We recently connected with Shakurah Maynard-Duncan and have shared our conversation below.

Hi Shakurah, thanks for joining us today. We’d love to hear from you about what you think Corporate America gets wrong in your industry and why it matters.

Corporations don’t employ artists and creatives—they save full-time employment and benefits for the business majors, the HR professionals. Part of this issue comes from a lack of business education for artists; teaching them how to leverage their skills for fair compensations-but another part is that companies don’t see artistic collateral to be significant enough to their brand to keep art and design on retainer. I’ve worked for so many large corporations as an independent contractor so that they could get a taste of personality in their marketing. It’s nice to see, but consumers want real authentic connections and that authenticity comes from creatives.

Employing artists and designers and giving them the financial security to create only benefits corporations. The long-term return of interest is significant, and no company I have worked for truly understood that.

Shakurah, 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?

Before anything else, I am a black Muslim woman. I have a Bachelor of Arts in Graphic Design from Oklahoma City University. My lineage informs and inspires my work as a designer, artist, and muralist. I have been in the creative field for nearly ten years, having started creating and selling works since my time in high school. My graphic design and marketing work focuses on supporting small businesses to express individuality and build connections through social media. My more creative works work as a diary to document my research into my family genealogy and connections to Africa via the transatlantic slave trade. My works include expressive acrylic paintings, graphic poster designs, and short story interpretations of african and panafrican folklore.

What do you think helped you build your reputation within your market?

I made it a standard to explain every part of the design process to my clients. They never felt out of the loop or ill informed. I would even spend time explaining to them certain design lingo, so by the end of our contract it’s almost like they had a mini design education. The extra time I sent teaching my clients made them feel so much more comfortable with asking me questions, learning, and engaging with the work we were creating. I was also able to build a relationship where they saw my value because I was demonstrating and teaching my value to the clients. Past clients would recommend me because I didn’t feel like the usual condescending designer who put my ideas on a pedestal. I was engaging, responsive, and educational.

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

When you think about how you want to set up positions at your company, truly think about your experiences as an employee and make an effort to stop negative behaviors you’ve seen from bosses become your behavior. As someone who has worked in corporate offices, and pizza place kitchens, I had seen a lot of bad bosses. I made a list of all the characteristics I had loved and another for all I hated, and I read that list every day as I reminder that I have a choice in creating a safe, equitable, and growth promoting experience for my team.

Contact Info:

• Website: shakurahmaynard.com
• Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/shakurahmaynard/?hl=en
• Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/shakurah.maynard/
• Linkedin: https://www.linkedin.com/in/shakurah-maynard-duncan-269999138/