Shanelle Marsh

I attribute my success to my parents, of course. Growing up in the Caribbean, you're supposed to be a teacher, a doctor, or a nurse to be successful, and I remember going to them with wanting to be an artist. People think you're not gonna make money, you're not gonna be successful, but they never took that route with me. They were always like, okay, this is what you love, this is what you want to do, okay fine. And they poured into that path. I was one of the lucky ones because they really did pour into me and I was able to get three degrees. I also credit my teachers along the way, and right now, the person who mentored me at my current workplace. He's probably in his 70s and very down-to-earth, not the typical corporate man, and he's so talented. The way he mentored me made me see that it's possible to keep going. At this stage where it's like, okay, what now? He's kind of put the fire back in me to be like, okay, there's more, you can do more, you're capable.

The best career advice I've received comes down to two things. First, keep it simple. I strongly believe in that, maybe because of my style of art. I like simple, I like impactful, and I like to get the message across. You know, a lot of times you do design and it's just a lot, but what are you saying? Keep it simple would be one. The second piece of advice that I kept was don't take it personal. In corporate, sometimes you have this great idea, this creative idea, and it's amazing, and then the client wants something different. At that point, you are doing your job. There are times where you fight for your work, of course, but there are times where you have to learn when to let it go and just do the best you can, making sure it's aligned right and making sure it's the best as you can.

My advice would be just do it. If you have a passion for it, and I know even now it's worse in this day of AI and people saying it's gonna take your jobs, there are some things that AI can't do that their brain doesn't have and you may have it, because some work really does come from experience. My ideas really come from going on adventures, you know, some things really come from that. I would say follow your dream, because as a young girl wanting to be an artist from the Caribbean, it was like you're not gonna be anyone. But after jumping in, it's so funny that so many people now need my help, and back then this was said to not be a career to go in. So I would say follow your heart, and if you're passionate about it, you will succeed. Just keep learning and keep going, and don't allow the noise to hinder you from doing what you want to do.

AI is not the enemy, it's here to help us. I feel like we should just take this head-on, take the help, and use it to our advantage. What I used to have to do in Photoshop a couple years ago that would take 5 hours, right now takes 5 minutes. That's the help that we're now getting to be able to push our ideas further. That's how I'm looking at it: save that 5 hours by doing this, so now you have more time to have a better idea or to flush it out more. Maybe you wanted to just do a logo, but now you can do a logo and 100 mock-ups of placing it into place for your clients, because a lot of people are visual, to make your clients really grasp the concepts better. I think we should really think of AI as a good thing that's helping, and keep up with what AI is doing, because that's kind of where I think it's going to be a hit or a miss for us going forward. I feel like they're gonna start asking you to be able to do that if you're looking for a job, so I think just kind of leaning into it, doing what you can with it, while still doing what you want to do with your own ability.

I personally believe in under-promising and over-delivering. I am known, and this can be from my personal life too, to be 'extra' quote-unquote, but it's just if I have something in my head and I think that's how it should be, that's how I'm going to try to make it. Whether it's a project I'm doing and I want it to be 3D, so I'm gonna get the scissors instead of just printing and making it digital, I'm gonna do it because if it's gonna make it more impactful, I'm gonna do it. If it's my friend's birthday and I think she likes pink, so we should paint the room pink, I'm gonna do it. I kind of try to elevate my experience in life, period. Even if it's by the beach and I think a cooler will make my day better, I'll get the cooler. I'm just trying to find ways to elevate the small moments in life, because we really only have one. I truly believe in living the most, even if it's the smallest things. Authenticity is very important to me, and communication is really important too.