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

Yaminah, thanks for joining us, excited to have you contributing your stories and insights. We’d love to hear the story of how you went from this being just an idea to making it into something real.

Before I left the corporate world, I was living in Los Angeles where I worked for a company called SHEIN in Event Marketing. The pandemic hit and I made a transition to move back home to Arkansas to be closer to my fiance and my family but I had kept the job for a while and I was just working remote. But it was on the drive home that encouraged me to start my business. We shared so many different stories with one another, one in particular that I believe changed my life. I was going on and on about how I had all of these big goals and dreams to take my skillset to another level, and how I wanted to get into film and production, creative direction and photography and at the end of my rant, my fiance looked at me and said… “I hear you talk a lot about what you want to do, but I haven’t seen you do anything about it.” OUCH right!!! It did sting a bit when he said it, but I realized that if I wanted those things in my life they weren’t going to just happen for me. Contrary to what some may believe, nothing ever just happened for me, like everything else I’d been granted in life, I’d have to WORK for it.

So from that day forward I made steps to create my own journey to success and not on the brim of someone else’s company, but something I could call my own, make my own. I’m now a full-time entrepreneur and now I’m coming up on my 2 year anniversary of starting my business and I wouldn’t have changed anything about my journey to get here. It’s been hard, it’s been fun and like a flower it is still growing.

Awesome – so before we get into the rest of our questions, can you briefly introduce yourself to our readers.

My business is called Design360 & Co. It is a creative design agency that helps small businesses with their needs related to web design, marketing, social media management, business consulting and photography.

I was recently accepted into a film academy where I will be studying to become a film producer. I think what sets me apart from others is that I’m always looking for new ways to invest in my business so that I can invest back into others. I’m constantly looking for new ways to enhance my skill set and my education in this industry so that I can add more value to my clients.

While photography was a niche of mines and was second nature to me growing up from age 12 until now, film has always been a desirable interest. In grade school, I wasn’t exposed to photography in a professional sense, so while I had such a great love for that industry, I didn’t realize that you could be a full time photographer and be successful. So I believed the myth of only lawyers, doctors, scientists etc. made the big bucks. While there was social media presence, people weren’t sharing their success journeys as often as we do now. While studying at The University of Central Arkansas where I obtained my Bachelors Degree, I spent the early part of my college career believing that I was going to become a lawyer, I learned quickly that was not the path for me and I was later introduced to Public Relations. I love how this particular area of study allowed me to be creative and innovative and learn more about communicating.

I’m also the founder of The Willionaire Women’s Group, which was born this year of 2022.

What is a Willionaire Woman?
The word “can” is NOT in her vocabulary, because anything she desires she WILL do!
She’s always working on turning her dream into a reality and no matter who believes in her, she WILL always persevere.
The Willionaire Community is filled with women who support other Women. Here we understand that we are all chasing our dreams and we are happy to see others rising to the top, whether we get their first or if they are ahead we will cheer them on.

In this community we encourage #BossGirlMeetups #CEOTalks #BizFitSessions #WineWednesdays #MoneyMondays and so much more. As the host, I would like to get in the practice of meeting up with those in this group (near or far) at least once a month.

Looking back, are there any resources you wish you knew about earlier in your creative journey?

As I stated earlier, I just started in film school where I’ve been paired with an incredible mentor that is teaching me so much within just the last 2 months of working with him. I’ve been granted the opportunity to work on set with him and his crew as well as submit some of my own projects and assignments for his critiques. Most people in my circle are not surfaced in the film industry so there’s not a lot of critical advice that they can give, however their opinions are always welcome. Working with my mentor has created another valuable avenue for me to share my craft with and receive feedback that I can apply and work on getting better everyday.

What do you think helped you build your reputation within your market?

Design360 & Co. was established in June of 2020, 2 years later, we are still going strong. It has taken hard work, dedication and passion to continue this journey. There have been many times where I wanted to give up and other times where I’ve stepped back and taken a necessary break to rejuvenate and start again. I think the thing that’s helped me build my reputation within my market the most has been showing up and giving my best work to my clients every time. When I give 100% I feel proud of my work and myself and when I give anything less than I feel that my client’s can feel my energy as well. I’m very connected to my clients and I feel like that is what has given me a great reputation. Most of my clientele comes from word of mouth. I don’t promote on social media as much as I used to and I feel like my workload is still pretty steady, which I’m so blessed to say.

Contact Info:

• Website: https://www.design360lens.com/book-online
• Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/yammthecreator/
• Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/Design360Lens
• Linkedin: https://www.instagram.com/design360co/
• Twitter: https://www.facebook.com/groups/960145584668415