We were lucky to catch up with Takaya Curlin recently and have shared our conversation below.

Takaya, looking forward to hearing all of your stories today. So, one thing many business owners consider is donating a percentage of sales or profits to an organization or cause. We’d love to hear your thoughts and the story behind how and why you chose the cause or organization you donate to.

Giving back is very important to me. So much so that 10% of my sales are donated to the Hydrocephalus Association. This is done in memory of my son, Ta’Vion Curlin who passed away when he was 1 years old due to complications from Hydrocephalus. Before giving birth I had no idea what Hydrocephalus was, but after going through it with him and seeing how much awareness needs to be raised so that research can be done and hopefully one day a cure or to make it more manageable it was a no brained how I wanted to give back.

Takaya, before we move on to more of these sorts of questions, can you take some time to bring our readers up to speed on you and what you do?

I have been into art since I was a little girl. I remember seeing certain things that I would love and then want to draw it. The first character I tried to draw was Donald Duck. It was horrible and I drew it over and over again until I got it right. So its true practice makes perfect. Over the years I didn’t see a future in being an artist so I just the Army instead as a Food Service Specialist and also obtained my Bachelors degree in Criminal Justice. After leaving the military I really had no idea what I wanted to do so so became a stay at home mom and became a caregiver for my son and mother. Fast forward the pandemic hit and being forced to sit down had me filled with anxiety. Needing a release I started sketching again and that led me to painting. I painted so much that year that I fell in love with it. I launched my business K.C. Creations to sell all my artwork. I use different types of paint styles and I love to experiment with various mediums such as acrylics, oils, spray paints, and mixed media.

How’d you meet your business partner?

My business partner is my husband. We met in the military at Fort Lee, Va. we were both in training and just so happened to be leaving chow at the same time. We both had battle buddies that were having a conversation and I tried my best to ignore him but he managed to capture my attention. Fifteen years later and he definitely gives me the motivation and help that I need to move forward with this business.

We often hear about learning lessons – but just as important is unlearning lessons. Have you ever had to unlearn a lesson?

I had to unlearn that everyone’s opinion matters, especially when it comes to my art. The truth is everyone’s opinion doesn’t matter because everyone will not like my work. It touches who it’s intended to touch and that’s all that matters. When I first made the decision to do art full time I became obsessed with following what art was popular just to get the most likes or so people would like my work, but I soon felt like I was putting myself in a box trying to do the same thing others were doing and getting lost in the crowd just to gain approval. That’s when I started to just paint what felt right to me and put it out there to appeal to who it was meant for.

Contact Info:

• Website: www.okccreations.com
• Instagram: kccreations365
• Other: TikTok: kccreations365