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

Demetre, appreciate you joining us today. We’d love to hear about when you first realized that you wanted to pursue a creative path professionally.

Growing up, thought I was always playing outside, and in a different sport all the time, my first love was always drawing. I spent so much time drawing, coloring and crafting that when you asked me what I wanted to do when I grew up, it was “I’m gonna have my own cartoon!” And I meant it. I literally couldn’t see myself doing anything else.

When k got old enough to get my first job, I was in high school and was working at The FinishLine, a sneaker store. It was just a job, and nothing more. In college I tried customer service jobs where I could talk to people all day. I thought that would be the job for me since I enjoy talking to people, but again, it was just a job, & was nothing more but a paycheck.

I wasn’t happy spending all of my time making a company money that didn’t see me as anything else but a number. Then I’d be too tired when I got off to do what I actually loved, and that was art.

Meanwhile I was making money on the side with my art, on social media. I didn’t have time to commit full time due to my full time job. I always wondered how much money I was missing out on not doing more art where I could set my own prices. But instead, I was working a job where my wage was being capped. This played a huge part in me leaving the corporate life to pursue my art career full time!

The last straw for me was the Spice Girls Reunion Tour auditions. They were looking for dancers and I couldn’t wait to go, however, my current job wouldn’t allow me to take off to go; not without consequences at least. I had to miss the audition because my job, and livelihood was being threatened. Now I’ll never know what could have happened had I auditioned. I knew this forward that my day in corporate were numbered. This wasn’t what I moved to LA for. I quit my job a month later and pursued my art FULL TIME.

Demetre, love having you share your insights with us. Before we ask you more questions, maybe you can take a moment to introduce yourself to our readers who might have missed our earlier conversations?

I started drawing as the age of three. I’ve been drawing ever since. Once I got to college, I joined the dance company on campus called MPAC. There I trained in different styles of dance like HipHop, jazz, ballet, house, and more. After college, I wanted to move to Los Angeles, California to pursue dance and being a cartoonist. Of course all the major animation studios were there like Cartoon Network, Disney, Nickelodeon, etc.

Of course while out in Los Angeles, I began sharpening my photography skills and Instagram became another asset for me. I was able to reach a bigger audience through my Instagram, therefore get more bookings. As my following began to grow, I started getting brand partnerships.

I also started doing brand kits for companies where I created logos, GIFs, Instagram designs, email signatures and more to help your brand have a cohesive brand design to look more professional. This picked up more so during the quarantine while everyone was starting their businesses.

Around this same time I started my food page @GoodFoodGurus where I go around trying new restaurants and finding hidden gems. This brand also became a non profit where we put on a holiday charity at the end of the year. It’s been a huge success that’s growing every year.

Last but not least, my pin business, Pin Magic is another venture I picked up because I loved pins. Since I was an artist, I realized I could make any pin I wanted. So I started making them myself, and people wanted to buy them. It’s a small business but pretty consistent!

: Is there a particular goal or mission driving your creative journey?

My goal currently is to be able to do all the art I want and share it with the world. I want to be able to reach as many people as I can with my art. I also want to help & encourage others to do the same. If you love what you do, you won’t work a day in your life.

I also want my cartoon to be an official comic book which is currently in the works. Later I want it to be picked up as a cartoon on tv, and later a love action film or tv show.

Can you share your view on NFTs? (Note: this is for education/entertainment purposes only, readers should not construe this as advice)

My knowledge on NFT’s is pretty slim, but from what I’ve seen, there could be some importance in learning more about it for us artist. I’ve read that artist have become millionaires from selling their art.

It may be worth looking into to see if you, personally, can benefit from selling your art as NFTs.

Contact Info:

• Website: https://www.demetredurham.com/
• Instagram: https://instagram.com/your.royal.freshness?igshid=YmMyMTA2M2Y=
• Facebook: https://m.facebook.com/pages/category/Dancer/DemetreCartier/posts/
• Twitter: https://twitter.com/demetrecartier?s=21&t=1oDIJRvEMm0dYDr8oeGchA
• Youtube: https://youtube.com/channel/UCNaawH1vG0cuJfRG1nU4uPA
• Yelp: https://www.yelp.com/user_details?userid=5cZEl0LRD5VfL3bI2yLGQg&utm_source=ishare
• Other: https://pin.it/4AQByFt

Image Credits
Art Drawing: Demetre Durham Photographed Photos. Roberto Hannibal