Meet Carmen Denise | Professional Creative

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

Hi Carmen Denise, we’d love to hear more about how you thought about starting your own business?
As a creative, I naturally have many interests, some may even find conflicting, but I wanted to find a way to explore my various talents, not sacrifice time with my family, and make enough money to meet our needs. I’ve always freelanced but was never brave enough to solely focus on a business of my own – I feared not having stability, what it means to start over, and the potential to completely fail. So to put it simply – I made the decision to ‘work to live’ instead of ‘living to work’. In early 2021, still feeling the weight of 2020 and recently having received a UX certificate from Georgia Tech – I took time off to not only decompress but to focus on the birth of our firstborn. In that time, I didn’t take time off – I somehow officially launched my creative business – because apparently I can’t sit still – haha! But honestly, life is fleeting and the last couple of years have been so tough – I now felt empowered and brave enough to just finally – try.

What should our readers know about your business?
Again as a creative, I have leaned into having many interests rather than following the traditional route of choosing one path. It’s possible to be that ‘jane of all trades’ and master more than one skill – don’t let anyone tell you that you can’t! But with that said – it’s can be rather difficult to juggle it all. Currently, I am primarily focused on UX research and design but offer a plethora of creative services ranging from design, operations consulting, to being a home goods and jewelry maker. So with all these offerings – I take one step at a time, make detailed plans, and create systems. Additionally, I have learned to stop over promising and over extending myself – just because I can do it, doesn’t mean that I should. I am very direct with expectations and timelines for clients never deterring from the schedule or scope of work.

Any places to eat or things to do that you can share with our readers? If they have a friend visiting town, what are some spots they could take them to?
So here’s the thing – I moved during the 2020 pandemic, had a pandemic baby 2021, and now feel like I am just starting to really explore – I’ve been here almost 3 years and admittedly still tell people that I’m “new” because I spend most of my time at home. I have this obnoxious list on my google maps app of around 150 places that I want to try – most being restaurants. So – here’s my list in no particular order: I would take a guest to my favorite trail at through the Cochran Scholls, Amicalola Falls, Stone Mountain, Beltline, Ponce City Market, Midtown for Cafe Intermezzo and Colony Square – I love Serena Pastificio. Depending on the special exhibition, maybe the High Art museum. I live in Buckhead and spend a lot of time in Buckhead village so restaurants and shopping there would be great. Rock Steady has wonderful food and decor and it’s been awhile since I’ve visited there. Lastly, I would just ride around and continue to discover – there are so many interesting neighborhoods and events doccuring daily – as you may well know – this city continues to rapidly expand.

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?
Ah! This is a hard question – so many people and various resources throughout my lifetime. The first to come to mind, however are the following. My partner for supporting me through our journey, my daughter for simply being the miracle that she is, the many friends who have financially supported and spread the word about my work, and my clients who continue to work with me and recommend me to others,

Website: www.carmendenise.com; www.shop-nise.com

Instagram: @thecarmendenise

Linkedin: https://www.linkedin.com/in/carmencrosby/

Image Credits
First photo with orange background Tiff J Sutton, tiffjtiffsutton.com