We recently connected with Jessica Shely and have shared our conversation below.

Hi Jessica, thanks for joining us today. Have you been able to earn a full-time living from your creative work? If so, can you walk us through your journey and how you made it happen? Was it like that from day one? If not, what were some of the major steps and milestones and do you think you could have sped up the process somehow knowing what you know now?

Being an entrepreneur and creative is the most fulfilling job I’ve ever had. Though it hasn’t always been easy, I wouldn’t take anything away from the journey that has led me to this point.

Growing up, I wanted to become an electrical engineer but quickly switched paths after realizing that math was not an area where I excelled. As I began thinking about things I enjoyed doing, writing was at the top of the list.

After graduating from high school, I attended Hampton University where I received my bachelor’s in Journalism & Communications. From there, I went to graduate school at Pratt Institute in New York and earned my master’s in Communications Design.

Due to the economic recession in 2008, it took some time to find work that utilized my unique skills. I’ve worked in various industries that include publishing, hospitality, and non-profit.

I’m pleased to now earn a full-time living leading a team of creatives and serving clients in various industries. I love that I get to learn something new every day and work with diverse groups of people.

Some of my major milestones include being named Emerging Business of the Year and Pitch Competition Champion through the Ohio Minority Supplier Development Council and receiving the Marketing Pinnacle Award for Best Digital Strategy and Execution from the Cincinnati American Marketing Association.

Jessica, 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?

First, thank you so much for this opportunity. It means a lot to us.

I am the Founder and CEO of GPD Creative Agency. We are an award-winning, full-service digital marketing and communications firm that supports organizations to increase visibility and credibility by creating meaningful and memorable digital spaces.

GPD offers a full range of services, including brand and marketing strategy, content curation, user experience design, photography, social media, videography, and web design.

In 2015, I founded GPD after a transformative experience where I traveled around the world to 11 countries in 11 months. During the 11th month of that journey, while serving at an orphanage in Swaziland, Africa, I took the second big leap into full-time entrepreneurship.

GPD’s core values are creativity, trust, integrity, accountability, and grace all of which align with my personal values. We love our clients and proudly support them in increasing their online brand awareness, engagement, and conversion rates – turning browsers into buyers.

To date, I am most proud of the programming our agency developed in 2021 to support BIPOC (black and Indigenous people of color) founders. With collaborative partners like the Urban League and the United Way, GPD is providing Black-owned businesses with a free domain name, web hosting, and web design services at no cost for one year.

This innovative, game-changing approach is making traditionally underserved and underrepresented small, Black businesses more competitive with tech-savvy, interactive websites.

In addition to leading GPD, I am a published author of three works, two of which are children’s books inspired by my daughter to edify Black representation in media.

What do you think is the goal or mission that drives your creative journey?

GPD Creative Agency’s vision is to be recognized as the future of creators who use design thinking to solve problems impacting sustainability and social justice.

Though GPD supports businesses nationwide, our home base is in Cincinnati, Ohio where the COVID-19 pandemic disproportionately impacted Black-owned businesses in the region causing 30% to permanently close.

A 2022 business survey conducted by the Greater Cincinnati Northern Kentucky African-American Chamber of Commerce found that 35% of business owners are concerned about marketing for the rest of 2022 and beyond.

GPD seeks to equip traditionally marginalized Black business owners with resources to increase their online visibility and build their brand awareness.

By doing this, we will narrow the digital divide among small businesses empowering them to survive through the current volatile economic environment.

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

Traditionally, the role of the creators has been severely undervalued. NFTs and Web 3 have been a catalyst to change that.

While it’s one thing to understand what an NFT (non-fungible token) is, it’s another to understand how to market an NFT.

In the world of cryptocurrency, GPD focuses on how to market NFTs.

By empowering our clients to identify and communicate their organizational stories, we assist them to develop and market their NFTs and successfully migrate to Web 3.

Contact Info:

• Website: https://www.createwithgpd.com/
• Instagram: www.instagram.com/createwithgpd
• Facebook: www.facebook.com/createwithgpd
• Linkedin: https://www.linkedin.com/company/gpd-creative-agency/
• Twitter: www.twitter.com/createwithgpd
• Youtube: https://www.youtube.com/channel/UCC77Upy7NYnaqGPLNNFjwOg

Image Credits
Jessica Simone Photography