We caught up with the brilliant and insightful Wilda Casado a few weeks ago and have shared our conversation below.

Wilda, thanks for taking the time to share your stories with us today What do you think matters most in terms of achieving success?

My response to this question might be humorous, yet it’s a belief I stand by wholeheartedly. Like the TikTok girlies, I believe being a little delusional (i.e., believing in yourself) and putting in the work is crucial for success. Before you write this off as just a trend, let’s explore why I think this “absurd theory” holds some truth.

In true Leo energy, I’ve been telling my family I’m a star since I was 6. I may not be a star in the grand scheme of things, but I like to think I have it in me to become one. Believing in yourself and your potential, even against all odds, is fundamental to success. The difference is that some brush it off as delusion, while others lean into this idea daily. Let’s use Taylor Swift as an example. We’ve all witnessed the wild success of her Eras tour — it’s actually on track to be the highest-grossing tour ever. Do you think she wasn’t hosting pretend tours in her bedroom during middle school? Or that she didn’t express to her family and friends that she would become a big singer someday?

When I was 16, at a family reunion, I told my extended family I would be attending art school. The response was typical – skepticism about my professional future in a creative field. But I wasn’t skeptical; I was confident I’d figure it out. I told them I wanted to work remotely as a designer and get paid in USD, which raised a few eyebrows then. I don’t blame them; I did have a few odds against me.

For starters, I was living in the Dominican Republic then, meaning the most viable option for me was to work at one of the handful of agencies in the city with an average salary equivalent to $300 – 500 USD a month. Back in 2016, the concept of remote work was less common than it is today. Truthfully, I didn’t know anyone working from home full-time then, so I had no idea how to make it happen. I didn’t have a large social media following, a trust fund to back me up, or any knowledge of how to run an online business. I followed this dream without prior research, just a few factors I knew I could leverage. 7 years since that moment, I figured that part out.

I also believe a common misconception is that success is a final destination when it’s a series of milestones. You don’t have to wait until you’re 60 to reflect on your life and deem yourself successful. I was successful when I was accepted into art school, earned my first paycheck as a freelancer, and landed my first big client. And I will continue to have moments of success throughout my life, even among the “I don’t know what I am doing” moments.

All successful people just had the audacity to do something they hadn’t done yet.

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?

I’m Wilda — a designer and art director currently based in Orlando, Florida. I’ve been captivated by people, their stories, and their interests before I even dreamed of a career. Curiosity and observation have always been at the core of my practice. At the moment, I’m focused on creating experiences that foster human connection.

I was born and (mostly) raised in a small beach town in the Dominican Republic. My first creative endeavor was videography. My dad, who has always been one of my biggest supporters, got a DSLR and an Adobe CC membership which I quickly took over. Since that moment, I started recording everything to make vlogs with my friends and post them on YouTube. The first Adobe program I learned was Premiere which is funny, considering I barely use it today. I also started an Instagram account shortly after to post my photography work. With few creatives in town, I started booking small jobs with local businesses at 15. I even remember my delusion at play when I submitted my work to Local Wolves and got featured! I still have a copy of the issue stored somewhere.

When I graduated high school, I moved to the city to attend art school for visual communications with a concentration in graphic design. I learned so much about myself and my work during this time, and while I sometimes resent the institution I was in, I am grateful for the doors the skills I acquired have opened for me. I unexpectedly graduated in the middle of a pandemic (hello, 2020 graduates!), which eventually led to me canceling my post-grad plans. All I had was a broken computer I had to send overseas all summer and a lot of time to reflect.

While in school, I worked with a few international clients via Upwork, so a friend helped me put a portfolio together, and I reached out to those clients again in hopes of occupying my time with something, anything really. I didn’t know that it would be the catalyst for my career today. After one client decided to move forward, I started to feel hopeful again, so I opened an Instagram account (@helloimwilda) and decided to give freelancer life a real chance. It took me almost three months to book another client, but I still hoped it would work out.

It’s been almost 3 years since that first post on Instagram, which is crazy to think about. After redesigning my website a million times and taking every opportunity that came along, I finally feel like I have a strong sense of self business-wise. I still have a lot to figure out, but I believe that’s why I’ve made it this far. I don’t promise anyone to have all the answers, but I promise I’ll always try to find them.

I currently work as a designer and art director for clients in a variety of industries. With over five years of experience in various settings, including in-house, agency, and freelance work, my strongest skill has become turning long strategy decks, abstract mood boards, and lean budgets into tangible experiences. With a process specifically tailored to support founders and teams through the challenges of establishing a brand, my goal is to push the boundaries of what’s possible through research, dialogue, and aligned action.

I also write a weekly newsletter, Between The B&W, dedicated to celebrating, cultivating, and expanding creativity. As its name suggests, the newsletter explores the rich, colorful, and sometimes messy reality of being creative. I started writing BTBW because I felt there was a need for a space dedicated to stimulating creative wellness in artistic beings. As a creative business owner, I have witnessed firsthand the pressure placed on creatives to produce constantly and the toll it can take on our overall creative process. My goal is to challenge the belief that creativity is solely a result of constant output and, instead, create an environment that celebrates the innate human desire to rest, reflect, and explore. We think of “being creative” as a task where you sit down and create, but I’ve learned that creativity is a perspective — one that embraces individual experiences, cultural backgrounds, and personal beliefs.

On a typical day, you’ll find me working with clients on anything from an email campaign to a retail event, dreaming up my next creative endeavor, or napping my life away because balance is key.

What’s been the most effective strategy for growing your clientele?

So far, the most effective strategy I have implemented in my business and life to grow my clientele has been building genuine relationships with others. It’s definitely a slow path to “success,” but in my opinion, it often results in the best outcomes.

I am not saying to start following accounts on your Explore page and commenting, “I love your work!” after liking 10+ of their posts. Instead, make it a point to interact with people whose work you are familiar with and admire, to express your gratitude to anyone who follows your work, and always show up as your most authentic self. I know that sounds cliché (I would have thought the same 3 years ago), but the truth is people want to work with people.

Think of client acquisition as growing your social circle. Would I be friends with someone who introduces themselves by asking for something in return? Probably not. There is value in community even when you’re not explicitly gaining a client from it.

Are there any books, videos, essays or other resources that have significantly impacted your management and entrepreneurial thinking and philosophy?

The perennial reports and culture manuals from other designers, studios, and agencies have significantly influenced my approach to entrepreneurship. A few I can mention from the top of my mind are Gardener NYC, Sanctuary Computer, Mouthwash Studio, Super Keen, and Monforte Studio.

The creative business world is often so ambiguous that it’s hard to determine what’s possible in terms of your process and potential revenue. You can choose to only work with retainer clients or use an hourly rate vs. a flat project fee. You can make education a big part of your business or prioritize personal projects. You can work 60+ hours a week or only work 4 hours a day. The options are endless, and in the middle of figuring out what works best for me, reading from others on the same path serves as a reassurance that it’s possible to run a business that works for you instead of against you.

In Gardener’s 2022 Perennial Report, Ian shared how he used his free time this past year to explore a side of himself that he lost in adulthood. I resonated a lot with this particular message because I often find myself reflecting on personal projects I abandoned in pursuit of my career. When you make creativity your job, you lose the spark that motivated you to go into this field in the first place, given that most of your time is spent creating for others. In the rare case you’re not, you are thinking about monetizing your projects or hobbies as a potential exit plan. However, it’s definitely possible to balance both sides of the coin, and reading through the changes he’s implemented in his business has led me to think through ways I can bring some of that spark back into my creative practice.

Building any business, especially a creative one, is always a work in progress. While I have a lot more figured out than I did three years ago, I’ve learned to embrace the ebb and flow of experimentation.

Contact Info:

• Website: https://www.wilda.co/
• Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/helloimwilda/
• Linkedin: https://www.linkedin.com/in/helloimwilda/