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

Alright, Meilani thanks for taking the time to share your stories and insights with us today. Are you 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?

I grew up in a time where it was considered “a waste of time” to be an artist, or to be a creative at all. If it wasn’t making you any money, then it just wasn’t worth it. And, being a single, teen mom at the time, not only was choosing to get my BA in Graphic design and Marketing considered a “waste of time” but it was also considered selfish.

Unfortunately, many people are discouraged from following their true passions and pursuing careers in art, due to one thing: it doesn’t pay the bills, and someone like me, who, as of 2023, has been a full time business owner for 12 years, was not exempt from hearing said discouragement.

I often worried if I was doing the right thing for my son or not, if I was truly selfish for deciding to jump all in, into entrepreneurship full time and risk everything to pursue what I loved to do most. I wrestled back and forth throughout the years when times got tough, when my car was repossessed, when my phone was cut off, when I couldn’t afford much food, and when I couldn’t afford to put him in extra curricular activities. However, I couldn’t just walk away from it all.

Something in me kept saying “if you suffer now, you’ll be able to one day give you both a better life.” And, as an entrepreneur, your earning capacity is truly limitless! So I decided to continue to push through every year and work on my business. I am very proud to say that as of May 2023 We hit the $10,000 a month mark! Which, in my opinion, is a pretty big deal! lol

Everywhere I go, no matter where I get asked to speak, or who I get asked to teach, I will always proclaim, “Never let anyone tell you you can’t earn money as an artist!” And I am living proof that you can. No matter how hard times get, there will come a day when something will shift and your efforts and hard work will produce an increase. And after a while, when you develop your skills, it will produce more and more fruit, with less work. You learn to work smarter, more strategic. You become more confident in yourself and charge what you’re truly wroth. Your character and reputation begin to speak for themselves, and you begin to attract your ideal clients and audience.

Never ever give up! And never ever settle for a life you truly don’t want to live.

As always, we appreciate you sharing your insights and we’ve got a few more questions for you, but before we get to all of that can you take a minute to introduce yourself and give our readers some of your back background and context?

So, my name is Meilani Darby, I have had my own graphic design firm for about 12 years now. I birthed my business the year that I birthed my son, at age 18. My business now called Vision Designed, was an answer to my own prayers. I applied for many jobs and no one was hiring, so I decided to create one for myself!

Growing up I used to draw all the time. I loved Lisa Frank and Ed Hardy, I loved the colours, I loved the graphics, I loved ART! I would sketch people at school and they would pay me for my drawings. I created magazines with actual articles and sketches of people (It was a wrestling magazine) lol So, very early on, I was always a creative.

I was also a hustler! I had lemonade stands, brownie stands, I did “yard sales” and would design the flyers and post them on the community board in our apartments. I sold candy, lollipops, even in high school I would sell brownies and cookies. I was always good at art and selling stuff, so to be honest, it’s no surprise I ended up as an artist/business owner!

I majored in Graphic Design and Marketing and received my BA at California State University of San Bernardino. I was building my business on the side while increasing my formal education in the craft. I attended masterminds, I went to business brunches and women’s conferences, attended the black chamber of commerce city meetings and really got into the entrepreneurial sphere while in college.

After graduating I moved to Los Angeles and continued to work with many businesses and business owners. I’ve been hired as a full time graphic designer, subcontracted and worked as a freelancer. I’ve literally worked in every lane a graphic designer can! lol And I gotta say, the boss has always been the best fit for me!

What sets my business apart from other graphic design firms, I believe, that its different simply because it’s ME! There’s no other person in the world like me, with my thinking, my ideas, my gifts, my personality or my imagination and I LOVE that for me. I love being in my own lane. I’ve worked with everyone from children, to celebrities, from huge companies, to small nonprofits. What sets my company and the people I hire apart is truly not just a passion for the craft, but the character and integrity of the business side. We’re unique in our approach, our consultations, our ideas and our approach. We truly get all of what we have to offer from God, and therefore, can’t nobody do it like us! lol

I am very proud of how far the business has come. We’ve gotten bigger with our list of contractors, we’ve hit our $10K a month mark, we’ve developed a diverse and healthy client sheet, we’ve adapted over the years and have managed to stay afloat no matter what was thrown at us. And, even though we’ve been around for 12 years, we’re just getting started!

I am very honoured and proud to have a black owned, hispanic owned, woman owned, mom owned business. God is just too good.

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

Yes. I do most of this for my son, if I’m being honest. I’ll never forget when my son was only 5 years old and he asked me what I wanted to be when I grew up and I told him, an artist. And with so much excitement on his face he gasped and said “That’s what you’re doing right now!” When I tell you the joy that filled my heart from seeing how proud he was of me truly brought me to tears. I do all of this to show him that anything is possible.

If my son can grasp the fact that his mother got pregnant in high-school and was a teen mom and STILL managed to go to college and start and run a successful business doing what she loved, I believe that he will have no excuse not to try to do what he loves.

I want to show him that anything is possible. I went to college so that I can help him when it’s his time to go to college himself. And I started a business so that he knows that no matter what happens in his life, he will always have work at his mother’s company. I can always teach him the trade and give him access to the right people and resources. And I’m growing the business, so that he and my future children will inherit a legacy and wealth after I am gone.

It’s all generational for me.

Learning and unlearning are both critical parts of growth – can you share a story of a time when you had to unlearn a lesson?

When I was coming up in entrepreneurship, I was brought up in the world of listening to motivational people like Les Brown, Eric Thomas, Tony Robbins, Ariana Huffington, etc. and refusing to sleep. I would work extremely hard off of, no lie, 3-4 hours of sleep a night.

I busted my butt daily for years, working on my craft and repeating mantras like “no one will outwork me,” “I will succeed no matter what” “I want it as bad as I want to breathe.” I was brought up under the teachings that I could sleep when I was dead, and that enjoying life before you reach your goals, was counterproductive and a waste of time. I worked from a place of scarcity and fear, and it took years to undo that thinking.

It paid off because I learned to work hard, I learned to grind and hustle and I became extremely knowledgable in my craft. Nonetheless, I also suffered professional anxiety, always afraid I wouldn’t have enough money, saying yes to work with anyone who had money, even if I shouldn’t have. I was working on Christmas, weekends, not creating any business boundaries and exhausting myself to be the best designer I could. I made myself available at all times, with no respect to my own family or even myself!

And the more I worked from desperation, the Moree exhausted I became. I had to unlearn that life isn’t about money and providing. I had to learn as an artist, to craft and paint the life I want. I learned that I didn’t value money nearly as much as I valued my time and my health. I had to learn what healthy boundaries looked like. I had to learn my worth ad then charge it. I had to learn that rejection and NO’s were not an indication of who I was. I had to learn to prioritise what meant the most to me. I had to mature in how I conducted business. And I had to be okay with knowing that God was going to and always has provided for me and my son. I had to undo that scarce mentality and realising that “I’d rather not get much money that month and have peace, then to work with people who don’t respect me or my boundaries, but have their money.”

Contact Info:

• Website: www.visiondesigned.com
• Instagram: @Visiondesigned, @meilanidarby
• Facebook: Facebook.com/visiondesigned