Check Out Marisa Sanchez-Dunning’s Story

Today we’d like to introduce you to Marisa Sanchez-Dunning.

Hi Marisa, we’d love for you to start by introducing yourself.
I’ve always believed that the most meaningful creative work comes from lived experience. The way we move through the world, the grief we carry, the communities that shape us, the identities we grow into — all of it informs how we create.

I’m a Chicana founder born and raised in the Bay Area, now based in Oakland/East LA, and over the last several years I’ve become much more connected to my dad’s side of the family in Southern California after losing him before I was born. That reconnection has been incredibly meaningful for me personally and creatively. Spending more time in East LA over the years has added another layer of depth and intention to the work I create and the communities I feel connected to. It keeps the work grounded, human, and connected to real people and culture in a way that feels deeply personal to me.

Before founding If Only Creative, I lived in the UK where I completed my BA in Marketing after moving there without knowing anyone. That chapter of my life shaped me in a massive way. I was working multiple jobs, gaining agency experience wherever I could, and operating in what I still think of as one of the most fearless eras of my life. I lived very much by the mindset of “why not?” and it pushed me to take risks, trust myself, and build opportunities from scratch.

My career started in the agency world working in branding and design, but I quickly became burnt out on agency culture and the pace of constantly creating without intention. Eventually, I transitioned in-house and worked as a marketing manager for a craft brewery. That shift completely changed my perspective. For the first time, I was able to focus deeply on one brand, one story, and one product instead of constantly bouncing between clients. It taught me how impactful intentional creative work can be when there’s true alignment behind it.

After several years, though, I started feeling disconnected again. Around the same time, I was navigating major personal changes, including a divorce, and ultimately decided to move back to California to rebuild my life and rethink what I wanted my future to look like.

I began working in business development for a Bay Area design studio where I helped lead projects like a Sustainable Packaging Supplier Guide that ultimately helped bring in clients like Whole Foods and Dell. The work was meaningful and exciting, especially because sustainability and equity have always been core to who I am, but over time I found myself constantly advocating for ideas and perspectives that I knew could move projects forward, only to hear later, “You were right, we should have done it your way.” What started as something funny slowly became frustrating and disheartening.

At a certain point, I realized that if I could believe in other brands and founders so deeply, I owed it to myself to believe in my own vision too.

That’s ultimately what led me to founding If Only Creative in 2022.

More than just building a creative studio, I wanted to build the kind of agency I wished existed when I was younger — one rooted in collaboration, transparency, sustainability, cultural understanding, and genuine care for the people behind the brands. I wanted to create a space where creatives from different backgrounds could feel seen and supported while also producing work that feels emotionally resonant and culturally intentional.

Today, If Only Creative is a hybrid design agency based between the Bay Area and East LA, specializing in branding, packaging, strategy, photography, and social media for food, beverage, hospitality, and purpose-driven brands. At the core of our work is helping brands feel more human. Whether through visual identity, storytelling, content, or community-driven experiences, I want people to actually feel something when they interact with the work.

As a Mexican woman, it’s incredibly important to me to work with founders and businesses that are building something intentional and community-driven. We’ve been fortunate to collaborate with women-owned companies, POC-owned brands, restaurants, and founders who care deeply about storytelling, sustainability, and impact. Some of the projects closest to my heart are the ones rooted in culture and community.

One of those is El Otro Lado, a dinner series I created to reclaim and reframe Cinco de Mayo through food, storytelling, art, and community. What started as an intimate dinner has evolved into a larger cultural gathering bringing together chefs, creatives, artists, and brands to celebrate Mexican culture in a way that feels thoughtful, modern, and deeply personal.

I think a lot about how easy it can be for creative industries to lose sight of why we’re doing the work in the first place and who we’re actually doing it for. That’s something I’ve experienced firsthand throughout my career, and it’s a huge part of why I built If Only the way I did.

At the end of the day, I’m still building this studio with the same intention I had when I started: creating meaningful work with good people, supporting underrepresented founders, and proving that creative businesses can be both impactful and deeply human. I genuinely believe our experiences — the hard ones, the beautiful ones, the complicated ones — shape how we create and how we connect with others. That perspective is at the center of everything we do at If Only Creative.

Can you talk to us a bit about the challenges and lessons you’ve learned along the way. Looking back would you say it’s been easy or smooth in retrospect?
One of the biggest challenges throughout my career has honestly been access — access to resources, networks, mentorship, and opportunities. I didn’t come from a traditional creative background or have a roadmap for how to build a career in branding and design. When I moved to the UK to finish my BA in Marketing, I didn’t know anyone. I was working multiple jobs while trying to gain as much agency experience as possible because I knew I had to work twice as hard to create opportunities for myself. Looking back, it was one of the most fearless eras of my life. I really lived by “why not?” and that mindset pushed me into rooms and opportunities I probably otherwise would’ve been too scared to pursue.

Another challenge has been navigating creative leadership spaces as a young Mexican woman. There were a lot of moments throughout my career where I felt underestimated or like I had to overprove myself. I would advocate strongly for ideas, strategy, or creative direction and then later hear, “You were right, we should’ve done it your way.” After a while, that starts to wear on you. But I also think those experiences sharpened my instincts and ultimately pushed me toward building something of my own where I could trust my perspective fully.

Burnout was also a huge catalyst for me. I got really burnt out by traditional agency culture and started realizing that so much of the industry normalized overworking, constant urgency, and disconnecting from the actual purpose behind the work. There were moments where I lost sight of why I even got into creative work in the first place. Building If Only Creative became my way of redefining success for myself — proving that you can build a creative company that still values people, culture, community, collaboration, and intention without sacrificing ambition.

Thanks for sharing that. So, maybe next you can tell us a bit more about your work?
What I’m most proud of is that If Only Creative has grown into a studio that feels deeply intentional — not just creatively, but emotionally and culturally too. We’re a hybrid design agency based between Oakland and East LA specializing in branding, packaging, strategy, photography, and social media, primarily within food, beverage, hospitality, and purpose-driven spaces.

A huge part of our work is helping brands feel more human and culturally resonant instead of overly manufactured or trend-driven. I think we’ve become known for work that feels bold, unapologetic, thoughtful, and emotionally grounded. We’re especially drawn to founders and brands that are challenging their industries in some way or creating something with real care and intention behind it. We always say we want to build legacy brands for good people doing amazing things.

One of the projects I’m most proud of recently is our work for Tozi Azteca Superfoods (https://www.ifonly-creative.com/work/tozi-azteca-superfoods) , which we created in collaboration with designer Sofia Llaguno. Last week, the project won a The Dieline award, which honestly felt surreal. The Dieline has been such an important platform within the packaging and branding world for years, especially for younger designers and independent studios, so receiving that recognition meant a lot.

What made that project especially meaningful was that it represented so much of what I care about creatively: culturally rooted storytelling, strong visual identity systems, emotional resonance, and collaboration. It also felt really special seeing two Mexican creatives create something that could exist confidently and unapologetically within the design world while still honoring culture and story in a very intentional way.

Beyond individual projects, though, I’m honestly most proud of the relationships we’ve built through the studio. A lot of our clients become long-term collaborators and friends. We work very closely with founders, and I think people can feel that level of care and investment in the final work. I want the studio to create work that not only looks beautiful, but actually moves people and leaves a lasting impact.

Let’s talk about our city – what do you love? What do you not love?
What I love most about LA is the creative energy and cultural influence that exists everywhere. There’s something really inspiring about how many people here are fearlessly dedicated to building things — brands, art, restaurants, communities, movements — and doing it in bold, unconventional ways. I also love how deeply food, culture, music, fashion, and storytelling all intersect here. Spending more time in East LA over the last few years has been especially meaningful for me personally and creatively.

What do I like least? The traffic, obviously. I think sitting in LA traffic is basically a personality development exercise at this point.

Contact Info:

• Website: https://www.ifonly-creative.com/
• Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/ifonlycreative/
• LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/marisa-sanchez-dunning/

Image Credits
Jason B. James