We recently connected with Shelandria Jordan Williams and have shared our conversation below.
Shelandria, thanks for taking the time to share your stories with us today So let’s jump to your mission – what’s the backstory behind how you developed the mission that drives your brand?
S. Jordan: The C-Suite, LLC is a self-titled business with a mission that is deeply personal to me as the founder. The mission, “where creativity and function collide”, is rooted in the desire to fuse left brain and right brain thinking.
As a creative who is both naturally artistic and very analytical, I recognize that the human brain is dynamic. Personal inspiration for the mission comes from my natural inclination toward art, my educational background in industrial & organizational psychology, and my own neurodivergence of ADHD. As a personal and professional advocate for diversity, equity, inclusion, and accessibility (DEIA), the idea behind the mission is to create space for two seemingly “opposite” principles by emphasizing that the path toward problem-solving is oftentimes non-traditional and non-linear.
Maximum efficiency, whether the task is business in nature or artistic at heart, comes with the collision of all psychological worlds. To me, the mission is human-centered, highlighting that an art and business mindset can and should coexist. Most importantly, I want the mission to encourage self-awareness and create space for others to lean into the elements of a different thought process to gain a new, functional creation.
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?
My name is Shelandria Jordan Williams and I am the founder and principal strategist for S. Jordan: The C-Suite, LLC. – an unconventional take on consulting, established as a way to challenge the relationship between art and business. We specialize in creative problem-solving and efficiency maximization for individuals and organizations using both industrial & organizational (I/O) psychology and art & design principles.
If you were to ask my younger self if I ever saw any of this in my future, the answer would have absolutely been no. As a child, I was extremely shy; I always gravitated toward more creative endeavors, but was too nervous to ever share. Drawing was my primary medium in the art space, but adulthood led me to other mediums, such as painting and resin art. Creativity has always come pretty easily, yet, I never identified with just being called an “artist.” I never studied art beyond high school and always struggled to respond in a way that seemed sufficient when people would ask, “What kind of art do you do?” My answer was something like “a little bit of everything” or “it’s hard to explain”, so you can imagine how many looks of confusion and awkward “Okay…” responses I’ve encountered. Rather than pursuing art professionally, I took a corporate path that was, seemingly, much less-resistant and eventually landed professionally in the diversity, equity, inclusion, and accessibility space. As a black, Christian, millennial woman with ADHD in corporate America, I quickly learned that challenging norms would be a common theme in my life. Starting my own business would be no different, so I embraced it.
As the founder, I did my best to capitalize on what I perceive to be the benefit of having ADHD by emphasizing a “limitless” approach to solving problems. S. Jordan: The C-Suite, LLC is a self-titled play on words, meant to be interpreted in the way that best fits client needs – it is the creative suite for businesses and/or the C-Suite (CEO, CFO, COO) for creatives. Business services include, but are not limited to, creative strategy for process improvement and system development. Services within the pillar of Art + Home range from commissioned art, design and organization, and space management for homes and businesses. The limitless approach creates the opportunity to uncover the true business need with the client and establish their service package through collaboration rather than transaction. The business goal is to be somewhat of a “one-stop shop” for clients, operating as more of a partnership for a combination of services that would otherwise be outsourced for total project completion.
What’s the most rewarding aspect of being a creative in your experience?
The process of seeing nothing turn into something is the most rewarding aspect for me. I am naturally pretty risk-averse, so creative endeavors always felt like a risk I am willing to take. As a way to not limit myself as a creative, I believe in trying whatever catches my attention. I find joy in knowing that my process incorporates every aspect of my personality; I am often juggling many projects at once and diving into the deep end when I find something I like. I have the tendency to hyper-focus to see things through to the end, no matter how much time and effort are involved, so it is always so rewarding to determine where I want the creative finish line to be. My approach to art and business are honestly quite similar; I equate it to dumping all of the puzzle pieces out, sorting through them, and then just trying different pieces in different places until they make sense. More often than not, the process for any creative is intentionally embracing the “happy accidents” – the result of not knowing where things are headed, but choosing to find peace in the journey.
What’s a lesson you had to unlearn and what’s the backstory?
I desperately had to unlearn the pressure to define the work that I do. I have this pattern of choosing paths in life that are “hard to explain”, such as my college majors (Exercise Science and Industrial/Organizational Psychology), so it became somewhat difficult to feel confident in my choices when other people didn’t understand. I used to feel the need to make others understand my thinking and I would take it very personally when it just didn’t click for them. It wasn’t until I started my business with the intention to not categorize my roles based on traditional parameters that I grew in my ability to accept that what I offer may not be for everyone and that is okay. I discovered how to place value more in how I feel about the work I do, the decisions I make, and the results that come from it rather than how much sense it makes to others. 
Contact Info:
- Website: https://linktr.ee/s.jordan
Image Credits
Shelandria Jordan Williams