest strengths. In the last few years, I’ve done fulfilling work with small businesses and creatives, and pivoting into corporate marketing in the 9 to 5 world has been a major change for me. I’ve seen the common thread between both worlds, and by leaning into that commonality, I’ve become a stronger player in both lanes. Producing large scale corporate events has provided me with insights and skills that I can bring back to my community and use when producing smaller scale programming. That pivot allows me to think bigger and more strategically when cultivating my own projects and activations.

Contact Info:

• Website: www.blvcklae.com
• Instagram: @blvcklae
• Other: Email for bookings and consultations: [email protected]

Image Credits
Cover Image (West Charlotte): shot by King Phill Additional images shot by Bryant Lindsay, Marc Prosper, and Deon J. Photography.