August 6, 2024 • 38 mins
In this episode of "Butternomics," Brandon Butler sits down with Melissa A. Mitchell, the creative powerhouse behind Abeille Creations. Melissa shares her journey from working a 9-to-5 job to becoming a full-time artist and entrepreneur.
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Episode Transcript
Available transcripts are automatically generated. Complete accuracy is not guaranteed.
Speaker 1 (00:01):
What did you do when your business first crossed a
million dollar mark? Like did you go to the ATM
and prounter receipt? Like what was that experience like for you?
Speaker 2 (00:08):
I think my first big deposit, it was kind of
like I sat back because I had been holding on to,
like my ninety k year job, and I was just like,
I can't leave this job, Like I need my insurance,
I need my all my things. And so when you
get a check that's like two or three times your salary,
it's almost like this is what I was hiding from,
Like you couldn't believe that you were like shackled to
(00:30):
a desk because you were holding on to that. So
I think for me, it was just such an affirmation
of all that came from these hands, this mine, like
I did this.
Speaker 1 (00:48):
Hey, everybody, welcome to another episode of Button Nomics. I'm
your host, Brandon Butler, found in CEO of Butter atl
and today we have a very very special guest, the
one the only, Miss Melissa A.
Speaker 3 (00:59):
Mitchell of A Creations. But listen, how you doing today?
Speaker 2 (01:02):
I'm doing wonderful, good good.
Speaker 1 (01:05):
Now, well listen, look you over here taking over the
world right like you just got back from space.
Speaker 3 (01:10):
How was that whole experience for you?
Speaker 2 (01:12):
That was like I always called the black Girl homecoming.
It's it's perfectly settled in the middle of the years.
So it's kind of like you work up to it
and then you work away from it. So it's almost
like my personal new year for the brand, almost my
fiscal year. And so it's just really good to put
a face with all the likes, the comments, the love
that you get and you get to see it in person.
(01:33):
It's like, you know, what, I'm doing something right. So
it's always kind of like my barometer for like keep going.
You know you're successful. This works, it doesn't work, and
so it just really it's really good for my business
self esteem.
Speaker 1 (01:44):
Now you said to you said two of my favorite
words right there, fiscal year. But we'll come back to
that in just a second, because you know that the
business is always important. But you know what I want
to know is, let's let's just get right into it.
What did you do when your business first crossed the
million dollar mark? Like did you go to the at
Prounter receipt? Like, what was that experience like for you?
Speaker 2 (02:02):
I think my first big deposit it was kind of
like I sat back because I had been holding on
to like my ninety k year job, and I was
just like, I can't leave this job. Like I need
my insurance, I need my all my things. And so
when you get a check that's like two or three
times your salary, it's almost like this is what I
was hiding from, Like you couldn't believe that you were
(02:23):
like shackled to a desk because you were holding on
to that. So I think for me it was just
such an affirmation of all that came from these hands,
this mine, like I did this right. And I think
at some point money no longer becomes like the goal
is those feelings. It's the you know, call your mom
and say pick out a car. It's let's go on
(02:44):
a trip on a Tuesday because you find a flight deal.
It's the freedom of getting your time back and you know,
on on Thursday afternoon, talk to your friends on a podcast,
and I have to take off your job. So I
think the freedom that came with it's the freedom of choosing,
the freedom of deciding and just just showing up and
just being myself. That that feeling was all of that,
(03:04):
that that dot dot dot in my account. I was like,
this is in my account where my name with ABO Creations.
I was like, WHOA. So I think once I got
past that, it was like once you do it, once,
you got to keep doing it. So that was the
additional presson that came with. You know that big check
that came into the account.
Speaker 1 (03:21):
But but did you go to the ATM and print
it out? Through a lot of people, I know when
they get that and that check, kids, you just you
just refreshed them on the computer screen movie.
Speaker 2 (03:29):
I spring shot my Wells Fargo. I sprain shot it
and I emailed it to myself like don't forget.
Speaker 3 (03:34):
Oh that's a moment right there. Yeah, that's because.
Speaker 2 (03:36):
I used to I don't know if you heard, if
you watched The Secret the movie, The Secret well the documentary,
And so I used to print out those blank checks
and write checks to myself like, oh, like how Jim
Carrey had that blank two million dollar check? And so
I had like one hundred k check in my fake
like my wile like a fake check, and so I
was like why I finally passed the amount that I
wrote down. So it was just like a It really
(03:58):
felt like an out of body experience because you work
so hard and you finally reach that goal that seems
so far away. Now it's like, oh, minion, now it's
two million. You know, you talking six seven figures. It's
nothing now on you need these conversations. I did that
next question. So I definitely don't forget to remember those
moments because it's so easy to like get caught up
in like succeeding that you forget when you first started.
Speaker 3 (04:18):
Yeah.
Speaker 1 (04:19):
Yeah, so he's like, once everything starts happening, you're all
kind of on to the next one, but you do
got to kind of celebrate the winds along the way,
right yep. Now, let me ask, now, how did you
come up with the name ABO Creations? Like what's the
background on that?
Speaker 2 (04:31):
So when I first started in twenty really, I started
in twenty thirteen. I started making earrings because I couldn't
find earrings that matched my swag. I wanted some hot
pink with orange. I was like, why are they not
making earrings? So I just started painting on pieces of wood.
And so fast forward to twenty fourteen Snowstorm. I said,
I gotta give this a name, like it needs something
(04:51):
on it. And so I always know you know, just
with businesses. The letter A is the first alphabet, first
letter of the alphabet, so I wanted an A name.
And my middle name is Ayisha, so that's an A name.
So I was trying to find something with A. And
so when I went to look up what the meaning
of melissa is, which means honeybee in arab and Greek,
I said, hmm, what's another word that means honeybee? And
(05:14):
ABL came up and it's abay in French at bell.
You know, it's pronounced differently with different cultures, but Abl
also meant honeybee in French, and I was like, ooh,
this is it. And I never wanted to say abo
art abo ear rings, Abriel accessories. I was like creations
because I'm always picking up wood and molding it. So
(05:36):
when I came up with the name, it just sucked.
And it was like the sky was the limit. And
the story behind the honey bee my dad was studying
the productivity of bees, and bees technically aren't supposed to
be able to fly because they got big old butts,
so ergonomically bees can't fly, and so there they defy
the odds no matter what they're up against, and so
(05:58):
even it's me coming into the world as a black woman,
as an artist, you know, short little feisty thing for Miami,
trying to make waves. I'm always against the odds. I'm
always exception to the rule. And so I figured it
just stuck and it just it just become a part
of my my personality at this point.
Speaker 1 (06:13):
Yeah, man, Miami is a big part of your story.
You know, tell me how did you end up? How'd
you end up in Atlanta.
Speaker 2 (06:18):
It's funny. I grew up gon and raised in Miami,
but Atlanta was always like my in my mind, like
the the the Mecca, Like I had to make my
pilgrimage to Atlanta. I went to Florida, A and m I
had a lot of cool friends in Atlanta. Club was
like the Club and I was on the hills of
Freaknek in Atlanta Classic and so Atlanta just represented like
black freedom, like black flyness, black coolness, and I said,
(06:43):
I want to be cool. So I wanted to move
to Atlanta, work for Coca Cola. Driver a yellow BMW,
had two point five kids, a dog that named like, uh,
like Malcolm Martin. Malcolm. You know some real black dogs,
real black dogs, and none of that happened, except I
did move to Atlanta. I ended up doing event planning
(07:05):
for Coca Cola. I didn't get a yellow BMW. I
ended up getting a Cadillac and some other things. But
I think Atlanta just represented a place where I could
just be and I could look to my left and
right and people just being too. And it's just interesting
that ten years after I moved here, then I became
an entrepreneur. So it was almost like God was like
setting up these bricks to like prepare me for this
(07:26):
escalation of being an entrepreneur. And here I am. Now
what I was craving and gravitating towards was setting me
up for a lifetime of you know, entrepreneurship.
Speaker 1 (07:35):
Yeah no, No, you were sidure at Coke and you're
working as an event planner, But like, were you're doing
art before? Is art and something you've always kind of
worked on? Or how did you just how did you
all of a sudden get into.
Speaker 2 (07:44):
That My form of art was hot pink or aqua lipstick.
I was on Steve Harvey, so my lincensed to sent
me over to get a makeover, like you might need to,
you know, tone it down. A bit. Steve was like,
so you just gonna do this for the rest of
your life. I was like, yeah, I think so. Oh.
And so I've always been one of those like out
of the buck, you tell me where all black? To
(08:04):
an event? I'm like, can we wear a little bit
of pink? Can we just wear a little of this?
So I was always a rubble without a cause. And
that infamous Snowstone twenty fourteen, I was like, I gotta
find something to do. This cannot be work, sleep, repeat
every day. And when I found that box of old
art supplies, I said, you know, I'm just gonna give
a shot and I put it on social People started
(08:25):
buying it and it became a thing. And that's when
I hurried, Literally, I had to hurry up and put
abol creations on my trademark and get MYLLC like that night.
Immediately I was like, this might be bigger than what
I thought. And it took off.
Speaker 1 (08:38):
So what was it like as you start to kind
of transition out of that corporate job and to be
in full time you know, you talked about having insurance
and all those kind of the things that make you comfortable, right, Like,
what was that transition like, you know, what was your decision?
How that whole thing kind of come together.
Speaker 2 (08:52):
I was working full time up until twenty twenty one.
I quit. It was January twenty ninth. I never forget it.
And my one of my colleagues is just talking a
little spicy. And at this time, I had had billboards,
I had commercials, but nobody really knew at my job
who I was. So I always would come in like
my little glasses on. I was a little it nerd.
(09:13):
So people were like, oh, that can't be Melissa. She
doesn't wear head wraps because I'm like in a fro.
And so I literally was feeling like I was a
superwoman where I would have an artistic kate and then
I go back put on my little button up outfit.
So nobody really knew who I was. And so it
was on like a Friday, I had an eyebrow appointment
and she's like, well, I need you to log on
at like five o'clock. I was like on a Friday
and were working from home and it's a pandemic. You
(09:35):
want me to sit at home some more? And it
was just something came over and said it's time. I
was like time, and I felt God says, trust me,
And I told God I would give him a year.
I said, God, I'll give you a year of being
an artist full time. We'll see what happens, and if not,
I'll go back. And God was like, you can always
go back to a job. It may not be the
(09:55):
exact job or the exact pay, but I could find
somewhere to work. And so it was on that January
twenty ninth I quit. My last day was February eleventh.
Everything's in eleventh. I quit that day, and within three
or four weeks I manifested a deal with Peloton and
then foot Locker Hennessy Hennessy I won a grant. So
(10:16):
it was like God was like, you were a hold
up baby girl. All of this was on the edge
waiting for you. It was you that was on the edge.
And so now that I'm here, I'm like, whoa this is?
This is waiting on me this.
Speaker 1 (10:29):
Whole time, and that's interesting, right, Like, so you didn't
you weren't like planning to necessarily leave, or you weren't
you know, saving up with the idea that I'm getting
getting out of here. You just it kind of came
over you one day and you put in your two
weeks and kind of started moving.
Speaker 2 (10:43):
Yeah. I think during the pandemic when I saw how
easily life could just be taken away, and you watched
like brilliant minds get you know, attacked by this disease,
and that was it. Like I didn't want my obituary
to say and she worked at dot dot dot.
Speaker 3 (10:57):
Yeah.
Speaker 2 (10:58):
I wanted it to be the brilliant artist, the fearless woman,
And so I think I was just thinking about if
this is my last year on Earth, how would I
want that to look. And I think that really pushed
me really over the ledge and that just made me
so fearless. Like I had quite a bit of money
saved because I just signed some big deals. But I
think after I released the need to like make money,
(11:20):
it started coming to me like in droves.
Speaker 3 (11:22):
Yeah.
Speaker 1 (11:23):
Yeah, So what was kind of the big breakthrough moment then?
Like you mentioned some deals, like the deals you were
talking about, then I know the whole thing. But Spanks happened,
Like what do you kind of look at as that
moment that like everything really changed.
Speaker 2 (11:35):
It's funny I got the Spanks deal. That was another
crazy moment. I applied for Spanks. The competition in my
computer crashed and I'm like, well did my application go through?
Like what happened? And then my sister applied herson go through.
I was like, okay, not meant to be. I'm too bright,
I'm doing too much. And so I left it alone.
But then I get a DM two weeks later. Hey,
(11:56):
we're trying to get in contact with Melissa Mitchell. Do
you know her? I'm like, girl, this me, this Melissam.
And that was in twenty eighteen, twenty eighteen, twenty nineteen,
and I want to say, that's like the beginning. So
I founded ABL in twenty fourteen, but twenty nineteen was
like my my real Like okay, I'm doing this for real,
like a real business. And I think when Sarah Blakely
(12:18):
walked in and she said she saw so much of
herself in me, and I'm like, girl, you making a
billion dollars you you know it means? She's like no,
like you're a creative fearlessness, like you don't care. You're like,
She's like, I made panties. I made panties were crotches.
She's like, and I got a patent for it. I'm like, well,
I guess you're right, and so I think being affirmed
by some of my she rows, you know, and seeing
(12:39):
people that like fall in love instantly with the brand,
those moments make me know that this is bigger than
just me painting on a canvas.
Speaker 3 (12:46):
Yeah.
Speaker 1 (12:46):
Now, when you're working with all these brands, I'm sure
you know a lot of people probably getting intimidated, and
I know you probably had a big learning curve. But
like when you work with these brands, especially from an
art standpoint, like, how do you make sure that it
feels authentic? It feels like it's something that you want
to do and it doesn't get you know, a lot
of times when you work with these big companies, it's
easy for stuff to get watered down. Lots of people
have ideas, lots of people get sit around and get
(13:07):
paid to just throw around ideas that don't even go anywhere. Right, So,
like you, how did you kind of learn to fight
for your vision to make sure that always came through?
Speaker 2 (13:16):
Well, I think it goes back to relationships, and it's
not always become besties with your new clients, but it's
just understanding what the companies, like, what their goal is
with the campaign. Like when I did the mural for
Super Bowl with Pepsi. It's like, we just want you
to do whatever you want, like what's your favorite song?
And of course Outcasts is one of my favorite groups
and they let me pay homage to that. So it's
(13:37):
really having open conversations and asking like what do y'all
want to do with this? Like is this gonna be it?
Like we're gonna be friends after this or is this
a one vam land vam And so I'm always like,
how can we keep the relationship going? And I always
ask how can I bring a friend on? Like when
I did my Sphinks commercial, I hire my friends to
help produce it. You know, am I allowed to hire out?
(13:59):
Is their creative really for me to you know, add
some of this? Like when I speak at different events,
I say, you know, you may pay me five thousand,
but for six thousand, I'll give you art for the
whole camp, for the whole you know, conference, and then
now I'm embedded into the conference. So finding creative ways
to leave a mark without being too obnoxious, but also
(14:19):
being open to say these are my goals as an artist.
This is what I hope to accomplish, you know, Is
that something that you're all open to and just having
a conversation because many times they don't think about the
things you're asking because they're so in an office mindset
every day. They don't even know what you're thinking to
bring to the table that it's even like, oh, that
is a possibility, we could do that. So just asking
big questions, I think that has helped me kind of
(14:40):
preserve my personality in all of my campaigns. Why I
don't feel like I'm being like, you know, being looked
over my ideas and stuff.
Speaker 1 (14:49):
Yeah, I would always tell people like, being smart is
knowing the right mix of asking really smart questions and
really stupid questions so you can kind of get the
stuff out the way too, because sometimes you're like, I
just need to ask this question, and you know, I
apologize if y'all think you already know the answers, but
I'm asked this really stupid question right here, just so
we're all on the same page. But having that right balance,
right of knowing you know when to step in, when
(15:10):
to kind of ask things and make sure you kind
of get what you want because if not, you're just
gonna get what they give you. And that's not always gonna,
you know, tie back to what you're trying to accomplish,
right exactly, So you're going you're running, I'm guessing that
obviously you have a team now, you know that's you've
got people that are helping you out doing things. But like,
when it comes to building the team, like, how do
you find those right people that can kind of help
(15:31):
you take your business to the next level?
Speaker 3 (15:32):
Right?
Speaker 1 (15:33):
Like, I know you a lot of times when we
build things, we start off with our friends and kind
of whoever will help us, and sometimes we outgrow that,
you know, sometimes they're not the right people, right, And
so like, how did you kind of go through finding
the right people to kind of help support you and
your vision and your values.
Speaker 2 (15:48):
Well, it's funny that you say friends and family, because
I feel like when I got my calling to be
an artist. You know, one of my closest friends he
became a photographer overnight. My sister was dipping into the publicist.
My other sister who's now a huge comedian, she was
really good at learning social Another girlfriend of mine had
run all the local boutiques, so she knew how to
(16:08):
do inventory. My recent hire, she's like my brand consultant.
She does that full time, and like she worked at
like big, big TV station. So it's funny because I've
never had to hire anybody. They just kind of sat around.
It's like, what you doing tomorrow? What you doing today?
After that? Well, she can you just come me for
ust of the week. So my friend that came during
Essence Festival, I said, I just need you to come
(16:29):
with me. I don't know what role or capacity, and
she ended up being my everything, you know, like my
assistant slash production, slash this. So I think for me,
because I am an artist, I'm very spiritual and very
just very just. I use so much discretion and so
much spiritual intuition when it comes to people, and I
know it's not the best thing for you know, CEOs,
(16:50):
But I think my spiritual life is so in tune
that I'm like, God, I need to manifest an interview.
I need like I'm just so weird, like I'll talk
out all that. God. I need to find me a man,
I need to find me a car. I need to
like I just yelled out and God was literally And
that's why people say the world is my oyster and
my paint brush on my canvas. I literally say God,
(17:11):
I need somebody for New Orleans. And she's like, oh, yeah,
I'm from New Orleans. I was say, wait a minute,
she said, yeah, you can just ship everything to my
mom's house. I'm like, kayle, are you serious? And literally,
within a week the things I was stressing over the
right two people came in my life and made the answer.
So my hiring process is very like me and God
making like the executive decisions on the sideline. And you know,
(17:31):
and I mean I have interns. When I go speak
to different schools, it's always like one or two students
that you see yourself in. You're like, I really gotta
I gotta help this girl. And they just become a
part of the family. And now they're like my daughter
slash kids slash niece. They just become a part of
the brand. But I just think it's very serendipitous for
me because I don't really want to have a team.
(17:52):
I want to have a family, because I think when
you have family, they take it on like something personal,
like this is my brand too, like I want this
to win. Kind of how when you see other people
like is that your boss or is not your friend?
You know? But when it gets down to the business
of it. I do have people that I don't even talk,
like my artists that I work with that puts all
my sketches together that I come up with. She's in Bangladesh.
(18:13):
I have somebody that's in California that I'm we'll ever
have to talk and to Littila's about the fabric. My
girl in China if I email her. It's all business.
So you have people that you have that very you know,
strict thick line of business where there's other people that
I do with every day that's like my homegirl, my
homeboy or their family.
Speaker 3 (18:29):
Yeah, that's interesting too.
Speaker 1 (18:30):
I mean, especially with the international team, how do you
find those kind of people in resources and kind of that.
I'm like, you know, how do you find people in
Bangladesh and all over the world kind of because again
the beauty of the internet too is like you can
you can build a world class team from anywhere. So
you know, how did you kind of go through the
steps of building that.
Speaker 2 (18:45):
I'm a question asker. If I know you having some
good T shirt, I'm like, Branda, where you get those
shirts made at? Who's your person? And so thank God
again these friends that I've that I've had in the
fashion world. I have very few friends that I trust,
like with my real questions. One of my girlfriends said, Hey,
she's my she's my tech pack designer. Call her. She
only charges X y Z. Now she's our tech pack.
(19:06):
So she's somebody. She's been trusted, she's already paid her.
So it's really all about asking your parents and your
network who they use, because they may save you ten
years and ten thousand dollars trying to get samples. And
I'm an Alibiba queen. I would get on this type.
I need head reps made in ten days, and I
would go through all thirty inquiries looking at every single thing,
(19:27):
and I found the perfect you know, storm of a team,
and then they're making it happen.
Speaker 3 (19:32):
Oh that's s dope, that's s dope. We're still talking
about business now.
Speaker 1 (19:46):
So and you talk about how, you know, you're artists,
you're doing all these other kind of things, Like I
understand how you can potentially price products, but like how
do you price your art? Like how do you price
those kind of projects? What's your process? You know, how
do you kind of go through that.
Speaker 2 (20:00):
I always promise myself to go up a couple one
hundred dollars per year, because my name is worth more
so to speak, And it just depends on how long
it took me, the relationship I have with the new collector.
If there's something that I really want to own, the
piece of artwork, I'll work within their budget no less
than twenty five hundred dollars. And I don't want somebody
(20:20):
to just want some art for their house, like I
want them to be a part of my story. I
always remember my mentor telling me the story at Boskaya
when he first came to Atlanta for a random show
at Clark Atlanta and he was selling pieces for like
one hundred to two hundred dollars, and there was like
one professor that believed in his work and bought it.
And now that one piece is worth like two million dollars.
(20:40):
And so I always think of myself as the next
big thing in art. And I'm like, if I blow up,
would I trust this person with a million dollar lottery ticket?
But I trust what they wouldn't, you know, not in
so many words where they would sloot out my work,
you know. And so my collectors are now extended pieces
of the family, Like, oh, I have a Melissa Mitrick
my back. You know. Now they're owning part of the brand.
(21:02):
And so for me, pricing is always tricky because it's like, okay,
it costs, because really, if you look down to a
canvas cost as cheap as five bucks, paint costs at
least as five bucks, you know, frame maybe a hundred.
So it's really about the experience, the collector aspect of it,
relationship building and do you want this person to be
(21:22):
a part of your history. And I think that's my
biggest like marker. So I'm like, listen, you can't pay
me no less twenty five hundred dollars. You don't feel right.
And so me selling something for one hundred dollars at
this point in my career would just be like charity
where I'd rather give it away than sell for one
hundred dollars because that just don't make no sense.
Speaker 3 (21:39):
No, I feel you.
Speaker 1 (21:40):
I feel you now now to the outside world. You know,
I'm sure it's like, man, you can't stop winning. They
seeing you all over the place. You know, you're doing
everything on all these stages. But look, everybody deals with
challenges and setbacks, and I'm sure you've got some that
you've kind of dealt with too, like what are some
of those that you've kind of had to fight your
way through? And more importantly, like how do you kind
of stay motivated when those things happen.
Speaker 2 (22:01):
I mean, just as a woman, you deal with health challenges.
You know, of a certain age now, so it's like
you have to go slower, like I can't pick up
things fast as I used to, you know, trying to
start a family, So you're thinking about your health, but
you're also thinking about your legacy. So I think for me, challenging,
challenging moments always gonna come. Like even when I was
(22:21):
trying to prepare for Essence Festival, my head wraps were
stuck in Chicago, and I'm leaving Wednesday to go to
New Orleans. So I'm pacing the floor trying to come
up with a plan B and C because the whole
event is around me giving out head wraps. Luckily, my
good old girl Bonnie in China's probably not a real name,
Bonnie and China. She's calling going off in her language
(22:44):
to DHL. I'm going off in Atlanta, Oh, DHL. So
we're all letting them have it. But it's like every
challenge and I have to keep going back to just
having that spiritual relationship, Like it brings me to tears
how much God has like came in a clutch for
my brand, Like I get emotional like thinking about I
almost didn't have anything I needed for Asence festival and
(23:05):
God was like watch this. And so even on my
toughest moments as a business on my faith has kept
me so grounded and just being successful. No matter how
big I get, I will talk about God. I don't
care to the President, to whoever, Like I'm always like
God did, like without a doubt, God made it happen.
Speaker 1 (23:26):
What's one of those moments I remember? For example, I
was working with a client one time on a project
and I went out of town right and I told
my team, I said, look, we did the work. All
y'all have to do is I have the envelope sitting
on my desk. It's already got postage on it. Literally
just go take it to the post office. And I
went on vacation for a week. I come back that
(23:49):
Monday morning, fresh off vacation the good mood. Guess what
the package is still sitting on my desk and it
had to be in North Carolina. By one pm that
same day. So I nicely, first of all, I cussed
out my team. Then I nicely went on to Delta
dot com, found a ticket in North Carolina, drove from
work to the airport, personally, flew to North Carolina, rented
(24:13):
out a car. I told the lady car but I said,
I'll be back in thirty minutes. Because I don't even
think they had uber where I was at. I said,
I'll be right back. I just seed this car for
like an hour, drove it, handed into the client, came back,
called a flight home, and was back home by five o'clock.
Now that was just a moment when those stories are there, Like,
do you have any kind of moments like that where
you just had to kind of do something and kind
of go above and beyond and make something happen.
Speaker 2 (24:34):
Oh god, it's so many of them I think about.
I just had a recent order for head wraps with
my local vendor. It was all the wrong material, she said,
All I thought it, So it's a certain material that
I have to use for the head wraps. So let's say,
is one point five is the way? But it was
like one point nine, I said, So you want me
to have a brick on my head and get this
out to these people. She had to redo three thousand
(24:57):
dollars worth of head wraps. I had to re after
them all and then hand delivering might nothing happen, And
that's happened more than once. And just the stress of
trying it because you're you're in it right, like you
can't see the silver lining. I'm so covered up my
head wraps, i can't see it. And yes, it ended
up working out, but it's like, how do I circumvent
(25:18):
this from happening again? And you talk about a team.
I no longer could let one company or one manufacturer
hold the destiny of my entire brand. So now I
have three. Yeah, So if she can't get it done
here in Snailville, if Bonnie can't get it done in China,
I got somebody in California's my plan C and D.
And so it just every time that happens. I never
(25:40):
let one person hold the fate of my company, Like
you cannot be the person my assistant can't be the
one that helps me get a check to foot locker
or whoever I'm working with, And then that's the whole
detriment of the past ten years I worked on I'm
giving it to an intern. You know, my whole is
in the hands of one person.
Speaker 3 (25:57):
Yeah, no, I completely understand that, completely understand that. Now.
Speaker 1 (26:02):
You know I'm a content creator also, you know we
run Butter, We do lots of stuff around the city,
and you know, you with your art standpoint. But one
of the things I kind of run into challenges sometime
is just you know, being you know, inspiration and being inspired, right,
and you know your designs are so unique, you know,
where do you find inspiration? And also kind of how
do you deal with those moments where you're not necessarily
feeling that creative.
Speaker 2 (26:22):
I've been dealing with that late. I haven't painted painted.
I painted a piece last week for a client, but
before that, I haven't had the desire to paint. I've
been so head down in creating moments to support the brand.
Traveling really does it for me. Massages. I'll go get
a massage just to like literally because I can't use
(26:43):
my phone or the massage table, so it's like I
got to just shut it off. Sometimes the noise is
too loud. I look at mail art. I love Neil Art.
Graffiti in the city. A furniture architecture documentaries on other painters,
like I love to Christian Lubertin's his documentary about why
he got started. So sometime when I remember my why,
(27:06):
like okay, God, give me give me something. I need
my water, I need to make it happen. So sometime
I just got to like sit still a room why
I started, or I'll go and look it up some
of my old work, Like I was like, okay, now
what did I do? How did I even do this?
So I'm like, I'm going back to my old work.
So it's a combination of remembering my purpose, letting somebody
else his purpose remind me of my purpose, and just
(27:26):
honestly just getting getting quiet and letting God like give
me a download.
Speaker 3 (27:31):
No, that's good. I mean, yeah, you gotta you gotta
find those moments.
Speaker 2 (27:34):
You know.
Speaker 1 (27:34):
I remember there was a time when I was running
a business and it was extremely stressful, Like anytime my
phone would ring, I'd have a little minor anxiety attack,
and even if I would go on vacation, I had
to like lock my phone in the safe just to
get away from it for a while. So, you know,
you got to find those moments as an entrepreneur just
you know, find some peace and do whatever it kind
of takes to help you reset and get back on
(27:55):
you know, back on focus. You know, so completely been there,
how was living in it? Kind of specifically inspired kind
of you know, your art and your business and what
you do, Like I know a lot of that comes
from you know, South Florida and your background and everything else,
but like, you know what kind of flavored Atlanta put
on all that?
Speaker 2 (28:11):
Oh, I mean Atlanta influences everything. Plug. Yeah. I think
for me being around so many other go getters, nobody
is just a regular nine to five or here, and
that is so inspirational to me. Nobody is settling with
just what they've been given. It's so many people that
are going out there and getting it. I remember sitting
(28:32):
I think we were at the salon and I was
talking to about styles about something random girls saying I'm
sorry I was eavesdropping, but my brother does this, he
can help you do that. I'm just like you being nosy,
but thank you, you know. And then it turned into
a relationship where like her brother helped me do this,
the brothers sisters cut like it turned into a whole
like literally a whole business team just from a whisper
(28:53):
to my stylence. And so Atlanta is a place where
literally dreams come true. And we say that cliche. But
even how we became friends, it was like I kept
seeing you, you kept seeing me. We kept talking a lot,
like I think that's my friend. We're friends. I don't
know what it happened. We're friends now. And it's not
only that we're friends. We're like, how can I get
my friend an opportunity? How can I put my friend's
(29:15):
brand on? Even the earrings that I wear, I had
never met the design of these earrings. We just talked
on social, but it matched so much to my esthatic.
I was like, we gotta be friends because you obviously
talking to God like me. And then now I have
so many sisters in creativity that I couldn't find in Atlanta.
Now I'm finding them on social. So it's like, I
think being in Atlanta makes you feel less. We here
knows so much. We like I'm just asking, see, like
(29:38):
you want to hang out, you want to work on
this project? Meet, shoot, let's shoot your shot. And we
don't just shoot our shots here, we do it. Yeah,
You're like, I want to do a forum on black creativity,
the status of it. Shoot, I'm gonna run out of
the gathering spot. We're gonna have it on Friday. I'm
like this week, like, yeah, it was an ideal on Monday.
By Friday, you got a location, you got a caterer,
you got people on your panel, you got people give
(30:00):
our liquor. I was like, you just came up this
last week. You're like, yeah, it's can you do it?
Yes or not? I'm like, shoot, I'm in. And we
always say we're in because we know if one of
us call each other, it's legit and we've done the work,
and it's literally like okay, overnight success because we all
trust each other and we're like we're here to like
what do you need help with? Like I'm never too
big to be like Brandon, what do you need help with?
(30:21):
Like I could be literally be on the stage given
a keynote for X y Z, But if I see
you or none of like, oh Brandon, give me my
ear piece, I gotta see what he wants. And that's
just how we choose our relationship. So Atlanta, I mean,
I don't even know where else I could live. Like
I'm having a problem, Like when I date other people
Like so movie Tantlanta? What are you thinking? So is
that not an option? Or yeah, this may not work
(30:43):
because you gotta come to Atlanta.
Speaker 1 (30:45):
Yeah, that's that's the crazy thing, right, Like you out
here long enough, you start thinking like where would I
actually go from here? And it's it's something I've been
thinking about for years, Like if I ever left Atlanta,
where would I go?
Speaker 3 (30:55):
And you know, Africa, I don't know, it's.
Speaker 2 (31:00):
Gotta be a hard it's a hard sale to get
us to leave here. Like we got a lot of
good relationships in Atlanta and they.
Speaker 1 (31:05):
Just work absolutely. So what you got coming up? I
know you got some big projects coming up? You know
some things you're excited about, Like what you're looking forward to.
Speaker 2 (31:14):
I have a big collection coming out with She and
shn She and how do y'all want to pronounce it?
That's coming out in the month on top of August.
I have a natural hair show I'm traveling to in
Mississippi also in the July, preparing for homecoming season. I
have a huge project I'm working out with a company
(31:34):
called Wakatti Hair and I'm choosing the next the next
great big artist that's coming out of HBCUs got it
so much, and a couple of other big things that
are brewing. Yeah, But I think for me, I try
not to get caught up in my wins and I
try not to cad up in my next because now
it's so important. So I literally was like, when I
(31:55):
get off the phone here, I'm going to try to
just sit still in what happened.
Speaker 3 (31:58):
In essence, Yeah, as.
Speaker 2 (32:00):
Soon as you finished one big thing, you're like, hey,
what's next. You're like, well, it just it was yesterday.
Let me let me talk about yesterday, you know. So
it's such a struggle too because we're such planners and doers.
It's like, we had that amazing we had that amazing
forum just a few months ago, and it's like it
felt like that was two years ago. That was this year,
And I'm like, dangn not cause I was looking at
(32:20):
the pictures for this, I'm like, dang, that was this year,
you know. And so I have to. I have to.
It's a personal thing for me to like, Melissa, slow down,
like you've done a lot, like don't beat yourself up.
So I think, like I get in tears. I'm a
cry baby when I think about all I've done, but
I have to make myself sitting it long enough so
I don't forget how good that felt when I accomplished
(32:41):
what I did last week at Essence Fest, you know,
and like what I did earlier this year with Truist.
I was a headliner for that, so there meant so
many wins that get buried about what's next. So I
have to like make sure I get props to what
I was able to do already while I get prepared
for the next.
Speaker 3 (32:57):
Yeah you got to again. If not, you're just kinda
run thing to think. You don't you don't really get a.
Speaker 1 (33:01):
Chance, like you said, sit in it and kind of
appreciate it, Like, yeah, that event that we did, you know,
that was back in what February of this year, and
I mean the year is kind of flying by, and yeah,
you need those moments to just be like, oh I
did that.
Speaker 3 (33:13):
That was dope.
Speaker 1 (33:13):
These people came out and supported you know. It's really
important to kind of just you know, not just be
on to the next thing every time, you know, accomplish
something right, but really kind of sit in and think
about it and get feedback on it. All kind of matters,
so you're not just you know, burning yourself out and
just keeping going non stop. This hustle cultur will get
you if you lit it.
Speaker 2 (33:31):
You know, I'm telling you.
Speaker 1 (33:33):
Now, let me ask you this now. I know you're
doing all this art, you're crushing it, You're doing everything.
But if money wasn't an object, if you were doing whatever, like,
would you still.
Speaker 3 (33:41):
Be doing this? If money wasn't an object, Like, what
would you be doing?
Speaker 2 (33:45):
I always say this, it's just like a people would
never believe this. I would love to be a farmer.
I would love to raise like exotic flowers and palm
trees because I love watching the process of like I mean,
you've seen a seed, like the seed is so little
and for what comes from a seed, it's like mind blowing.
I'm like, I did this from a seed, and so
(34:06):
I have a gorgeous garden now. But just watching how
you rely on the weather, you rely on the sun,
you rely on like the calendar. So I think for
me aar be a farmer. Another thing I want to
do too is and I might actually do this in
real life, is just travel to different hospitals and do
hospital makeovers because I feel like when our dad passed away,
(34:28):
all I remember are white walls, like it was so
like daunting, like that hallway ye going to check the
sea if he was gonna make it. You know, when
you're just there, it's just such a it feels like
it's encroaching on you. So I would love to do
makeovers for like hospice sinners, so like the last thing
people see when they pass away are like bright colors,
Like they don't see the white light going towards the
white light, Like, how do we know it's not colorful
(34:50):
when you go to heaven?
Speaker 3 (34:51):
Yeah?
Speaker 2 (34:52):
No, So I would love to like an RV tour
where we like literally go like it almost like with
the Extreme makeovers, where you like pull a curtain back
and it's like a beautiful hospital room and so when
you get sick, you get put in this room and
it has like music, it has art, and it's like
a whole experience. So I would love to do that
for different hospitals, or even go to people's homes where
(35:12):
they're like passing away and remake their rooms as they're dying.
Speaker 1 (35:16):
I see a TV show in your future as you're
going around traveling around the country, and I can't wait
to watch it. It's gonna be amazing and just seeing
how that's going to impact people. So before we get
out of here, one last just question for you is
what what what one piece of advice, like, what's your
one second advice that you would give to you know,
an aspired an entrepreneur or artists that's kind of that
(35:36):
wants to build something. Maybe they're kind of scared to
take that leap, scared to you know, step out of
corporate that comfortability and kind of.
Speaker 3 (35:43):
Do their own thing. Like, what's that piece of advice
you'd give them.
Speaker 2 (35:46):
Don't be afraid of speaking your voice. Your language was
given to you for a reason, and when your blessings
come down, it's gonna come to exactly who you are,
not to who you pretend to be. And I find
I find a lot of artists trying to become mogulation
of who they study and who they you know, inspire
to be, and they forget that, Yes, it's great to
be inspired by the Brandons and Melissa's, but the Connie's,
(36:09):
the Ramses. Whoever you were given is a very specific
DNA attached to that blessing. And so don't be afraid
to be yourself, even if it feels lonely even it
feels misunderstood. Eventually you'll get paid to be you and
everybody will want to know your story. So don't be
afraid to speak fully and loudly in your voice.
Speaker 3 (36:29):
Let me tell you something. There's nothing like getting paid
to be yourself. It is a beautiful, beautiful yes, yes,
you know, like they always say, be yourself. Everybody else
is taken, so the world will adjust.
Speaker 1 (36:42):
Well, Yo, Melissa, thank you so much for coming on.
Before we get out of here, please tell everybody how
they can find you, How can they support you? How
can they go buy some stuff?
Speaker 2 (36:50):
Like?
Speaker 3 (36:50):
You know?
Speaker 2 (36:52):
Up, I'm easily to be. I'm easy to be Google.
I say that very humbly after ten years of working.
But it's Melissa at dot com. It's my website, my
Instagram where I'm always right on the way. It's either
colorful Ideas, it's ABO Creations and that's a B E.
I L L E Creations and yeah, you can find
me in those three different ways. I'm always around, I'm
(37:13):
always rounding my mouth me.
Speaker 1 (37:15):
Lissa, thank you so much for being on the podcast,
and thank you again for always being supportive and being
there whenever I've needed your help. You know, one of
your biggest fans right here, and I can't wait to
see you know what amazing stuff you got coming up next.
Speaker 2 (37:27):
Thank you so much. I'm grateful and I'm really excited
about the impact that this will have. Also, I know
that people will be changed, transform and encouraged to do
some more.
Speaker 3 (37:37):
Well, thank you pouring back into me. I appreciate it
right back here to you.
Speaker 2 (37:41):
Look you poured that's and that's Atlanta. Like you're like,
what's up? Shot? And now what's up? Like we're gonna
be doing the Spider Man. We're gonna be giving it
right back to each other. And I love that about us.
So thank you for including me, for seeing me and
giving me opportunities like I don't take it for granted.
Speaker 3 (37:57):
Absolutely well, thank y'all.
Speaker 1 (37:58):
That's the pod to for the next one. You've been
listening to button Nomics and I'm your host, Brandon Butler.
Comments feedback. Want to be a part of the show,
send us an email today at hello at butterdomics dot com.
Butter Nomics is produced in Atlanta, Georgia at iHeartMedia by Ramsey,
with marketing and support from Queen and Nike. Music provided
(38:18):
by mister Hanky if you haven't already hit that subscribe
button and never missed an episode, and be sure to
follow us on all our social platforms at butter dot
at L. Listen to button Nomics on the iHeartRadio app,
Apple Podcasts, or wherever you get your podcasts.
What did you do when your business first crossed a
million dollar mark? Like did you go to the ATM
and prounter receipt? Like what was that experience like for you?
Speaker 2 (00:08):
I think my first big deposit, it was kind of
like I sat back because I had been holding on to,
like my ninety k year job, and I was just like,
I can't leave this job, Like I need my insurance,
I need my all my things. And so when you
get a check that's like two or three times your salary,
it's almost like this is what I was hiding from,
Like you couldn't believe that you were like shackled to
(00:30):
a desk because you were holding on to that. So
I think for me, it was just such an affirmation
of all that came from these hands, this mine, like
I did this.
Speaker 1 (00:48):
Hey, everybody, welcome to another episode of Button Nomics. I'm
your host, Brandon Butler, found in CEO of Butter atl
and today we have a very very special guest, the
one the only, Miss Melissa A.
Speaker 3 (00:59):
Mitchell of A Creations. But listen, how you doing today?
Speaker 2 (01:02):
I'm doing wonderful, good good.
Speaker 1 (01:05):
Now, well listen, look you over here taking over the
world right like you just got back from space.
Speaker 3 (01:10):
How was that whole experience for you?
Speaker 2 (01:12):
That was like I always called the black Girl homecoming.
It's it's perfectly settled in the middle of the years.
So it's kind of like you work up to it
and then you work away from it. So it's almost
like my personal new year for the brand, almost my
fiscal year. And so it's just really good to put
a face with all the likes, the comments, the love
that you get and you get to see it in person.
(01:33):
It's like, you know, what, I'm doing something right. So
it's always kind of like my barometer for like keep going.
You know you're successful. This works, it doesn't work, and
so it just really it's really good for my business
self esteem.
Speaker 1 (01:44):
Now you said to you said two of my favorite
words right there, fiscal year. But we'll come back to
that in just a second, because you know that the
business is always important. But you know what I want
to know is, let's let's just get right into it.
What did you do when your business first crossed the
million dollar mark? Like did you go to the at
Prounter receipt? Like, what was that experience like for you?
Speaker 2 (02:02):
I think my first big deposit it was kind of
like I sat back because I had been holding on
to like my ninety k year job, and I was
just like, I can't leave this job. Like I need
my insurance, I need my all my things. And so
when you get a check that's like two or three
times your salary, it's almost like this is what I
was hiding from, Like you couldn't believe that you were
(02:23):
like shackled to a desk because you were holding on
to that. So I think for me it was just
such an affirmation of all that came from these hands,
this mine, like I did this right. And I think
at some point money no longer becomes like the goal
is those feelings. It's the you know, call your mom
and say pick out a car. It's let's go on
(02:44):
a trip on a Tuesday because you find a flight deal.
It's the freedom of getting your time back and you know,
on on Thursday afternoon, talk to your friends on a podcast,
and I have to take off your job. So I
think the freedom that came with it's the freedom of choosing,
the freedom of deciding and just just showing up and
just being myself. That that feeling was all of that,
(03:04):
that that dot dot dot in my account. I was like,
this is in my account where my name with ABO Creations.
I was like, WHOA. So I think once I got
past that, it was like once you do it, once,
you got to keep doing it. So that was the
additional presson that came with. You know that big check
that came into the account.
Speaker 1 (03:21):
But but did you go to the ATM and print
it out? Through a lot of people, I know when
they get that and that check, kids, you just you
just refreshed them on the computer screen movie.
Speaker 2 (03:29):
I spring shot my Wells Fargo. I sprain shot it
and I emailed it to myself like don't forget.
Speaker 3 (03:34):
Oh that's a moment right there. Yeah, that's because.
Speaker 2 (03:36):
I used to I don't know if you heard, if
you watched The Secret the movie, The Secret well the documentary,
And so I used to print out those blank checks
and write checks to myself like, oh, like how Jim
Carrey had that blank two million dollar check? And so
I had like one hundred k check in my fake
like my wile like a fake check, and so I
was like why I finally passed the amount that I
wrote down. So it was just like a It really
(03:58):
felt like an out of body experience because you work
so hard and you finally reach that goal that seems
so far away. Now it's like, oh, minion, now it's
two million. You know, you talking six seven figures. It's
nothing now on you need these conversations. I did that
next question. So I definitely don't forget to remember those
moments because it's so easy to like get caught up
in like succeeding that you forget when you first started.
Speaker 3 (04:18):
Yeah.
Speaker 1 (04:19):
Yeah, so he's like, once everything starts happening, you're all
kind of on to the next one, but you do
got to kind of celebrate the winds along the way,
right yep. Now, let me ask, now, how did you
come up with the name ABO Creations? Like what's the
background on that?
Speaker 2 (04:31):
So when I first started in twenty really, I started
in twenty thirteen. I started making earrings because I couldn't
find earrings that matched my swag. I wanted some hot
pink with orange. I was like, why are they not
making earrings? So I just started painting on pieces of wood.
And so fast forward to twenty fourteen Snowstorm. I said,
I gotta give this a name, like it needs something
(04:51):
on it. And so I always know you know, just
with businesses. The letter A is the first alphabet, first
letter of the alphabet, so I wanted an A name.
And my middle name is Ayisha, so that's an A name.
So I was trying to find something with A. And
so when I went to look up what the meaning
of melissa is, which means honeybee in arab and Greek,
I said, hmm, what's another word that means honeybee? And
(05:14):
ABL came up and it's abay in French at bell.
You know, it's pronounced differently with different cultures, but Abl
also meant honeybee in French, and I was like, ooh,
this is it. And I never wanted to say abo
art abo ear rings, Abriel accessories. I was like creations
because I'm always picking up wood and molding it. So
(05:36):
when I came up with the name, it just sucked.
And it was like the sky was the limit. And
the story behind the honey bee my dad was studying
the productivity of bees, and bees technically aren't supposed to
be able to fly because they got big old butts,
so ergonomically bees can't fly, and so there they defy
the odds no matter what they're up against, and so
(05:58):
even it's me coming into the world as a black woman,
as an artist, you know, short little feisty thing for Miami,
trying to make waves. I'm always against the odds. I'm
always exception to the rule. And so I figured it
just stuck and it just it just become a part
of my my personality at this point.
Speaker 1 (06:13):
Yeah, man, Miami is a big part of your story.
You know, tell me how did you end up? How'd
you end up in Atlanta.
Speaker 2 (06:18):
It's funny. I grew up gon and raised in Miami,
but Atlanta was always like my in my mind, like
the the the Mecca, Like I had to make my
pilgrimage to Atlanta. I went to Florida, A and m I
had a lot of cool friends in Atlanta. Club was
like the Club and I was on the hills of
Freaknek in Atlanta Classic and so Atlanta just represented like
black freedom, like black flyness, black coolness, and I said,
(06:43):
I want to be cool. So I wanted to move
to Atlanta, work for Coca Cola. Driver a yellow BMW,
had two point five kids, a dog that named like, uh,
like Malcolm Martin. Malcolm. You know some real black dogs,
real black dogs, and none of that happened, except I
did move to Atlanta. I ended up doing event planning
(07:05):
for Coca Cola. I didn't get a yellow BMW. I
ended up getting a Cadillac and some other things. But
I think Atlanta just represented a place where I could
just be and I could look to my left and
right and people just being too. And it's just interesting
that ten years after I moved here, then I became
an entrepreneur. So it was almost like God was like
setting up these bricks to like prepare me for this
(07:26):
escalation of being an entrepreneur. And here I am. Now
what I was craving and gravitating towards was setting me
up for a lifetime of you know, entrepreneurship.
Speaker 1 (07:35):
Yeah no, No, you were sidure at Coke and you're
working as an event planner, But like, were you're doing
art before? Is art and something you've always kind of
worked on? Or how did you just how did you
all of a sudden get into.
Speaker 2 (07:44):
That My form of art was hot pink or aqua lipstick.
I was on Steve Harvey, so my lincensed to sent
me over to get a makeover, like you might need to,
you know, tone it down. A bit. Steve was like,
so you just gonna do this for the rest of
your life. I was like, yeah, I think so. Oh.
And so I've always been one of those like out
of the buck, you tell me where all black? To
(08:04):
an event? I'm like, can we wear a little bit
of pink? Can we just wear a little of this?
So I was always a rubble without a cause. And
that infamous Snowstone twenty fourteen, I was like, I gotta
find something to do. This cannot be work, sleep, repeat
every day. And when I found that box of old
art supplies, I said, you know, I'm just gonna give
a shot and I put it on social People started
(08:25):
buying it and it became a thing. And that's when
I hurried, Literally, I had to hurry up and put
abol creations on my trademark and get MYLLC like that night.
Immediately I was like, this might be bigger than what
I thought. And it took off.
Speaker 1 (08:38):
So what was it like as you start to kind
of transition out of that corporate job and to be
in full time you know, you talked about having insurance
and all those kind of the things that make you comfortable, right, Like,
what was that transition like, you know, what was your decision?
How that whole thing kind of come together.
Speaker 2 (08:52):
I was working full time up until twenty twenty one.
I quit. It was January twenty ninth. I never forget it.
And my one of my colleagues is just talking a
little spicy. And at this time, I had had billboards,
I had commercials, but nobody really knew at my job
who I was. So I always would come in like
my little glasses on. I was a little it nerd.
(09:13):
So people were like, oh, that can't be Melissa. She
doesn't wear head wraps because I'm like in a fro.
And so I literally was feeling like I was a
superwoman where I would have an artistic kate and then
I go back put on my little button up outfit.
So nobody really knew who I was. And so it
was on like a Friday, I had an eyebrow appointment
and she's like, well, I need you to log on
at like five o'clock. I was like on a Friday
and were working from home and it's a pandemic. You
(09:35):
want me to sit at home some more? And it
was just something came over and said it's time. I
was like time, and I felt God says, trust me,
And I told God I would give him a year.
I said, God, I'll give you a year of being
an artist full time. We'll see what happens, and if not,
I'll go back. And God was like, you can always
go back to a job. It may not be the
(09:55):
exact job or the exact pay, but I could find
somewhere to work. And so it was on that January
twenty ninth I quit. My last day was February eleventh.
Everything's in eleventh. I quit that day, and within three
or four weeks I manifested a deal with Peloton and
then foot Locker Hennessy Hennessy I won a grant. So
(10:16):
it was like God was like, you were a hold
up baby girl. All of this was on the edge
waiting for you. It was you that was on the edge.
And so now that I'm here, I'm like, whoa this is?
This is waiting on me this.
Speaker 1 (10:29):
Whole time, and that's interesting, right, Like, so you didn't
you weren't like planning to necessarily leave, or you weren't
you know, saving up with the idea that I'm getting
getting out of here. You just it kind of came
over you one day and you put in your two
weeks and kind of started moving.
Speaker 2 (10:43):
Yeah. I think during the pandemic when I saw how
easily life could just be taken away, and you watched
like brilliant minds get you know, attacked by this disease,
and that was it. Like I didn't want my obituary
to say and she worked at dot dot dot.
Speaker 3 (10:57):
Yeah.
Speaker 2 (10:58):
I wanted it to be the brilliant artist, the fearless woman,
And so I think I was just thinking about if
this is my last year on Earth, how would I
want that to look. And I think that really pushed
me really over the ledge and that just made me
so fearless. Like I had quite a bit of money
saved because I just signed some big deals. But I
think after I released the need to like make money,
(11:20):
it started coming to me like in droves.
Speaker 3 (11:22):
Yeah.
Speaker 1 (11:23):
Yeah, So what was kind of the big breakthrough moment then?
Like you mentioned some deals, like the deals you were
talking about, then I know the whole thing. But Spanks happened,
Like what do you kind of look at as that
moment that like everything really changed.
Speaker 2 (11:35):
It's funny I got the Spanks deal. That was another
crazy moment. I applied for Spanks. The competition in my
computer crashed and I'm like, well did my application go through?
Like what happened? And then my sister applied herson go through.
I was like, okay, not meant to be. I'm too bright,
I'm doing too much. And so I left it alone.
But then I get a DM two weeks later. Hey,
(11:56):
we're trying to get in contact with Melissa Mitchell. Do
you know her? I'm like, girl, this me, this Melissam.
And that was in twenty eighteen, twenty eighteen, twenty nineteen,
and I want to say, that's like the beginning. So
I founded ABL in twenty fourteen, but twenty nineteen was
like my my real Like okay, I'm doing this for real,
like a real business. And I think when Sarah Blakely
(12:18):
walked in and she said she saw so much of
herself in me, and I'm like, girl, you making a
billion dollars you you know it means? She's like no,
like you're a creative fearlessness, like you don't care. You're like,
She's like, I made panties. I made panties were crotches.
She's like, and I got a patent for it. I'm like, well,
I guess you're right, and so I think being affirmed
by some of my she rows, you know, and seeing
(12:39):
people that like fall in love instantly with the brand,
those moments make me know that this is bigger than
just me painting on a canvas.
Speaker 3 (12:46):
Yeah.
Speaker 1 (12:46):
Now, when you're working with all these brands, I'm sure
you know a lot of people probably getting intimidated, and
I know you probably had a big learning curve. But
like when you work with these brands, especially from an
art standpoint, like, how do you make sure that it
feels authentic? It feels like it's something that you want
to do and it doesn't get you know, a lot
of times when you work with these big companies, it's
easy for stuff to get watered down. Lots of people
have ideas, lots of people get sit around and get
(13:07):
paid to just throw around ideas that don't even go anywhere. Right, So,
like you, how did you kind of learn to fight
for your vision to make sure that always came through?
Speaker 2 (13:16):
Well, I think it goes back to relationships, and it's
not always become besties with your new clients, but it's
just understanding what the companies, like, what their goal is
with the campaign. Like when I did the mural for
Super Bowl with Pepsi. It's like, we just want you
to do whatever you want, like what's your favorite song?
And of course Outcasts is one of my favorite groups
and they let me pay homage to that. So it's
(13:37):
really having open conversations and asking like what do y'all
want to do with this? Like is this gonna be it?
Like we're gonna be friends after this or is this
a one vam land vam And so I'm always like,
how can we keep the relationship going? And I always
ask how can I bring a friend on? Like when
I did my Sphinks commercial, I hire my friends to
help produce it. You know, am I allowed to hire out?
(13:59):
Is their creative really for me to you know, add
some of this? Like when I speak at different events,
I say, you know, you may pay me five thousand,
but for six thousand, I'll give you art for the
whole camp, for the whole you know, conference, and then
now I'm embedded into the conference. So finding creative ways
to leave a mark without being too obnoxious, but also
(14:19):
being open to say these are my goals as an artist.
This is what I hope to accomplish, you know, Is
that something that you're all open to and just having
a conversation because many times they don't think about the
things you're asking because they're so in an office mindset
every day. They don't even know what you're thinking to
bring to the table that it's even like, oh, that
is a possibility, we could do that. So just asking
big questions, I think that has helped me kind of
(14:40):
preserve my personality in all of my campaigns. Why I
don't feel like I'm being like, you know, being looked
over my ideas and stuff.
Speaker 1 (14:49):
Yeah, I would always tell people like, being smart is
knowing the right mix of asking really smart questions and
really stupid questions so you can kind of get the
stuff out the way too, because sometimes you're like, I
just need to ask this question, and you know, I
apologize if y'all think you already know the answers, but
I'm asked this really stupid question right here, just so
we're all on the same page. But having that right balance,
right of knowing you know when to step in, when
(15:10):
to kind of ask things and make sure you kind
of get what you want because if not, you're just
gonna get what they give you. And that's not always gonna,
you know, tie back to what you're trying to accomplish,
right exactly, So you're going you're running, I'm guessing that
obviously you have a team now, you know that's you've
got people that are helping you out doing things. But like,
when it comes to building the team, like, how do
you find those right people that can kind of help
(15:31):
you take your business to the next level?
Speaker 3 (15:32):
Right?
Speaker 1 (15:33):
Like, I know you a lot of times when we
build things, we start off with our friends and kind
of whoever will help us, and sometimes we outgrow that,
you know, sometimes they're not the right people, right, And
so like, how did you kind of go through finding
the right people to kind of help support you and
your vision and your values.
Speaker 2 (15:48):
Well, it's funny that you say friends and family, because
I feel like when I got my calling to be
an artist. You know, one of my closest friends he
became a photographer overnight. My sister was dipping into the publicist.
My other sister who's now a huge comedian, she was
really good at learning social Another girlfriend of mine had
run all the local boutiques, so she knew how to
(16:08):
do inventory. My recent hire, she's like my brand consultant.
She does that full time, and like she worked at
like big, big TV station. So it's funny because I've
never had to hire anybody. They just kind of sat around.
It's like, what you doing tomorrow? What you doing today?
After that? Well, she can you just come me for
ust of the week. So my friend that came during
Essence Festival, I said, I just need you to come
(16:29):
with me. I don't know what role or capacity, and
she ended up being my everything, you know, like my
assistant slash production, slash this. So I think for me,
because I am an artist, I'm very spiritual and very
just very just. I use so much discretion and so
much spiritual intuition when it comes to people, and I
know it's not the best thing for you know, CEOs,
(16:50):
But I think my spiritual life is so in tune
that I'm like, God, I need to manifest an interview.
I need like I'm just so weird, like I'll talk
out all that. God. I need to find me a man,
I need to find me a car. I need to
like I just yelled out and God was literally And
that's why people say the world is my oyster and
my paint brush on my canvas. I literally say God,
(17:11):
I need somebody for New Orleans. And she's like, oh, yeah,
I'm from New Orleans. I was say, wait a minute,
she said, yeah, you can just ship everything to my
mom's house. I'm like, kayle, are you serious? And literally,
within a week the things I was stressing over the
right two people came in my life and made the answer.
So my hiring process is very like me and God
making like the executive decisions on the sideline. And you know,
(17:31):
and I mean I have interns. When I go speak
to different schools, it's always like one or two students
that you see yourself in. You're like, I really gotta
I gotta help this girl. And they just become a
part of the family. And now they're like my daughter
slash kids slash niece. They just become a part of
the brand. But I just think it's very serendipitous for
me because I don't really want to have a team.
(17:52):
I want to have a family, because I think when
you have family, they take it on like something personal,
like this is my brand too, like I want this
to win. Kind of how when you see other people
like is that your boss or is not your friend?
You know? But when it gets down to the business
of it. I do have people that I don't even talk,
like my artists that I work with that puts all
my sketches together that I come up with. She's in Bangladesh.
(18:13):
I have somebody that's in California that I'm we'll ever
have to talk and to Littila's about the fabric. My
girl in China if I email her. It's all business.
So you have people that you have that very you know,
strict thick line of business where there's other people that
I do with every day that's like my homegirl, my
homeboy or their family.
Speaker 3 (18:29):
Yeah, that's interesting too.
Speaker 1 (18:30):
I mean, especially with the international team, how do you
find those kind of people in resources and kind of that.
I'm like, you know, how do you find people in
Bangladesh and all over the world kind of because again
the beauty of the internet too is like you can
you can build a world class team from anywhere. So
you know, how did you kind of go through the
steps of building that.
Speaker 2 (18:45):
I'm a question asker. If I know you having some
good T shirt, I'm like, Branda, where you get those
shirts made at? Who's your person? And so thank God
again these friends that I've that I've had in the
fashion world. I have very few friends that I trust,
like with my real questions. One of my girlfriends said, Hey,
she's my she's my tech pack designer. Call her. She
only charges X y Z. Now she's our tech pack.
(19:06):
So she's somebody. She's been trusted, she's already paid her.
So it's really all about asking your parents and your
network who they use, because they may save you ten
years and ten thousand dollars trying to get samples. And
I'm an Alibiba queen. I would get on this type.
I need head reps made in ten days, and I
would go through all thirty inquiries looking at every single thing,
(19:27):
and I found the perfect you know, storm of a team,
and then they're making it happen.
Speaker 3 (19:32):
Oh that's s dope, that's s dope. We're still talking
about business now.
Speaker 1 (19:46):
So and you talk about how, you know, you're artists,
you're doing all these other kind of things, Like I
understand how you can potentially price products, but like how
do you price your art? Like how do you price
those kind of projects? What's your process? You know, how
do you kind of go through that.
Speaker 2 (20:00):
I always promise myself to go up a couple one
hundred dollars per year, because my name is worth more
so to speak, And it just depends on how long
it took me, the relationship I have with the new collector.
If there's something that I really want to own, the
piece of artwork, I'll work within their budget no less
than twenty five hundred dollars. And I don't want somebody
(20:20):
to just want some art for their house, like I
want them to be a part of my story. I
always remember my mentor telling me the story at Boskaya
when he first came to Atlanta for a random show
at Clark Atlanta and he was selling pieces for like
one hundred to two hundred dollars, and there was like
one professor that believed in his work and bought it.
And now that one piece is worth like two million dollars.
(20:40):
And so I always think of myself as the next
big thing in art. And I'm like, if I blow up,
would I trust this person with a million dollar lottery ticket?
But I trust what they wouldn't, you know, not in
so many words where they would sloot out my work,
you know. And so my collectors are now extended pieces
of the family, Like, oh, I have a Melissa Mitrick
my back. You know. Now they're owning part of the brand.
(21:02):
And so for me, pricing is always tricky because it's like, okay,
it costs, because really, if you look down to a
canvas cost as cheap as five bucks, paint costs at
least as five bucks, you know, frame maybe a hundred.
So it's really about the experience, the collector aspect of it,
relationship building and do you want this person to be
(21:22):
a part of your history. And I think that's my
biggest like marker. So I'm like, listen, you can't pay
me no less twenty five hundred dollars. You don't feel right.
And so me selling something for one hundred dollars at
this point in my career would just be like charity
where I'd rather give it away than sell for one
hundred dollars because that just don't make no sense.
Speaker 3 (21:39):
No, I feel you.
Speaker 1 (21:40):
I feel you now now to the outside world. You know,
I'm sure it's like, man, you can't stop winning. They
seeing you all over the place. You know, you're doing
everything on all these stages. But look, everybody deals with
challenges and setbacks, and I'm sure you've got some that
you've kind of dealt with too, like what are some
of those that you've kind of had to fight your
way through? And more importantly, like how do you kind
of stay motivated when those things happen.
Speaker 2 (22:01):
I mean, just as a woman, you deal with health challenges.
You know, of a certain age now, so it's like
you have to go slower, like I can't pick up
things fast as I used to, you know, trying to
start a family, So you're thinking about your health, but
you're also thinking about your legacy. So I think for me, challenging,
challenging moments always gonna come. Like even when I was
(22:21):
trying to prepare for Essence Festival, my head wraps were
stuck in Chicago, and I'm leaving Wednesday to go to
New Orleans. So I'm pacing the floor trying to come
up with a plan B and C because the whole
event is around me giving out head wraps. Luckily, my
good old girl Bonnie in China's probably not a real name,
Bonnie and China. She's calling going off in her language
(22:44):
to DHL. I'm going off in Atlanta, Oh, DHL. So
we're all letting them have it. But it's like every
challenge and I have to keep going back to just
having that spiritual relationship, Like it brings me to tears
how much God has like came in a clutch for
my brand, Like I get emotional like thinking about I
almost didn't have anything I needed for Asence festival and
(23:05):
God was like watch this. And so even on my
toughest moments as a business on my faith has kept
me so grounded and just being successful. No matter how
big I get, I will talk about God. I don't
care to the President, to whoever, Like I'm always like
God did, like without a doubt, God made it happen.
Speaker 1 (23:26):
What's one of those moments I remember? For example, I
was working with a client one time on a project
and I went out of town right and I told
my team, I said, look, we did the work. All
y'all have to do is I have the envelope sitting
on my desk. It's already got postage on it. Literally
just go take it to the post office. And I
went on vacation for a week. I come back that
(23:49):
Monday morning, fresh off vacation the good mood. Guess what
the package is still sitting on my desk and it
had to be in North Carolina. By one pm that
same day. So I nicely, first of all, I cussed
out my team. Then I nicely went on to Delta
dot com, found a ticket in North Carolina, drove from
work to the airport, personally, flew to North Carolina, rented
(24:13):
out a car. I told the lady car but I said,
I'll be back in thirty minutes. Because I don't even
think they had uber where I was at. I said,
I'll be right back. I just seed this car for
like an hour, drove it, handed into the client, came back,
called a flight home, and was back home by five o'clock.
Now that was just a moment when those stories are there, Like,
do you have any kind of moments like that where
you just had to kind of do something and kind
of go above and beyond and make something happen.
Speaker 2 (24:34):
Oh god, it's so many of them I think about.
I just had a recent order for head wraps with
my local vendor. It was all the wrong material, she said,
All I thought it, So it's a certain material that
I have to use for the head wraps. So let's say,
is one point five is the way? But it was
like one point nine, I said, So you want me
to have a brick on my head and get this
out to these people. She had to redo three thousand
(24:57):
dollars worth of head wraps. I had to re after
them all and then hand delivering might nothing happen, And
that's happened more than once. And just the stress of
trying it because you're you're in it right, like you
can't see the silver lining. I'm so covered up my
head wraps, i can't see it. And yes, it ended
up working out, but it's like, how do I circumvent
(25:18):
this from happening again? And you talk about a team.
I no longer could let one company or one manufacturer
hold the destiny of my entire brand. So now I
have three. Yeah, So if she can't get it done
here in Snailville, if Bonnie can't get it done in China,
I got somebody in California's my plan C and D.
And so it just every time that happens. I never
(25:40):
let one person hold the fate of my company, Like
you cannot be the person my assistant can't be the
one that helps me get a check to foot locker
or whoever I'm working with, And then that's the whole
detriment of the past ten years I worked on I'm
giving it to an intern. You know, my whole is
in the hands of one person.
Speaker 3 (25:57):
Yeah, no, I completely understand that, completely understand that. Now.
Speaker 1 (26:02):
You know I'm a content creator also, you know we
run Butter, We do lots of stuff around the city,
and you know, you with your art standpoint. But one
of the things I kind of run into challenges sometime
is just you know, being you know, inspiration and being inspired, right,
and you know your designs are so unique, you know,
where do you find inspiration? And also kind of how
do you deal with those moments where you're not necessarily
feeling that creative.
Speaker 2 (26:22):
I've been dealing with that late. I haven't painted painted.
I painted a piece last week for a client, but
before that, I haven't had the desire to paint. I've
been so head down in creating moments to support the brand.
Traveling really does it for me. Massages. I'll go get
a massage just to like literally because I can't use
(26:43):
my phone or the massage table, so it's like I
got to just shut it off. Sometimes the noise is
too loud. I look at mail art. I love Neil Art.
Graffiti in the city. A furniture architecture documentaries on other painters,
like I love to Christian Lubertin's his documentary about why
he got started. So sometime when I remember my why,
(27:06):
like okay, God, give me give me something. I need
my water, I need to make it happen. So sometime
I just got to like sit still a room why
I started, or I'll go and look it up some
of my old work, Like I was like, okay, now
what did I do? How did I even do this?
So I'm like, I'm going back to my old work.
So it's a combination of remembering my purpose, letting somebody
else his purpose remind me of my purpose, and just
(27:26):
honestly just getting getting quiet and letting God like give
me a download.
Speaker 3 (27:31):
No, that's good. I mean, yeah, you gotta you gotta
find those moments.
Speaker 2 (27:34):
You know.
Speaker 1 (27:34):
I remember there was a time when I was running
a business and it was extremely stressful, Like anytime my
phone would ring, I'd have a little minor anxiety attack,
and even if I would go on vacation, I had
to like lock my phone in the safe just to
get away from it for a while. So, you know,
you got to find those moments as an entrepreneur just
you know, find some peace and do whatever it kind
of takes to help you reset and get back on
(27:55):
you know, back on focus. You know, so completely been there,
how was living in it? Kind of specifically inspired kind
of you know, your art and your business and what
you do, Like I know a lot of that comes
from you know, South Florida and your background and everything else,
but like, you know what kind of flavored Atlanta put
on all that?
Speaker 2 (28:11):
Oh, I mean Atlanta influences everything. Plug. Yeah. I think
for me being around so many other go getters, nobody
is just a regular nine to five or here, and
that is so inspirational to me. Nobody is settling with
just what they've been given. It's so many people that
are going out there and getting it. I remember sitting
(28:32):
I think we were at the salon and I was
talking to about styles about something random girls saying I'm
sorry I was eavesdropping, but my brother does this, he
can help you do that. I'm just like you being nosy,
but thank you, you know. And then it turned into
a relationship where like her brother helped me do this,
the brothers sisters cut like it turned into a whole
like literally a whole business team just from a whisper
(28:53):
to my stylence. And so Atlanta is a place where
literally dreams come true. And we say that cliche. But
even how we became friends, it was like I kept
seeing you, you kept seeing me. We kept talking a lot,
like I think that's my friend. We're friends. I don't
know what it happened. We're friends now. And it's not
only that we're friends. We're like, how can I get
my friend an opportunity? How can I put my friend's
(29:15):
brand on? Even the earrings that I wear, I had
never met the design of these earrings. We just talked
on social, but it matched so much to my esthatic.
I was like, we gotta be friends because you obviously
talking to God like me. And then now I have
so many sisters in creativity that I couldn't find in Atlanta.
Now I'm finding them on social. So it's like, I
think being in Atlanta makes you feel less. We here
knows so much. We like I'm just asking, see, like
(29:38):
you want to hang out, you want to work on
this project? Meet, shoot, let's shoot your shot. And we
don't just shoot our shots here, we do it. Yeah,
You're like, I want to do a forum on black creativity,
the status of it. Shoot, I'm gonna run out of
the gathering spot. We're gonna have it on Friday. I'm
like this week, like, yeah, it was an ideal on Monday.
By Friday, you got a location, you got a caterer,
you got people on your panel, you got people give
(30:00):
our liquor. I was like, you just came up this
last week. You're like, yeah, it's can you do it?
Yes or not? I'm like, shoot, I'm in. And we
always say we're in because we know if one of
us call each other, it's legit and we've done the work,
and it's literally like okay, overnight success because we all
trust each other and we're like we're here to like
what do you need help with? Like I'm never too
big to be like Brandon, what do you need help with?
(30:21):
Like I could be literally be on the stage given
a keynote for X y Z, But if I see
you or none of like, oh Brandon, give me my
ear piece, I gotta see what he wants. And that's
just how we choose our relationship. So Atlanta, I mean,
I don't even know where else I could live. Like
I'm having a problem, Like when I date other people
Like so movie Tantlanta? What are you thinking? So is
that not an option? Or yeah, this may not work
(30:43):
because you gotta come to Atlanta.
Speaker 1 (30:45):
Yeah, that's that's the crazy thing, right, Like you out
here long enough, you start thinking like where would I
actually go from here? And it's it's something I've been
thinking about for years, Like if I ever left Atlanta,
where would I go?
Speaker 3 (30:55):
And you know, Africa, I don't know, it's.
Speaker 2 (31:00):
Gotta be a hard it's a hard sale to get
us to leave here. Like we got a lot of
good relationships in Atlanta and they.
Speaker 1 (31:05):
Just work absolutely. So what you got coming up? I
know you got some big projects coming up? You know
some things you're excited about, Like what you're looking forward to.
Speaker 2 (31:14):
I have a big collection coming out with She and
shn She and how do y'all want to pronounce it?
That's coming out in the month on top of August.
I have a natural hair show I'm traveling to in
Mississippi also in the July, preparing for homecoming season. I
have a huge project I'm working out with a company
(31:34):
called Wakatti Hair and I'm choosing the next the next
great big artist that's coming out of HBCUs got it
so much, and a couple of other big things that
are brewing. Yeah, But I think for me, I try
not to get caught up in my wins and I
try not to cad up in my next because now
it's so important. So I literally was like, when I
(31:55):
get off the phone here, I'm going to try to
just sit still in what happened.
Speaker 3 (31:58):
In essence, Yeah, as.
Speaker 2 (32:00):
Soon as you finished one big thing, you're like, hey,
what's next. You're like, well, it just it was yesterday.
Let me let me talk about yesterday, you know. So
it's such a struggle too because we're such planners and doers.
It's like, we had that amazing we had that amazing
forum just a few months ago, and it's like it
felt like that was two years ago. That was this year,
And I'm like, dangn not cause I was looking at
(32:20):
the pictures for this, I'm like, dang, that was this year,
you know. And so I have to. I have to.
It's a personal thing for me to like, Melissa, slow down,
like you've done a lot, like don't beat yourself up.
So I think, like I get in tears. I'm a
cry baby when I think about all I've done, but
I have to make myself sitting it long enough so
I don't forget how good that felt when I accomplished
(32:41):
what I did last week at Essence Fest, you know,
and like what I did earlier this year with Truist.
I was a headliner for that, so there meant so
many wins that get buried about what's next. So I
have to like make sure I get props to what
I was able to do already while I get prepared
for the next.
Speaker 3 (32:57):
Yeah you got to again. If not, you're just kinda
run thing to think. You don't you don't really get a.
Speaker 1 (33:01):
Chance, like you said, sit in it and kind of
appreciate it, Like, yeah, that event that we did, you know,
that was back in what February of this year, and
I mean the year is kind of flying by, and yeah,
you need those moments to just be like, oh I
did that.
Speaker 3 (33:13):
That was dope.
Speaker 1 (33:13):
These people came out and supported you know. It's really
important to kind of just you know, not just be
on to the next thing every time, you know, accomplish
something right, but really kind of sit in and think
about it and get feedback on it. All kind of matters,
so you're not just you know, burning yourself out and
just keeping going non stop. This hustle cultur will get
you if you lit it.
Speaker 2 (33:31):
You know, I'm telling you.
Speaker 1 (33:33):
Now, let me ask you this now. I know you're
doing all this art, you're crushing it, You're doing everything.
But if money wasn't an object, if you were doing whatever, like,
would you still.
Speaker 3 (33:41):
Be doing this? If money wasn't an object, Like, what
would you be doing?
Speaker 2 (33:45):
I always say this, it's just like a people would
never believe this. I would love to be a farmer.
I would love to raise like exotic flowers and palm
trees because I love watching the process of like I mean,
you've seen a seed, like the seed is so little
and for what comes from a seed, it's like mind blowing.
I'm like, I did this from a seed, and so
(34:06):
I have a gorgeous garden now. But just watching how
you rely on the weather, you rely on the sun,
you rely on like the calendar. So I think for
me aar be a farmer. Another thing I want to
do too is and I might actually do this in
real life, is just travel to different hospitals and do
hospital makeovers because I feel like when our dad passed away,
(34:28):
all I remember are white walls, like it was so
like daunting, like that hallway ye going to check the
sea if he was gonna make it. You know, when
you're just there, it's just such a it feels like
it's encroaching on you. So I would love to do
makeovers for like hospice sinners, so like the last thing
people see when they pass away are like bright colors,
Like they don't see the white light going towards the
white light, Like, how do we know it's not colorful
(34:50):
when you go to heaven?
Speaker 3 (34:51):
Yeah?
Speaker 2 (34:52):
No, So I would love to like an RV tour
where we like literally go like it almost like with
the Extreme makeovers, where you like pull a curtain back
and it's like a beautiful hospital room and so when
you get sick, you get put in this room and
it has like music, it has art, and it's like
a whole experience. So I would love to do that
for different hospitals, or even go to people's homes where
(35:12):
they're like passing away and remake their rooms as they're dying.
Speaker 1 (35:16):
I see a TV show in your future as you're
going around traveling around the country, and I can't wait
to watch it. It's gonna be amazing and just seeing
how that's going to impact people. So before we get
out of here, one last just question for you is
what what what one piece of advice, like, what's your
one second advice that you would give to you know,
an aspired an entrepreneur or artists that's kind of that
(35:36):
wants to build something. Maybe they're kind of scared to
take that leap, scared to you know, step out of
corporate that comfortability and kind of.
Speaker 3 (35:43):
Do their own thing. Like, what's that piece of advice
you'd give them.
Speaker 2 (35:46):
Don't be afraid of speaking your voice. Your language was
given to you for a reason, and when your blessings
come down, it's gonna come to exactly who you are,
not to who you pretend to be. And I find
I find a lot of artists trying to become mogulation
of who they study and who they you know, inspire
to be, and they forget that, Yes, it's great to
be inspired by the Brandons and Melissa's, but the Connie's,
(36:09):
the Ramses. Whoever you were given is a very specific
DNA attached to that blessing. And so don't be afraid
to be yourself, even if it feels lonely even it
feels misunderstood. Eventually you'll get paid to be you and
everybody will want to know your story. So don't be
afraid to speak fully and loudly in your voice.
Speaker 3 (36:29):
Let me tell you something. There's nothing like getting paid
to be yourself. It is a beautiful, beautiful yes, yes,
you know, like they always say, be yourself. Everybody else
is taken, so the world will adjust.
Speaker 1 (36:42):
Well, Yo, Melissa, thank you so much for coming on.
Before we get out of here, please tell everybody how
they can find you, How can they support you? How
can they go buy some stuff?
Speaker 2 (36:50):
Like?
Speaker 3 (36:50):
You know?
Speaker 2 (36:52):
Up, I'm easily to be. I'm easy to be Google.
I say that very humbly after ten years of working.
But it's Melissa at dot com. It's my website, my
Instagram where I'm always right on the way. It's either
colorful Ideas, it's ABO Creations and that's a B E.
I L L E Creations and yeah, you can find
me in those three different ways. I'm always around, I'm
(37:13):
always rounding my mouth me.
Speaker 1 (37:15):
Lissa, thank you so much for being on the podcast,
and thank you again for always being supportive and being
there whenever I've needed your help. You know, one of
your biggest fans right here, and I can't wait to
see you know what amazing stuff you got coming up next.
Speaker 2 (37:27):
Thank you so much. I'm grateful and I'm really excited
about the impact that this will have. Also, I know
that people will be changed, transform and encouraged to do
some more.
Speaker 3 (37:37):
Well, thank you pouring back into me. I appreciate it
right back here to you.
Speaker 2 (37:41):
Look you poured that's and that's Atlanta. Like you're like,
what's up? Shot? And now what's up? Like we're gonna
be doing the Spider Man. We're gonna be giving it
right back to each other. And I love that about us.
So thank you for including me, for seeing me and
giving me opportunities like I don't take it for granted.
Speaker 3 (37:57):
Absolutely well, thank y'all.
Speaker 1 (37:58):
That's the pod to for the next one. You've been
listening to button Nomics and I'm your host, Brandon Butler.
Comments feedback. Want to be a part of the show,
send us an email today at hello at butterdomics dot com.
Butter Nomics is produced in Atlanta, Georgia at iHeartMedia by Ramsey,
with marketing and support from Queen and Nike. Music provided
(38:18):
by mister Hanky if you haven't already hit that subscribe
button and never missed an episode, and be sure to
follow us on all our social platforms at butter dot
at L. Listen to button Nomics on the iHeartRadio app,
Apple Podcasts, or wherever you get your podcasts.
Host
Brandon Butler
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