We’re excited to introduce you to the always interesting and insightful Alexis Lawson. We hope you’ll enjoy our conversation with Alexis below.

Alexis, thanks for taking the time to share your stories with us today Let’s jump back to the first dollar you earned as a creative? What can you share with us about how it happened?

The very first time I received any compensation from my work was when I decided to sell my poetry book The Beauty In My Bare Bones. When I decided to write the book I never thought that I was going to sell it. I pitched it in a contest and it didn’t get selected but I loved a good challenge. So I taught myself about self publishing and published it myself. Though this was the first time I received money for my work, the first time I considered myself a professionally paid artist was when my essay Bound To Remember was published in Midnight and Indigo early in 2021. This essay is a piece that sits with memories of childhood that have been uprooted and displaced, while acknowledging the newfound need to plant roots and gain a grander sense of home. I got paid $50 for this story. I now know that, that is not a lot of money but for just starting out I was just proud. Soon after this story when live McGraw Hill reached out to acquire the story to use in a composition textbook and I was paid much more than the initial payment I received from Midnight & Indigo. So I always tell people to submit the publication not off of status because you never know who is reading and watching.

Alexis, before we move on to more of these sorts of questions, can you take some time to bring our readers up to speed on you and what you do?

I am originally from Cleveland, Ohio but I moved to Charlotte, North Carolina in 2011. I graduated with my second degree from Appalachian State University in 2019 with a BA in English Creative Writing and a minor in Criminology at 19 years old. After completing my degree, I worked as a teacher, specializing in Creative Writing. I taught Kindergarten through Fifth Grade helping them foster the same enthusiasm that I have for writing. In this position I learned a lot about the stories that I wanted to share with the world and cultivate within the people I meet.

During this time I wanted to expand HerBlackHand as a brand and myself as an artist so I decided to create a podcast that analyzes the events in life that are common but seldom talked about against the background of different pieces of literature that I read. And what better to go with a book than a bookmark, so I decided to create cool bookmarks to go along with them as well. This allowed me to tap into my digital art skills and show people that I wasn’t just a poet, but an artist.

Now that I am receiving more recognition through social media and through publication I felt that it was best that I make sure that everything I attach my name to feels as authentic as possible. My number one goal in the work that I am doing is to leave bread crumbs behind for the future aspiring artist. There are so many times where I wish we had more interviews from the writers and artists we admire and look up to past and present about their journey and how they found themselves in the rooms they succeeded in. I don’t ever want anyone to feel like being an artist is not a well rounded dream ever again. Everybody was put on this earth to fit into the stereotypical careers we learn about in school so I am making it my responsibility to do my part in helping others see that there are so many ways to turn passion and dreams into a sustainable reality.

Are there any books, videos, essays or other resources that have significantly impacted your management and entrepreneurial thinking and philosophy?

Podcasts: The Black Girl Bravado Podcast, Brown Ambition, GirlTrek’s Black History Bootcamp, GOOD FOLK, and theART Talk.

Books: The Well-Spoken Thesaurus, Finding The Beauty In My Bare Bones, The Artist Way Julia Cameron, and The Search for Significance.

Any insights you can share with us about how you built up your social media presence?

HerBlackHand, instagram only, actually didn’t come about until a few weeks before my first book was published (great marketing, I know lol) and at the time I wasn’t thinking too much into it. I didn’t really have a plan on how I wanted to use that platform. I just knew that I didn’t want to clutter my personal instagram with my book “promo” so I created this instagram. When I started Instagram I was so hesitant because I was worried someone would steal my work and claim it as their own. For the first year I wasn’t consistent, still not having any strategy just posting when I remembered. It wasn’t until the quarantine actually that I started taking it seriously. I invested in a content creation system with a notable company to teach me more about social media marketing and branded and it took off from there. Since June 2020 I’ve gained over 30k followers and expanded to not only Youtube, LinkedIn, Tiktok, and Pinterest across all of my social platforms.

Being consistent and personal has allowed me to not only secure my first solo art gallery, trusted solely off of my instagram platform, but also secure many brand deals that have helped me transition into full-time artistry and content creation.

My biggest advice to anyone starting out on social media for their brand or as an artist is to breathe, I promise it’s not that serious. You don’t have to be like your favorite influencer or your friend who has seemed to have the most success, you just have to be like you. Make sure to show your face on your platforms so that your audience has someone to connect with and remember that you still have to exist outside of social media. Don’t forget to live. Living creates the best content.

Contact Info:

• Website: https://herblackhand.wordpress.com
• Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/herblackhand/
• Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/alexis.lawson.5439
• Linkedin: https://www.linkedin.com/notifications/?filter=all
• Twitter: https://twitter.com/HerBlackHand
• Youtube: https://www.youtube.com/channel/UCcUHOyFFR1hUnRjHmsV_01Q
• Yelp: https://www.yelp.com/user_details?userid=fXdl9vz4JaYAxF4J095uoA
• Other: Tiktok:https://www.tiktok.com/@herblackhand Podcast: https://anchor.fm/alexis-lawson Etsy: https://www.etsy.com/shop/HerBlackHand?ref=search_shop_redirect