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

Waladi, thanks for taking the time to share your stories with us today Let’s start with a fun one – what’s something you believe that most people in your industry (or in general) disagree with?

Something I truly believe people in the comic book, manga, arts, graphic design business or entrepreneurship in general may disagree with heavily, is taking breaks. And I don’t mean just hourly, but a full 24 hours to rest, recuperate and take time away from your passion. Surely, we may feel that since it is our dream, that the gift of continuously working towards our goal is everlasting, but it is unrealistic. It pains my heart to hear about the tragedies my favorite manga artists have incurred over the last 20-30 years over in Japan, due to harsh work schedules “inhumane” deadlines, chronic illnesses and even worse, death. I myself have gotten better at resting and taking breaks in my twenties, because honestly before then I had qualms with sleeping. I verbatim felt like taking naps and getting good rest over working was absurd, until I gave it a try, and have done my best not to turn back. Oddly enough with my mindset change, there is no one that I talk to whether within my field, my business, elder role models, or entrepreneur colleagues that see a day off as importantly as I do. It truly is a privilege to have one day out of six workdays to intentionally explore other parts of myself and put art and business to the side. And with this privilege, I plan to continue using it to the fullest for as long as I am able to. I absolutely extend this important sentiment to anyone reading, please do take your rest days seriously. I believe saw a post on social media stating, “Pick a rest day for your body or it will pick one for you”.

Waladi, 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?

For those whom this interview serves as a first-time introduction, my name is Waladi Ali, and I am the CEO of WBA Art LLC, where we believe everyone has something to say, and the means by which they communicate their story is entirely up to them. Our business offers our audience of creatives the opportunity to tell their story through artwork mainly. Whether it be working with our artists directly to curate their story into a custom art piece/logo or book, providing original artwork and media by our artists that resonate with their story, or learning from our experts how to draw their own story firsthand, empowerment through resonance is important to us. Our mission is genuinely what I believe sets us apart from other art businesses. What we do is not just an A to B situation for curation, it’s entirely interpersonal. People believe in our work because they see themselves in it, and if they don’t, we will do our best to find ways for them to tell their story, their way. Though amongst bringing value to people’s lives through resonance, I’m most proud of releasing volume 1 of our acclaimed comic book “Justice Rain”. If my business is able to bring to life other’s stories and fill them with the amount of pride and happiness “Justice Rain” as provided me, then we’ve absolutely done our job.

Can you tell us the story behind how you met your business partner?

The other half of the lifeblood that is “WBA Art LLC” has been ran by none other than Mansa Aziz. He is a creative in the field of film and entertainment. He’s directed, written, edited, produced and starred in various short films and has also worked for the BlackStar Film Festival, the Academy’s Nicholls Screenwriting Fellowship and BET. Yet with his accolades and maddening schedule, he’s dedicated a great portion of his life to managing the success of my business. Our meeting is profound yet can be seen as mundane to the uninitiated. In the year of 2018, we both were freshman at Morehouse College, in Atlanta, Georgia. We were about a month out from moving into our respective dorms and settling into undergrad life. I had clothes to wash and dry, though, my usual spot was either over occupied with people or closed, until I was told about another laundromat in the basement of the Perdue dorm. I made the venture although it was a bit long and cumbersome. I ended up walking through an inactive emergency exit, welcomed by a gentleman sitting down reading that refused to make eye contact with me. I loaded my clothes and sat down not too far away from him. Seeing that he was reading, I didn’t want to disturb him, though knew it’d be in my best interest to continue making friends and socializing while I was in this new location. Though I don’t recall what was said that day, I interrupted him from his book much to his dismay and disarmed him with a smile, and we’ve been best friends ever since. With plenty personal and professional trials, tribulations, successes and lessons throughout the way, it was only natural that we’d end up working together in a contract practically written in blood sweat and tears.

Alright – let’s talk about marketing or sales – do you have any fun stories about a risk you’ve taken or something else exciting on the sales and marketing side?

This question makes me smile because this past summer of 2024 has been such a memorable experience. The manager of my business Mr. Aziz recalls this fondly, he flew into Colorado in July to join me in selling books and artwork for the historic “Colorado Black Arts Festival”. I had purchased a tent as well as items for our 3-day excursion ahead of time and had used everything successfully at a previous art fair the month before. Him and I had a great first day of selling, albeit it being a slow day, and as we were packing up to head home, the winds picked up swiftly and lifted our tent up and slammed it down, along with a few of our products. Him and I held on the best we could to the tent but one of the legs snapped and rendered it useless. I had to walk off and take a breath by the fountain because I was confused as to why our tent was destroyed specifically. I felt the universe was working against us, and after 10-15 minutes I took a deep breath and returned to help clean up in preparation for the next day. Just like that all of a sudden, we were in the red if we couldn’t make enough money by the next 2 days to cover a new tent as well as the work he’s done for his time there. But with every story there is no real happy ending, only some form of redemption, whether internal or external. And we made everything back 10x over before the event ended due to our community coming out and finding genuine value within our work. The only mention of our destroyed tent was in jest after purchases or inquiries of our new tent or the wreckage we displayed behind us. How can we not celebrate such a story, especially when it happened a second time in the month of August. Triumph doesn’t always feel as such until we look back in reflection, truly.

Contact Info:

• Website: https://wbaart.com
• Instagram: @ida_law @wbaartllc @justicerain.comic
• Linkedin: https://www.linkedin.com/in/waladi-ali-15289419a/
• Other: Tiktok: @Ida_law

Image Credits

Photo edits: Evans Digital