Meet Melanie D. Salim | Digital Art Designer, Business Coach, Independent Author

We had the good fortune of connecting with Melanie D. Salim and we’ve shared our conversation below.

Hi Melanie D., can you tell us more about your background and the role it’s played in shaping who you are today?
I am from a small town outside of Richmond Virginia called, Freeman. I was born in the home that my father built and as a young child, I enjoyed playing on my family homestead with my cousins and older brother. My family heritage is one of resilience and hard work. I realized this even as a child and assumed, that hard work and being resilient during tough times, was the norm for every family.

To care for his family. my grandfather made furniture working at the town factory and drove a tractor on our 36-acre land for soil prep to grow tobacco. My father was a builder-construction worker and worked at the town factor. Finally, my mom made our house a home filled with love and care. With these examples in my early childhood development, I am reminded daily to always be willing to work hard in order to care for your family and to get what you want out of life.

One of my favorite memories which begins my journey of art appreciation is when my mom passed down to me at the age of 4 or 5 years old her Tin Doll house. This became my first and best doll house. I remember the two-story design, colors of the rooms, the furniture and how my imagination would race with ideas of how to design and place the furniture in each room. I can say that without being aware as a child, during my play times, this was my introduction of embracing my creative thinking abilities, appreciation for art, colors, design and the experience of expanding my imagination.

As I grew older, at the age of 8 years old, on an early Saturday morning, I drew my first picture of our beautiful dining room chandelier. I remember after finishing that drawing, I looked at my hands, quickly flipping them palm up/palm down and thinking to myself , “Wow, did I just draw that with these?” I was amazed at how easy drawing came to me and how I got lost in the moment while drawing – it was hypnotic. When I finished, it felt like I had come out of some creative trance. I hurriedly took the picture into my parents room and I said with excitement, “Look what I did!” From that moment on, my parents made sure that anything art related that they could get their hands on, I was going to have. – and so my artistic journey began.

I recall, my middle school teacher, Mr. Giles saying to me a sentence that I carry with me to this day – ” When drawing Melanie, draw what you see.” I loved my art class and my art teacher, for it was there, that I matured in my ability to “see art” from my eyes and began to understand how to translate that to paper or canvas. I have drawn many drawings since those middle school days, unfortunately, most of my precious art pieces were destroyed or lost many years ago.

My years growing up as child/teenager were great, but our family moved around a lot during my middle and high school years due to my fathers changing job assignments. This made it some what hard to make friends in school and so art became my best friend more times than not. It also gave me a somewhat of a grounded place to escape when I didn’t have friends around. Also, during that time, I saw my father create businesses for himself and ignite the entrepreneurial spirit in our family.

After graduation, I had dreams of going to college but my trajectory was changed with the birth of my first child, a daughter when I was 20 years old. I had to put my dreams on hold and my life became that of a stay-at-home mom. I would go on to give birth to two more children (a son and daughter) and life was more about survival and living a life of working 9-5.
Today, my children all have great careers with families of their own. I get to spoil my grands as Nana, and I love it!

After putting a pause on my dreams as a single mother, my constant companion (my love for art), never left me and at the age of 40, I enrolled as a student at the Art Institute of Atlanta pursuing a BA in Media Art/Animation. I taught myself a lot of the popular Design, Animation and Video Production software where Graphic Design in general became my go to side gig servicing clients and friends.

Fast forward to my life now, I have an online luxury hair boutique called Hair Maven @ www.hairmavenextensions.com. I am a certified Business Coach providing business coaching to small businesses owners, I’m a Digital Art designer and lastly, I am an Independent Author.

I have had many twists and turns in my life but art has always been my constant companion throughout my journey on both a personal and entrepreneurial level. I have had to reinvent myself many times. I’m grateful to my background, upbringing and it’s impact . I have an awareness of my gifts and they remind me daily why I am on this journey.

Alright, so let’s move onto what keeps you busy professionally?
After graduating high school, my artistic career path took a turn and veered off course due to becoming a young mom at 20 years old. This detour altered my path and led me to a professional career in Data Analytics for 15 years. To say the least, I never would have chosen that path for myself but as the old adage goes, if you want to make God smile, tell him your plans – my sister submitted my name for a position at her job and I was hired to my surprise. Since I needed a steady income, I took the job and continued with college by taking night and weekend classes where available. During that time in my life, I was a full time student making my way into the Media Art and Animation field and working full time learning Data Analytics. By embracing these two profound episodes in my life, I discovered, you must be a creative and a strategic thinker when working through challenges and achieving your goals.

I remember those long tiring nights in pursuit of my degree at the age of 40! Believe me, thoughts of “What were you thinking?” occurred on more than one occasion. However, although it was a challenge being a college student along with working a 9-5, I was determined to win for myself and my family. It was that grit that pushed me forward to continue on this journey no matter what came my way. I taught myself to be a problem solver by figuring out how to use industry software when my instructors were not available to help me. Finally, I learned how to be razor focused by eliminating distractions that has no relevance in serving my purpose when pursuing my goals. Today, I use these developed principles to mentor and coach individuals.

Looking back, I’m in awe of myself that I kept my sanity while still functioning as a student and an employee. My true reward is that, I am here to continue to grow, develop and learn. If I can inspire or help just one person realize that they have creativity and purpose within themselves, for pursuing their passion, then I am a “happy camper.”

Let’s say your best friend was visiting the area and you wanted to show them the best time ever. Where would you take them? Give us a little itinerary – say it was a week long trip, where would you eat, drink, visit, hang out, etc.
My itinerary for my friends visiting town would be as follows:

Sunday AM- Buttermilk Kitchen for breakfast
Sunday Afternoon/Evening – Avalon in Alpharetta

Monday AM – Breakfast prepared at Home
Monday Afternoon – High Museum
Evening – Homecooked Meal

Tuesday Am – Thumbs Up Diner
Tuesday Afternoon/Evening – Atlantic Station

Wednesday AM – Breakfast prepared at Home
Wednesday Afternoon/Evening- Shakespere’s Tavern

Thursday AM – The Little Farmhouse Cafe
Thursday Afternoon/Evening – Canoe

Friday AM – Atlanta Breakfast Club
Friday Afternoon/Evening – Ponce City Market

Saturday AM – Rias Bluebird
Saturday Afternoon – Perimeter Mall
Saturday Evening – Atlantis Restaurant

Shoutout is all about shouting out others who you feel deserve additional recognition and exposure. Who would you like to shoutout?
I want give a shoutout to my parents for both being examples to me of hard work, dedication, family pride and unconditional love. My father, Ahmed, continues to instill in his children the importance of pulling yourself up by your own bootstraps and following your dreams for the betterment of yourself and your family. I attribute my tenacity and “don’t quit” attitude to him. My mother, Aaliyah, continue to show me that love is patient and kind and is totally unconditional. Her insightful and witty sayings spoken to me as a child and now as an adult, still anchors me and keeps me grounded through life’s ups and downs. Both my parents have always encouraged me and have been my cheer leaders in my many endeavors..

Website: https://linktr.ee/DawnSalim

Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/dawn3d/