Today we’d like to introduce you to Cathy Alameda
Hi Cathy, we’d love for you to start by introducing yourself.
I was quite blessed to have grown up with parents who nurtured my creative spirit, a brother who constantly inspired me to pick up the pencil, and friends who always encouraged my artistic endeavors. In 2011, fresh out of high school, I started the Computer Animation course at FullSail University and, up to that point in my life, I was quite confident that my career path would end up with me working for animation or VFX studios. I remember it was around the last 6 months of university- these months were crucial to crafting our final demo reels- and I had gotten in a car accident that left me with chronic pain along my neck and shoulders.
It’s quite discouraging, you know, having physical limitations on the time I can spend illustrating or animating before the pain takes over. Especially animating. I knew I had to pull back so I wouldn’t push my body too far over the edge. Animation took a bit of a back burner and I ended up focusing my energy on small personal design projects. Looking back on it, I wonder if it was a fight or flight response haha; I would spend hours creating product mockups and concepts with my art work. I think, because I was terrified at the idea that I would be currently unfit for industry work, I was looking for ways to keep myself and my artistic identity relevant. It was mostly a daydream, creating a brand around my art, until a course in Marketing and Business would change the way I thought about my creative process.
I graduated in 2014 and started taking on some freelance jobs while slowly, on the side, researching and gathering resources to try and start my own business. Early on I dabbled with print-on-demand platforms, such as Redbubble, as a way to start getting people interested in the idea of my art as merch. Truth be told, I only had a few dollars going into this. Any money being made from my freelance jobs and the P.O.D sites were going to be poured right into the business. There was absolutely no way I could justify going in big, so I started small. Like WAY small! Like, I was asking my family members to hold onto and collect beer bottle caps for me, small. I would use these bottle caps as backings for handmade button pins I put together; I’d make an illustration fitted to the open ended rim of the cap, seal it with a small epoxy sticker and super glued a pin back to the back of the cap. These would be one of my first original products to hit my online shop, along with some handmade pocket notebooks. The sales of these small items started funding some more ambitious projects. 2015 was the year of experimenting with my online shop and vending at small in-person shows. By 2016, I was in this full-time and traveling state to state to different comic and anime themed conventions selling my artwork.
I’m sure it wasn’t obstacle-free, but would you say the journey has been fairly smooth so far?
Did I mention I used to hand make button pins using beer bottle caps haha. The road has indeed been bumpy. And, in the beginning, quite lonely to be honest. While my family has always been supportive of my endeavors, I didn’t really know how exactly to ask for help. I was firing on all cylinders by myself. It wasn’t enough just being good at art- I had to be equally as good at running a business. I’m Illustrating while looking up local print shops for test runs, building my website/social media pages while researching local shows to apply for, figuring out what type of product to invest in next and where to manufacture while replying to customer emails… It was a lot of work! And time that I never felt like I had. I’m thankful that the conventions I participated in early on connected me to fellow artists in the community who support and guide each other in our type of work. That kind of support not only helped me find my footing, but also made the journey a little less lonely.
We could talk about the pandemic, the impact it had on my business, and how it felt like I had to start from the bottom up again…but, I know it hit everyone’s small business just as hard. While finding my footing again in the aftermath of COVID, I was diagnosed with type 2 diabetes and having ADHD. On top of that, my chronic shoulder pain was making a return. It’s a challenge- learning how to navigate my health alongside both my creativity and business. Though it would affect my output and the way I create, I had to learn to be okay with putting time into taking care of myself.
I’m never alone though in any of my struggles or roadblocks. I feel like the road will never truly be smooth- There will be things I make that flop, seasons when online sales are rough, conventions that are slow and all that… but I will always have people beside me to lean on whenever I need it. I’ve been especially lucky to have a father who picks me up when I’m down and a mother with an entrepreneurial spirit to help guide me with my financial decisions and even travel alongside me to help at my shows. I’m also extremely blessed to have a -very talented- wife who willingly let me drag her into this world haha. She is definitely my main driving force, supporter, and rock to lean on.
Appreciate you sharing that. What else should we know about what you do?
I’m known on social media and in this industry as RadJinja- a character illustrator and merch-maker, with a background in animation, inspired by tales of science fiction and fun horror! Since 2015, I’ve been creating original content and merch featuring my illustrations and have traveled around the nation selling my work at different comic conventions! In the last few years I’ve also had the great privilege of working alongside other amazing artists to put together art books, tarot decks, and guest comics for charitable causes. More recently, my wife and I are currently collaborating to self publish some small comic book stories! We’re very excited about it!
I owe a great deal to my followers, customers, and supporters from over the years. Something I’m quite proud of, actually, is my transparency with them. I’ve never shied away from letting people know I’m from a hispanic/latin family, that I’m in a same s*x marriage, or that I’m diabetic. Honestly, it’s information I’ve put out there and never really think about at the moment, but then I’ll get people coming up to me at my booth, excited to meet me, and expressing ways in which I’ve inspired them. Which is crazy to me haha- I will never get used to it! But I mean that in the best way. It’s such a vulnerable thing to do: to let someone know what you and your work means to them, it’ll always touch my heart. In this day and age, I understand that representation matters- So I’ll continue putting positive rep out there through myself and my work if I can!
This industry is centered around pop culture and the trends that follow. I think something that sets me apart from others is that I only work on projects that are passionate to me at the moment. I won’t put time into creating something just for the sake of making money- everything I make has a part of myself and identity in it- and I always want to try putting out the best quality products possible for my customers.
Are there any important lessons you’ve learned that you can share with us?
One of my university professors once told me, “the work you put in is what you’ll get back from it”, and I’ve always lived by those words. Where I’m at now- the success I’ve gained so far- is proof of the hard work. Not only in my business but in my health and personal life as well. I’ve learned that there will always be new ways to grow and innovate what I do. I’ve learned the importance of putting the work in, giving back when I have the opportunity to do so, and to keep looking for new paths forward.
Contact Info:
- Website: https://www.radjinja.com/
- Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/radjinja
- Twitter: https://x.com/RadJinja
- Other: https://www.tiktok.com/@radjinja
