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

Hi Dez, we’d love to hear about how you approach risk and risk-taking
Deciding to launch my brand was truly a risk in itself. Being a part-time student in college, while also working full-time in my career provided me with a challenge that most would stave away from. What encouraged me to move forward was understanding that without risk there is no reward.

The risks that I was faced with came at the expense of falling behind in school, or settling for a career where I wasn’t being used to my full potential. The reward, on the other hand was self satisfaction of putting my best foot forward and doing something that I loved and telling a story from a different perspective.

Let’s talk shop? Tell us more about your career, what can you share with our community?
My career started immediately after graduating from high school. Thanks to opportunities that were available to me, I landed a full time position after interning for several months for the Federal Government. My roles and responsibilities included reaching targeted audiences, increasing product awareness, and managing project efficiency over multiple assignments and efforts. Because of my career it allowed me to spread my interests over various areas of expertise (UI, UX, Branding, and marketing) which ultimately presented me with the opportunity to satisfy most of my curiosity and granted me ability to really hone in on what I felt was most important. Was it hard at times? Absolutely!! Being confined to a computer screen consecutively for 10-14 hours a day can be intense, which is why I knew early on that design was something I was passionate about. That passion lead me to find my purpose and aim at telling stories from perspective that aim to uplift and advocate the Black community.

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?
I would say that their visit would best be spent visiting the inner harbor where they can walk the boardwalk or get great seats with a fantastic view of bay at any of the local restaurants. If sitting isn’t your style, there are plenty of popular bars in Federal hill and Fells Point that will keep you occupied for majority of the day/evening. There’s plenty of food to eat, even on-the-go. Baltimore is known for its is sea food and Old-Bay Seasoning. In the summer there are city wide festivals African American Festival ( AFRAM) and Artscape that combines art, history, culture and so much more.

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?
This is a wonderful segment! Shoutouts would certainly have to go to the family, friends and outside supporters. Friends/ Creative groups such as Creatively Mindful, Art Bae. Creative Venues/events such as Pancakes & Booze, Brickrose Exchange, H-street Festival. For the family who have been behind the scenes, participated in feedback, and offered their thoughts.

Website: https://dezcarter.myportfolio.com/home

Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/dez.by.design/?hl=en

Linkedin: https://www.linkedin.com/in/dezmond-carter-001a/

Other: Shop and Merchandise: https://www.designsbydez.shop/

Image Credits
Credit for Opening photo. Sofia Vidal @by.sofiavidal on IG

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