Today we’d like to introduce you to Sasha Lewis.
Hi Sasha, we’re thrilled to have a chance to learn your story today. So, before we get into specifics, maybe you can briefly walk us through how you got to where you are today.
My career started straight after graduating college (FIDM, Los Angeles) in 2011. I studied Visual Communications with a serious interest in designing retail store windows… I was gunning for Bergdorf Goodman!
While I didn’t get to Bergdorf’s, I did get into retail store design and visual merchandising almost immediately. I spent about 5 years designing retail spaces across the United States, working with retailers to improve their in-store marketing and increasing brand awareness on the physical realm.
I was ultimately living out the goal I had for myself, but I started to realize that in order to settle down and have a family, I needed to change my focus to the doing what I love to do on the digital side.
This led to web design, brand strategy, brand design, and creative direction. I took my experience and created a business helping entrepreneurs disrupt their industries and outshine the competition through high-level strategy and design.
Fast forward a few years, I am now a single mother with an incredible daughter who is autistic, running a full-time creative agency that I have scaled all while being “Mom.”
I’m sure you wouldn’t say it’s been obstacle free, but so far would you say the journey has been a fairly smooth road?
Is anything in life a smooth road? If so, please spill the tea!
I really focused on taking my business full-time during the pandemic, relatable, am I right?
But 3 months prior to Covid shaking up our lives, I got a divorce and became a full-time single mom to a 1o-month-old.
Between divorce, a pandemic, learning how to balance life as a single mom and entrepreneur, my daughter being diagnosed with autism, and trying to figure out how to financially support my child, that only took us into month 6 of the pandemic.
Safe to say it’s been a few years of “unprecedented times” (anyone else triggered by that phrase now?!?) and a constant need to rebalance, recalibrate and refocus.
Alright, so let’s switch gears a bit and talk business. What should we know?
INICIO Creative Agency (Formerly Sasha Monique Creative Studio) is an agency built for creative entrepreneurs looking to focus on three things: Impact, Innovation, and Influence.
Our creative agency helps entrepreneurs figure out their place in their industry and how they can impact more lives through their expertise, how they can become more innovative in their approaches, and how to rightfully influence their audiences through creative direction, inspiration, and integrity.
Beyond 12 years experience, what sets us apart is our dedication to helping facilitate honest + good change in the world. There is so much emphasis on surface-level connection, but we dig deeper. We want to empower and create platforms for the talented, the creative, and the ones whose voices deserve to be heard.
We are most proud of our flexibility and adaptability. We are non-niche specific and are able to produce results for doctors all the way to artists.
We are known for our creative and custom approaches to brand strategy, web design, brand + packaging design, and creative direction to help break the mundane and monotonous visuals we see on social media. We are committed to producing powerful brands that speak for themselves.
Is there any advice you’d like to share with our readers who might just be starting out?
Business is long-game. There is no magic pill for quick, overnight success, and if you do happen to stumble on quick viral success, you better be massively prepared for sustaining that immediate growth and being able to fulfill the demands of that growth.
Starting out, I wish I knew the beauty in patience and the beauty in flow.
Contact Info:
- Website: sashamonique.com
- Instagram: www.instagram.com/sashamoniquecreates
Image Credits
Jeremiah McKibbins
