Today we’d like to introduce you to Brie McWade.
Hi Brie, please kick things off for us with an introduction to yourself and your story.
A creative since childhood and doodling since I could hold a pencil, I’ve focused my path on visual communications, graphic design, and custom illustration.
I returned to my creative roots in 2016 after nearly two decades in technical writing and corporate inventory/revenue management. I took a hiatus from the workforce to raise my two children, during which time I volunteered as an elementary art docent for grades 2-5 and also served as a tutor to high schoolers in the AVID curriculum.
My winding path found me moving from Seattle to Los Angeles with the expansion of cannabis legalization, in which I spent seven years working with commercial start-ups and grow ops in regulated production and processing before pivoting my focus into brand design and digital marketing on my own.
I am now Chief Creative and owner of Advisory House Design in the Los Angeles area. With over 15 years of professional design and visual communications experience, I support multiple small business and nonprofit clients across the US in their branding, marketing strategy, website design/development, and content creation for their digital footprints in web, email, and social along with designing retail signage and company merchandise.
I have extensive experience with entrepreneurship, start-ups, and brand ownership, having created, run, and operated B2B, B2C, and CPG businesses. Of my many projects is Sunday Beach Club, a California-inspired lifestyle brand promoting the wellness of being by the water, and my newest chapter as an emerging artist into the fine art world showcasing my ink illustrations.
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?
Certainly not a smooth road! I’ve stumbled and fallen in several of my endeavors which, in hindsight, has been nothing but an incredible blessing.
I’ve lost business partners in multi-million dollar start-ups, I’ve been replaced on projects due to budget limitations, and I’ve had to hustle to build a clientele only to lose all my small business clients during the pandemic. I’ve been paycheck to paycheck with a retail overhead that wasn’t making money and for years unsure if I could freelance enough to “make it” in LA.
Several times, I’ve been tempted by the security and safety of the corporate space, but I still maintain a drive to be an artist and designer on my own terms and to express my views and visions.
There are pros and cons to every path, and I choose to believe that all my missteps have given me the skills and savvy to succeed in the ways I choose to. Going at it on your own can have a steep price to pay, but the rewards are also somehow so much more empowering,
Can you tell our readers more about what you do and what you think sets you apart from others?
I am most proud of the traction and momentum I’ve gained in my art and illustration work over the past 30 years. Drawing and painting has always been a passion and a hobby of mine. I’ve contributed consistently to my craft, and I’m seeing it blossom and grow into what could now be a viable lifestyle path for me. Social media and the ability to share my work digitally has been a blessing.
My primary work is in ink. I draw a lot of architectural interest, which piggybacks over a long-ago idea that I’d be an architect when I “grew up.” Most currently, I’ve launched a “City as Muse” project that highlights building and cultural icons in cities across the US. I try to find non-traditional vantage points to give the viewer a way to see the unique details of massive city landmarks more closely. Having an eye on the little things like brick shapes, concrete forms, or ironwork brings a focus. It is the act of slowing down and seeing the world around you more intentionally.
I also draw a lot of animals adorned with modern and human-like accessories or personalities. I’ve named the collection Urban Animals; there are 9 in the series thus far ranging from a tattoo’d snake to an otter with a Magic 8 Ball.
We’re always looking for the lessons that can be learned in any situation, including tragic ones like the Covid-19 crisis. Are there any lessons you’ve learned that you can share?
Covid taught me that life, and everything in it, is temporary. Our jobs, our friends, our goals, our income…. it can all be lost overnight. Our society got a chance to recalibrate into new and untapped directions that better fed the collective human experience — quite a silver lining given the dire and painful realities of Covid for so many.
As certainly as the pandemic came to an end, so did so many perspectives on work and career and how we really want to spend our time — the pandemic’s catastrophic shut-down reiterated that we have to make the most of the time we have now. Live the life we want, carve out time for what we want to matter, and make the most of what we have in the present.
I became even more convinced that I wanted to maintain my independence and flexibility within my career and create a work-life balance that gave me time to spend with my family and on my hobbies. Ultimately, I learned that these things mean more to me than a larger income or a loftier title.
Contact Info:
- Website: www.advisoryhousedesign.com
- Instagram: @stateofbrie
- Linkedin: https://www.linkedin.com/in/briennamcwade/
Image Credits
All art and photography: Brie McWade
