Meet Felicia Reid | Graphic & Visual Designer

We had the good fortune of connecting with Felicia Reid and we’ve shared our conversation below.

Hi Felicia, what role has risk played in your life or career?
Risks are essential to seeing results. A previous manager once told me, “you won’t know what you can do unless you try” and I agree with that statement wholeheartedly. However, that was not always my mindset. Since there are preconceived notions that I could predict, it was “easy” to take the safe route for the majority of my professional career. Granted, it did well for me for some time. I worked a temp job during my last year of undergrad and the organization hired me full-time as soon as I graduated. It felt great to have job security then, but (long story short), I remained at the same place of employment for over ten years. Though I did get promoted multiple times, by year seven, I wasn’t feeling fulfilled. So that feeling led to the inception of Creatively Inclined Designs, LLC (or C.I. Designs).

Prior to creating my brand, I was FREElancing, with an emphasis on ‘free’ because I would just do design favors for friends, and friends of friends without cost, and I enjoyed it. But I knew it was time to be compensated and I wanted to go about it in an “official” way – and registering my LLC and creating a price list was just the beginning. After 3 years of creating visual elements for businesses and brands, remaining bi-vocational for “safety” and hearing countless people tell me to take this graphic design thing seriously, I decided to step out on faith and take the risk to leave my job. That honestly was the best decision I could of made for myself and I would not have known so, if I didn’t take the risk and try.

Can you open up a bit about your work and career? We’re big fans and we’d love for our community to learn more about your work.
What sets me apart from others? I’m an empathic creative – I really put myself in the shoes all people that would encounter a design that I create; knowing the mission and motive of the business and brand so well that I am honing the passion of the owner(s); knowing the target audiences through research to get a deeper understanding of their needs and THEN using my creativity to design something great, impactful and memorable.

If you had a friend visiting you, what are some of the local spots you’d want to take them around to?
Nice! I’m a BIG foodie and love nice spots, so for chill drinks and a sweet vibe on a summer night – The Rogers Garden in Brooklyn. We could also check out to a few roof top spots during the week like Skylark or WestLight in the city, and if we want to have an AMAZING, upscale meat, Catch Steak is guaranteed to serve. I can show my friend the ‘touristy things’ like Times Square, Statue of liberty, take a ferry ride (or two). I would also have to bring them my side of town along Rockaway Beach, especially if its summer – there are many new and seasoned spots to visit along the beach.

The Shoutout series is all about recognizing that our success and where we are in life is at least somewhat thanks to the efforts, support, mentorship, love and encouragement of others. So is there someone that you want to dedicate your shoutout to?
I dedicate this shout out to everyone who believed in me and my abilities before I was even sure of them – especially my parents – Samuel and Ilene Reid, my siblings – Samene, Tashawna and Joseph, my boyfriend – Terrell, my close circle of friends, and every person who encouraged (and continue to push me) along the way.

Website: creatively-inclined.com (currently under construction)

Instagram: @creatively_inclined

Image Credits
Shade Marshele Mocktails by Bernie Froition, LLC.