Today we’d like to introduce you to Whitly Hamilton.
Hi Whitly, so excited to have you with us today. What can you tell us about your story?
I started my graphic design business, Whitly Charles Designs upon graduation from college. As part of my visual communication design major, we created online portfolios to showcase our work to potential employers. I decided to convert my portfolio into a website where I could accept clients and earn extra income. I slowly grew my clientele and got to work with amazing people and teams. A few years in, I realized that I did not want my brand to be tied to my name. I also wanted to expand my brand beyond graphic design since I love crafting, cooking, and writing. In 2019 I rebranded to Creative Crucian.
A Crucian is someone born on St. Croix; one of the four US Virgin Islands. Culture is a major influencing factor in my creativity; be that through graphic design, fine art, writing, or cooking. Growing up on the beautiful island of St. Croix has given me a deep love and appreciation of culture, color, food, and people. The arts have always been very important to me and I constantly find ways to incorporate art into my daily life.
I am also what you may call a stationery nerd. I have always had a deep appreciation for paper goods. I love fabric and prints and may have way too many headwraps. One day I thought, what if these patterns were on gift wrap? How cool would Christmas trees and birthday parties look with gifts wrapped in culture?
In 2020 I became a mom and the birth of my son served as a major catalyst in finally making my ideas a reality. I began selling madras-inspired gift wrap sheets. Madras cloth, while originally from India has become the de facto fabric for many Caribbean islands. It made its way from India to Africa and then the Caribbean via the slave trade. Madras is worn to many ceremonial events and celebrations. Amazingly, I still have my first madras headwrap worn for my kindergarten graduation over 20 years ago.
My son’s birth also inspired me to finish writing a book I had been working on for some time. I wanted him to know about his rich heritage. I also wanted him to have a book where he was represented as an African American boy with Caribbean roots. In August of this year, I released my first children’s book Cooking with Kai: US Virgin Islands cuisine. The book follows Kai who loves cooking food from all over the world with his mom. Together they create traditional food and drinks from his mom’s home island of St. Croix, USVI. The book also includes a recipe so that families can make memories together in the kitchen just as I have with my mom and grandmother and hope to do with my son.
Would you say it’s been a smooth road, and if not what are some of the biggest challenges you’ve faced along the way?
My journey has been rough. Balancing my full-time job with running a business can be very exhausting at times. After an especially busy day at work, it’s hard to find the motivation and creativity to pour into my brand. As a graphic designer, I realized I needed to get smarter about earning income, especially once I discovered I was going to be a mom. I love doing client work but each client requires building new relationships, new research, and new design. If I have done my job correctly as a designer, then my clients don’t have to return to me unless they want to begin a new project. I needed to figure out a way to design something one time and have that design earn exponential income on its own…like stationery or a children’s book.
The costs of running a business may be the biggest struggle I am facing right now. Because I have shifted my focus from primarily client work, I am not earning as steady of a side income like I used to. I have recurring costs like software, business licenses, etc., and also costs associated with printing my products, packaging, and shipping. I have made MANY costly mistakes along the way like not charging enough for shipping because I thought it would dissuade people from purchasing. But quickly realized it wasn’t feasible for me as a small business to undersell myself. I realized that I could not hold myself to the expectations of larger big box stores because it’s just me doing everything.
In recent years I also had some health struggles plus becoming a new mom during a global pandemic gives a whole new meaning to time management. It has taken me almost a decade to get to this point in my business but slow and steady wins the race. I know I will be able to do this full-time one day, I just have to keep on keeping on.
Thanks for sharing that. So, maybe next you can tell us a bit more about your work?
I am a graphic designer. I majored in visual communication design with a concentration in marketing at the University of Indianapolis. I love creating designs for print like books, brochures, pamphlets, t-shirts, cards, etc. I am known for my work with madras patterns and culturally focused designs. While I work with clients from all over the world, I LOVE working with people from my hometown; the US Virgin Islands. I love my culture and sharing it with the world.
To date, I am most proud of my self-published children’s book Cooking with Kai: Virgin Islands Cuisine. As a child, I wrote so many stories and filled my journals with entries and poems. I was an avid writer but lost touch as I grew older and became busier. Writing a children’s book has been one of my goals and to actually be able to hold my printed book in my hand and see kids reading it? This is completely unreal. My younger self would be so proud.
What makes you happy?
Being creative makes me happy. I have just always been a creative person. When I am writing, drawing, listening to music, playing video games, cooking I am at my happiest. I just love expressing myself in that way and have been this way since I was a child. I have no idea why. I’ll chalk it up to the left brain, right brain theory.
Pricing:
- $24.99 Cooking with Kai: US Virgin Islands Cuisine (signed Hardcover)
- $14.99 Cooking with Kai: US Virgin Islands Cuisine (paperback via Amazon)
- $7.99 Cooking with Kai: US Virgin Islands Cuisine (Kindle via Amazon)
- $20 Madras-inspired gift-wrap sheets (3 in a pack)
- $25 Holiday Card Set (5 cards, 5 envelopes)
Contact Info:
- Email: info@creativecrucian.com
- Website: www.creativecrucian.com
- Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/creativecrucian/
- Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/creativecrucian
- Other: https://www.tiktok.com/@creativecrucian?
Image Credits:
Feature photo taken by Brenda Ojeda
