Alright – so today we’ve got the honor of introducing you to Nyla McGinnis. We think you’ll enjoy our conversation, we’ve shared it below.

Nyla, appreciate you joining us today. Learning the craft is often a unique journey from every creative – we’d love to hear about your journey and if knowing what you know now, you would have done anything differently to speed up the learning process.

How did you learn to do what you do?
My learning started long before I had a business name or a client. I’ve been a creative thinker since I was a kid — art came naturally to me, and I was always the person with the most creative projects and presentations. I remember being in second grade and designing a project cover that ended up being copied by most of my class. That pattern followed me all through school.
In elementary school I was already being commissioned by friends and family to design logos. In high school I launched my own jewelry business — which forced me to learn branding, marketing, operations, and customer service all at once, with no money and no instruction manual. I modeled myself after bigger companies, studied how they operated, and applied that same level of professionalism to my small business.
That experience taught me I could help others do the same. So I started taking on clients — people trying to launch or professionalize their businesses — and what started as brand design expanded into web design, marketing, content creation, and business management. Everything I know came from doing the work, solving real problems, and refusing to stop until I figured it out.

Knowing what you know now, what could you have done to speed up your learning?
I would have pursued internships and hands-on experience earlier. There is only so much you can absorb from studying in this field — marketing and design require testing, iteration, and working alongside people who are already doing it at a high level. Real-world exposure gives you the portfolio, the examples, and the confidence that self-study alone can’t fully provide. I’d also tell my younger self to learn key platforms earlier, because experience with the right tools opens doors faster than almost anything else.

What skills do you think were most essential?
Honestly — customer service. You can be the most talented designer or marketer in the room, but if you can’t communicate with clients and collaborate with teams, none of the skill matters. The ability to build trust, manage expectations, and make people feel heard is what keeps clients and gets referrals. Skill gets you in the door. Customer service keeps you there.
Beyond that, strategic thinking. The ability to not just make something look good but to understand why it needs to look a certain way — what it’s communicating, who it’s speaking to, what it needs to do — that’s what separates a designer from a brand thinker. That instinct is something I’ve had naturally since I was a kid, and developing it deliberately has been the foundation of everything.

What obstacles stood in the way of learning more?
Two things — comparison and finances.
Comparison was the bigger one. I doubted myself and my experience for a long time, and that doubt cost me opportunities. I would see someone else’s work or credentials and talk myself out of pursuing something I was fully capable of. Learning to trust my own skill and stop measuring myself against others was a process, and it’s something I had to actively work through.
Financially, starting as young as I did meant I didn’t have the resources to invest in tools, education, or my business the way I wanted to. But that constraint also built something in me — resourcefulness, creativity under pressur

Awesome – so before we get into the rest of our questions, can you briefly introduce yourself to our readers.

For folks who may not have read about you before, can you tell our readers about yourself and how you got into your industry?
Hi, I’m Nyla Monet — founder of Nyla Monet Studio, a Pittsburgh-based digital marketing agency for established service businesses.
You might know me from my previous brand, Designs by NY — but Nyla Monet Studio is the evolved, full-service version of everything I’ve been building toward. I got into this industry by simply following what came naturally to me. I always suggest following what you are good at. I have been a creative and strategic thinker since I was a child. I was designing things in elementary school that my classmates were copying, running small businesses before I was a teenager, and getting commissioned for logo work before I ever had a formal title. In high school I launched my own jewelry business from scratch — no funding, no mentor, no blueprint. I taught myself branding, marketing, operations, and customer service entirely out of necessity. That experience proved to me that I could build something real, and more importantly, that I could help others do the same.
So I started taking on clients — people trying to launch or professionalize their businesses who needed the same kind of help I had figured out for myself. What started as brand design grew into web design, social media management, email marketing, content creation, and full digital marketing. Nyla Monet Studio is the full evolved version of everything I have been building since I was a kid.

What type of products, services, or creative works do you provide?
At Nyla Monet Studio we provide full-service digital marketing for established service businesses and B2B companies. Everything is handled under one roof so our clients never have to juggle multiple vendors or manage five different people to keep their business looking consistent online.
Our services include:
Brand Identity & Design — building or refreshing the visual foundation of your business. Logos, color systems, typography, brand guidelines — everything that makes your business look like a real, established operation.
Website Design — building and refreshing websites that actually reflect the level your business operates at. Clean, professional, and designed to convert.
Social Media Management — consistent, on-brand content posted regularly so your business stays visible without you having to think about it.
Email Marketing — keeping your audience engaged and your business top of mind through strategic, well-designed email campaigns.
Graphic Design — marketing materials, digital assets, promotional graphics, and everything in between.
Content Creation — photo and video content that documents your brand and gives your digital presence something real to work with.
We also offer retainer packages for businesses that want full ongoing support — because a digital presence isn’t a one-time project. It’s something that needs to be maintained, updated, and managed long term.

What problems do you solve for your clients?
The core problem I solve is simple — my clients are running real businesses and their digital presence keeps getting pushed to the back burner. Not because they don’t care about it, but because they have staff, schedules, clients, and operations to manage. There is never a natural pause in their day to sit down and post on Instagram, update their website, or make sure their brand looks consistent everywhere.
The result is a digital presence that doesn’t match the business they’ve actually built. Their reputation in the real world is strong. Their website looks like year one. Their Instagram hasn’t been posted on in three weeks. Their brand looks different everywhere you look.
That disconnect quietly costs them — in credibility, in conversions, and in the confidence they feel sending people to their website or social media.
What I do is close that gap entirely. I take the brand, the website, the social media, the email, the content — all of it — and I manage it consistently and professionally so that when someone looks my client’s business up, what they find actually matches the business they’ve already built.
My clients don’t have to explain everything twice, micromanage a creative, or wonder if things are being handled. They hand it off and they focus on running their business. That relief — that’s the real problem I solve.

What do you think sets you apart from others?
What sets me apart is how my brain works — and my clients will tell you that themselves.
Most designers can execute. Most marketers can post. But the ability to sit down with a client, have a real conversation, and immediately understand their vision, their audience, and what their business needs to communicate — and then go build it without a lot of back and forth — that is not common. That is something that comes naturally to me and it is something my clients notice immediately.
I combine creative instinct, strategic thinking, and organizational structure in a way that makes the entire process feel effortless on their end. I do not need lengthy briefs or multiple revision rounds to get it right. I listen, I think, and I build. Think of me as the human ChatGPT for your business — I can take what is in your head and turn it into something real, fast, and accurate.
Beyond the skill, I bring honesty. I am direct with my clients in a way that a lot of agencies are not. I will tell you what is working, what is not, and what actually needs to change — not just what you want to hear. My clients describe working with me as having a strategic partner in their corner who genuinely gets it. Someone professional, but real. Someone who brings both the expertise and the personality to make the process feel like a collaboration rather than a transaction.
That combination — the natural creative talent, the strategic thinking, the organizational ability, and the honest communication — is what makes Nyla Monet Studio different.

What are you most proud of?
Honestly, what I am most proud of is not a specific project or a number — it is the feedback I consistently get from clients about the experience of working with me.
Clients tell me all the time that what makes the difference is not just the quality of the work — it is how I think, how easy I make the process feel, and how quickly I am able to bring their vision to life without them having to over-explain themselves. That feedback means more to me than any design award or metric because it tells me that I am doing the thing I actually set out to do — making people’s lives easier and their businesses better.
I am also incredibly proud of the level of clients I have had the opportunity to work with. I have gone from a self-taught teenager running a jewelry business out of her bedroom to working with million dollar companies — and that still blows my mind when I think about it. That was never something I saw coming. I never thought that following a natural gift and a whole lot of hard work would take me there, but it did.
And that is what I am most proud of — not just the destination, but knowing I built every step of it myself. No investor, no formal business school, no safety net. Just resourcefulness, dedication, and an unshakeable belief that the skill was worth betting on.
I built Nyla Monet Studio the hard way. And because of that I know exactly what my clients are dealing with — and exactly how to help them.

What are the main things you want potential clients, followers, and fans to know about you, your brand, and your work?
The first thing I want people to know is that working with Nyla Monet Studio is unlike working with a typical agency. When you work with me you are not getting passed off to a junior designer or an account manager who barely knows your business. You get me — directly. My brain, my strategy, my creative instinct, applied to your business from day one.
I also want people to know that I am not here to impress you with jargon or overcomplicate the process. I am here to get it done. I am honest, I am direct, and I will tell you the truth about what your business needs even when it is not what you were expecting to hear. My clients actually love that about me. They call it the Gen Z advantage — I bring that sharp, no-fluff honesty wrapped in genuine care for their business. Professional, but real. Strategic, but personable.
I want service business owners specifically to know that if your digital presence does not reflect the business you have already built — that is exactly the problem I exist to solve. You do not need to figure this out yourself. You do not need to manage another creative or explain your vision for the tenth time. You just need someone who gets it and handles it. That is what I do.
And finally I want people to know that this work is personal to me. I built my own businesses from nothing. I know what it feels like to pour everything into something and need it to look as legitimate as it actually is. That is the energy I bring to every single client — because I have been exactly where they are.
If you are ready to hand it off, I am ready to handle it.

What’s been the most effective strategy for growing your clientele?

The most effective strategy has always come down to one thing — you have to start somewhere.
When I was building my clientele I was not too proud to take the small jobs. The $50 project. The free work. The client who could not pay much but could tell somebody. That is how you get your name out there and that is how you get your first real testimonial and your first referral — and referrals are everything.
Beyond that, I was relentless about visibility. Every job site, every free job board, cold emails, applications — I put myself everywhere. I did not wait for opportunities to find me. I went and found them. The strategy was simple: apply, apply, apply. Get in front of as many people as possible and let the work speak for itself once you are there.
A lot of people hold back early on because they feel like they are not ready, or they feel like the opportunity is too small. But that small opportunity is your portfolio piece. It is your referral. It is the thing that leads to the next thing. Every big client I have worked with has a trail that leads back to someone saying my name in a room I was not in — and that only happens because I showed up consistently and did good work even when the pay did not reflect my worth yet.
Start somewhere. Get visible. Do great work. Let people talk.
That formula has never failed me.

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

Yes — and it is probably not what most people would expect.
While I genuinely love business, marketing, and design, the real driving force behind my creative journey is my volunteer ministry work. Serving my community and the people in it is not something I do on the side — it is the foundation everything else is built around. I never wanted a career that would pull me away from that. I wanted work that would support it.
The flexibility that comes with running my own studio means I can show up for my community the way I am called to. That was never negotiable for me. My volunteer work comes first — and honestly, keeping that priority in place keeps me grounded in why I do any of this in the first place.
I also want to be transparent about something — I credit every bit of my success to my God, Jehovah. The natural talent, the opportunities, the clients, the growth — none of it feels like something I did alone. There is far more happiness in giving than in receiving.
So while the work is meaningful and the business continues to grow, the mission behind it has always been bigger than a bottom line. The creative journey is just the vehicle. The purpose is the people.

Contact Info:

• Website: nylamonet.studio@gmail.com
• Instagram: studio.nylamonet
• Linkedin: https://www.linkedin.com/in/nyla-mcginnis-a117ab253

Image Credits

Nyla Monet Studio