We’re excited to introduce you to the always interesting and insightful Terrica Strozier. We hope you’ll enjoy our conversation with Terrica below.

Terrica, looking forward to hearing all of your stories today. Let’s start with the story of your mission. What should we know?

My mission is rooted in idenitfiying, harnessing and refining the uniqueness in others. Uniquness is a superpower and it’s one that should be cultivated and celebrated not diminished and forced to tone down. The pivotal experience for me was in undergrad in my design program.

I think back to undergrad sitting in my advisors (also my graphic design professor) office end of sophomore year and she’s telling em how I’m not fit out to be a designer and I should rethink my plans. I’m half way through my full college experience and you tell me this like I’d just picked up sociology as a minor but I couldn’t see a future full with that. Art had been my go to since a kid like graphic design was my thing how could I not do this. So I’m stubborn and then really broke so I’m like I’m finishing this program because I’m barely affording being here anyway and I graduate on time and by a lot of hope, prayers and late nights.

That feedback she gave stuck in my head for way too long I tried to craft a career out of everything else only designing in a side hustle I started with a friend. Eventually that partnership dissolved and I was on my own and forced to make the hard decision of what’s next. I took a huge leap of faith took all my experience, now Masters degree and design background and dived into brand design and collateral design.

It’s been a tough road, I side hustled for 8 years, one failed attempt at going full time, hustled in so many ways to bring in income, doubted myself consistently, spent more than I made, and a host of other lows but at the end of it I’m crafting something I love, have some great clients, finally seeing my own light, still uncertain of what’s next but excited for what’s to come.

I say that all to say don’t let anyone dim your light even if they can’t see it’s capabilities that light may be brighter than something they’ve ever seen but they can’t see it..not yet anyway.

Terrica, 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’m Terrica, brand designer and strategist equally as known for my teal hair as my love for trap music and cocktails. I’m a A baby (Atlanta), fur mom to a quirky Staffy/husky mix named Richard, wife to my own superhero, lover of all things sugar/carbs and dairy — you know the bad stuff lol, proud nerd, anime lover, people nerd and book worm.

I’m the namesake/brains/talent behind Terrica Strozier Design where I offer brand design, strategy, and ongoing design support for service providers and consultants. My special sauce is crafting a creative and strategic brand identity and direction that empowers and serves my clients on the next level forward.

I’ve been in this design game for 15 years and had my start in stationery so I know the print world too. I have a undergrad degree in Design with a minor in Sociology and a Masters in Human Services because I thought my love of people and service would be where I made my mark and it’s the combination of both loves that’s made all the difference.

Ok enough about me.….well this is about us (design for the people is my guiding light)

This is how I serve:

+ Brand design and strategy focused on infusing you (the founder) and your ideal audience into a cohesive brand that’s equally memorable as impactful.

+ Inspire and empower you through a strategic reframe of what you can be, do and are.

+ Ongoing design support to maintain that brand consistency because success — is in the consistency.

+ Take the design work off your plate because to be honest that’s not where you show up best and that shows — spend more time in your skill set.

+ Creative consulting because there are more options/avenues and perspectives than what’s in your head so let’s expand the vision, the story, the impact and that bag.

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

My mission is for individuals to own who they are unapologetically, to know that what makes them different isn’t a bad thing but thing that will make them standout.

Many of us are holding back in how we show up.The fear of judgment and ridicule holding us back from showing up truly as ourselves. Not the part that people have told you they like while hiding the unique parts that make you who you are.
It isn’t easy because I too spent most of my life doing this — conforming, minimizing, hiding and piecemealing myself in “digestible” chunks so people didn’t get overwhelmed with the pieces of me that were “too much”.

This is the core of my version of brand strategy helping you unlock those pieces and crafting an identity that allows you to stand out fully in you — in all the pieces. While empowering you with solid resources to be the best version of you and attracting an audience and customers who appreciate, respect it and want more of it.

There is power is being different — don’t let someone else’s opinion keep your light dim.

Any stories or insights that might help us understand how you’ve built such a strong reputation?

A combination of me truly being myself + integrating my multi-faceted experience (educational and professional) into my business. Most of my life has been minimizing myself to fit into different spaces, people’s ideas of me and so much more. I showed enough of myself to stand out but not to stand out too much because then I’d fulfill everything they said about me — so my solution was to stop that and let everything that I was told I was too much of to be the things that people remembered me by. So I spoke out more, truly connected with audience and clients, crafted an intentional and seamless process because I knew the value of a cohesive client experience.

I’ve been in this design game for 15 years, have all the credentials that impact the work I do in the best way and may make a difference or not but they make a heck of a difference in my work — B.A in Art & Design and a M.S in Human Service. Couple that with 10+ years providing top notch CEO/Executive level administrative support in creating new programs, training, customer service so much more and being the ultimate strategic right hand woman. All of this culminates into the client experience, connection and results that I provide. It’s also what makes clients come back to me again and again and refer me to others as well.

Contact Info:

• Website: www.terricastrozier.com
• Instagram: www.instagram.com/terricastrozierdesign
• Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/terricastrozier and https://www.facebook.com/TerricaStrozierDesign/

Image Credits
images of me – photographer Alexandra Toy (www.alexandratoy.com)