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

Marquelle, appreciate you joining us today. Naming anything – including a business – is so hard. Right? What’s the story behind how you came up with the name of your brand?

My dad used to call my mom an onion because she had so many layers of emotions and personalities. And I remember I was just getting to those teenage years, and I was sitting in the car and I had had a bad day so I may have been crying and my dad said something hilarious as he does, so laughed and he said, “You know you’re like your mama, but smaller…a small onion. And from then on my mom and I have been Big Onion and Small Onion. I knew for a long time that when I had any kind of company it was going to be named Small Onion, but it worked out that I’m in the business of storytelling and films have sooooo many layers they really are like an onion. As a company we focus on small businesses, and underrepresented topics and communities so we’ve earned this name and we wear it proudly.

Marquelle, 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?

My name is Marquelle Young and I am an Atlanta Local Director, Producer, Actress, and Storyteller. I have a production company, Small Onion Studios, we focus on small stories with big impact. As a kid, I worked as an actor and dancer with Kenny Leon and True Colors Theatre. I learned so much about work ethic, the power that I have as an artist, and confidence in myself and in my abilities. From then on I knew I wanted to continue my training as a storyteller, and went to film school in New York. After school, I learned the ins and out of production while in NYC, and as the Atlanta film scene grew, I decided to head back home and make a place for myself here.

I wanted see how I could be a resource in my hometown, and begin to also create my own work. So, Small Onion Studios was born. There’s a lot of sleepless nights, and mistakes, stress, and awesome opportunities that are in that story also, but that would take forever. One of the things that I’ve learned from creating this company is that you are always learning and growing and the mistakes really do make you better. Also, find your team. Find people you trust and that you enjoy working with because you’re going to have late nights and long days with those people so you want to enjoy their company.

Now that I’ve got a good core team, my company focuses on small stories with big impact. Our short film, TELL ME, is officially an award winning film and is still on festival run right now, it focuses on a black man working through his trauma in therapy to unpack the baggage of his past to give his current relationship a future. Black mental health is still a topic that needs to be discussed and seen on film, because if you can see it on screen, you can see it for yourself. Feel free to check out our website smallonionstudios.com for our upcoming projects and screenings. We’ll be running an HBCU tour so that college students can see themselves and know that it’s never too early to start therapy for yourself.

We’ve also worked on documentaries, one that highlighted an overlooked community in Atlanta and the Inequity of Economic Equality in this area.

We work with small businesses to help build their brands through digital media and commercials. All with the purpose of uplifting people and communities that need it the most.

Nowadays, I am focusing on directing and writing within my production company and expanding our breadth of storytelling, always keeping out mission at the forefront.

For you, what’s the most rewarding aspect of being a creative?

The most rewarding aspect is hearing about the impact. It’s not awards, it’s not good reviews, it’s not even money. It’s when we hear that after our first screening of Tell Me, people reached out to the therapists on our panel and sought out therapy for themselves because they felt like they could. THAT is beyond rewarding, it’s life changing and I’m in the business of art that changes lives because whats the point of art if it doesn’t affect you, change you in some way.

Do you have any insights you can share related to maintaining high team morale?

Keeping an open door policy, and checking ego at the door. There is no way to have a successful and healthy team with ego at play. Lastly, stress levels. We love telling stories, we love making films but at the end of the day we’re telling stories and stress can be high, but I try to remind people that “we’re telling stories” and it’s never that serious. It can be challenging, but its good to start the day getting your team on the same level, and ending a shoot with lots of grace and thank yous because none of us can do this well on our own.

Contact Info:

• Website: smallonionstudios.com
• Instagram: @smallonionstudios

Image Credits
Karen Cannon Photography, Blake Bodden