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

Hi Jen, thanks for joining us today. So, let’s imagine that you were advising someone who wanted to start something similar to you and they asked you what you would do differently in the startup-process knowing what you know now. How would you respond?

If I could go back, I would tell myself not to let other people’s thoughts or opinions affect the future of my career. When I started college at MTSU, I majored in graphic design. I got frustrated about meeting portfolio deadlines and let myself feel discouraged by professors and other students based on their opinions. I did what everyone else told me to. I switched to a music business major because it’s Nashville and that’s what people do here.

No matter what paths I took, I always found myself back to doing some form of art. I spent way too many years letting other people decide what I should do with my time instead of focusing on making my work (the work that I loved) better.

I would likely be where I am today faster if I had taken opinions as exactly what they are, opinions.

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

I’m Jen! I am a brand designer and muralist. For most of my life, I’ve been a creative person in some way, but I started seriously pursuing design and painting murals over the course of the pandemic. It started when my daughter’s bedroom needed an accent wall. Wallpaper was too expensive for me to justify, so I took my oil-based sharpie pen and got to work. People that visited our home after that commented on how I could turn it into a business. From there, I got more experience and jobs, realizing just how much I love creating large-scale art.

My passion is designing for the needs of my small business clients in a way that drives up sales and allows them to focus on the heart of their businesses. I love creating mural pieces for not only businesses but residential homes as well. So whether you’re an individual looking for a focal point in your living room, a one-man show in need of a logo or branding, or a business with branding and on-site art needs, I’m here to help their vision come to life!

I’m really proud of the way that I’ve been able to work with versatility and create designs that truly fit the vision client had in mind for their brand or space. I also go a step further to make sure mural clients have a space they can enjoy quickly with high quality, and equip my branding clients with all of the tools and resources they need in order to get the most out of their branding package.

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

In my late teens/early 20’s, I was initially an art major, despite getting negative criticism in high school for the 4 years I took the class. Despite that, I decided to major in graphic design in college. By the time I finished my 3rd semester of graphic design, I was burnt out, discouraged, and let the opinions of others determine my choices. People would say, “it’s Nashville, it makes sense to be in the music business.” Most of my end-of-semester art portfolios were graded at a C, maybe a B at best. It’s unlikely any of my professors or teachers in school back then would have thought art and design would be my job. And I believed that to be true to myself, giving up on what I loved in early adulthood and getting a degree in the music business (that I never actually used).

As I went into motherhood, the message I received from the culture around me shifted from ‘you don’t belong in the art world’ to ‘it’s your job to take care of your husband and kids, that’s where your fulfillment in life comes from.’ My art lived in a little corner of my life, with me suppressing my need to create for a very long time because I thought it was selfish.

I believed in the opinions of other people and didn’t take the time to believe in myself. As I started to create more over the past two years, I realized that was time to take control of what I enjoyed. Not only was it better for me to pursue my dreams, but it also shows my kids that they deserve to pursue theirs. Gosh, if I could go back, things would be so different. So I’m telling whoever needs to hear it, opinions are just opinions. Nothing more. Don’t give up if you love doing something and it gives you life.

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

Missions and goals are different for me in my creative journey.

My mission with my creative journey is to help individuals make their accent walls unique and beautiful, and to help businesses brand themselves and (hopefully) have a wall painted that piques the interest of customers and helps their businesses grow. There is nothing more exciting in my work than hitting the nail on the head when it comes to making my client’s vision come to life and making their space (and branding) beautiful.

My goal in my creative journey is to travel all over the world for work that I love while bringing my family with me. I hope to one day travel to 40+ states for work, and internationally as well. Another goal is to collaborate with different brands and artists that I look up to and respect and make a comfortable income by creating things that make my clients and collaborative partners excited about the work.

Contact Info:

• Website: https://www.jenwalker.co/
• Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/jenwalker.co/
• Linkedin: https://www.linkedin.com/in/jenwalkerco/