Meet Deonna Lindsay-Lewis | Brand Strategist + Designer | Owner of BrandSmash Studio | Black Sheep since ’86

We had the good fortune of connecting with Deonna Lindsay-Lewis and we’ve shared our conversation below.

Hi Deonna, what was your thought process behind starting your own business?
Honestly, I started my business out of necessity. After graduating college with an Interior Architecture degree, I applied to every firm in my area. Everyone required 10 years of experience, and wouldn’t even consider hiring me. I even offered to VOLUNTEER, and still…..crickets. That same summer (the summer of 2008), I got an opportunity to design a poetry lounge with a friend. In creating the lounge, they needed a logo and menu designed, and I tried my hand.

From there, the rest was history. I needed a way to make money for my family and had discovered this new world of branding. So I created my business and gave myself the job!

Alright, so for those in our community who might not be familiar with your business, can you tell us more?
As the owner of BrandSmash Studio, we are on a mission to make black sheep creatives unemployable through world-building, limited-edition brands and fresh sales tactics.

The thing that sets us apart from others is our belief that it’s not enough to be “different”, you must be “Limited-Edition”. And the good thing about that, is our second belief, “You were born limited edition”. We take all of the stickiest, most delicious and insatiable parts of a person and spin it into an undeniable, unforgettable and Dope AF world that attracts like milkshake-you know, the kind that brings all the boys (and girls) to the yard.

I am most excited and honored to be surrounded by brilliant humans, and am so proud to be helping them launch their life’s work and get paid handsomely for it.

Creating a business isn’t an easy feat at all. I don’t believe anyone just falls into success (or that success is a destination). On my own journey, perhaps the greatest challenges I had to overcome were all mindset related. There was the decision to ditch scarcity mindset and switch to an abundance mindset. That switch alone made sure that I would never find myself broke along this journey. The second was tackling imposter syndrome (and I really believe this is an ongoing challenge). I have found that along the way, the most effective cure to this has been to “Do it anyway”. Whatever it was that scared me or made me feel unworthy, I ran towards it and did it scared. There is no other way to gain confidence than to just get out there and do the work.

One of the most significant decisions I made from the very beginning of launching BrandSmash was to partner with other studios to offer white-label branding. It wasn’t something I advertised (for obvious reasons), but it got me into the offices of some of the largest companies in the world, solving problems that stretched me in exciting ways. Those spaces were my classroom, my confidence-building battleground, and financial safety net. It freed me up to work with the audience I was most passionate about helping- black sheep creatives and niche businesses, and afforded me the ability to be selective so that I could work with the clients that most inspired me.

That’s not to say that any of this was “easy”, but the one thing I figured out early on, that still runs me and encourages me to level up often (and it’s something I tell everyone of my clients at some point), is “You only have to sell it once”. I don’t focus on trying to sell a thing to 300 or 3000 people. I know that if I can sell it once, I can sell it again. That too, has been my greatest remedy to imposter syndrome and all of the negative voices that talk you out of a launch; talk you out of raising your prices; talk you out of niching down; talk you out of doing exactly what you want to do and trimming the fat (aka the things you wish you could stop doing).

I’ve learned a bucket-full of lessons along the way. Perhaps though, the biggest lesson I’ve learned is to periodically shut out the world and pay deeper attention to how I naturally do things, how I naturally show up, and staying close to what I actually want. Trying to do things the way others do them will make you miserable and feel like you’re always failing-never enough.

Again, I believe you were born limited-edition. That means the way you naturally show up is already dope. If there is a lot of friction or if everything feels too hard, you’re probably not honoring your own process.

Also, I believe that we should never stop learning. There is no such thing as the top. I am always working to perfect my craft, and have found that my level of investment in education is directly correlated to how much my business earns in a year. I have never invested in a program, course, or coaching that didn’t help me triple my impact and/or bottom line.

What I want to be known for? Helping my audience solve nuanced problems that matter by building delicious, limited edition worlds and ultimately becoming unemployable. And “Unemployable” as I define it is: owning your time, taking entire months off for inspiration, and earning a full-time income from your life’s obsession-not side-hustle money-that, “I can’t work for anyone else because they can’t pay me what I can make on my own” kind of money.

And even in saying that….. Always being humble and inspired.

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?
Ooh I love this question! I’ve got to tell you, that I feel about black-owned businesses the way women feel about dresses with pockets!

We would start by shopping some of my favorite black-owned brands: Kewi teas (herbal teas), Authenticality Co (candles), Hamilton Perkins (up-cycled bags). I could go on, but I’d probably curate a bag-full of my favorite local brands.

We’d have coffee at 17 Hands in Virginia Beach or at The Coffee Shop in Portsmouth. We’d visit Sundae Scoop: Community Creamery in Virginia Beach. The flavors are the most unique, fresh and inspired icecream flavors in Virginia and source delicious ingredients from local shops. We may grab a donut from Amazing Glazed or some macaroons from Hummingbird Macarons.

Hampton Roads has some dining options that are a real treat. Some of my favorites include the speakeasy in Fin and Tonic and the other in Still Worldly Tapas in Portsmouth. Catching Bay Local, Citrus or The Yolks On Us is a must for breakfast. Got Fish, Cutlasse Grille, and Mango Mangeaux are real treats in our area that also happen to be black-owned.

Savor The Olive and The Williamsburg Winery are real gems in our area.

For fun, we’d probably swing by Tribal Axe or see if there is an interesting art exhibit or event happening in the area. Most people want to go to the beach when they come to Hampton Roads. If we must, I would select a less populated area of Oceanview, Yorktown beach, or Chic’s Beach.

Shoutout is all about shouting out others who you feel deserve additional recognition and exposure. Who would you like to shoutout?
My family is my biggest source of support and encouragement: parents, God mom, sister, and children. And I will always be so grateful for the support and encouragement of my husband, without whom I may not have had the guts to give entrepreneurship a shot. I know “Take the leap” is advice that is often given to up-and-coming business owners, but the reason I was able to leap is because I knew I had a husband with a full-time job and benefits who would be there to catch me if I fell.

I’d also attribute my success to Mr. Leon Hill who taught me invaluable business lessons around networking, integrity, customer service, and marketing, and my very first business coach, Dr. David Arrington who taught me to eliminate self-sabotaging behaviors and limiting beliefs.

Website: www.brandsmashstudio.com