Maya Dukes

SALT+LIGHT Agency | #BlackBusinessMonth Feature 02 Salt + Light Agency is a brand research and strategy agency that transcends ordinary expectation. Chief Excitement Officer Shaunda Lambert Gary created SALT+LIGHT Agency out of need and based in MATTHEW 5:13-15. Her agency witnessed the barrier of access to foundational brand-building tools for marginalized founders and lowered it. They want to provide the motivation and opportunity for entrepreneurs locally and globally to sustain and scale their business to grow generationally and create a legacy. Follow SALT+LIGHT Agency and tap into a #BlackWomanOwned agency that gets you when you’re ready! #31BlackWomanOwnedBusinesses

67

18 Comments

Just uploaded my project to my Adobe Behance site to show how and what I did for the portfolio project. Go check it out and see the concept from start to finish...Adobe Adobe Substance 3D @Adobe BNI Global BNI - Affinity Partners Jenevy Sims Howie Nestel Marc Ebinger #magazinedesign #portfolioproject #3D #AR #3Dprinitng #mockups #storytelling #visualstorytelling #watercolor #watercolorpainting #design

3

Smart mechanical design

4

Over the next few months, we're probably going to hear a lot about whether or not America is ready to be led by a Black woman. With nearly 15 years' experience in and around the HBCU space, at Hampton University and later the MEAC, I can tell you Black leadership -- and Black female leadership, in particular -- is simply a fact. It just *is*. At one point recently, five of the MEAC's eight schools had women serving as athletics directors. As of this writing, three of those schools have women in the president/chancellor's chair. Black leadership is a fact. Black female leadership just as much so. This is one of the reasons HBCUs are so important: to show young Black men and women that they can aspire to leadership and greatness. To see themselves in the boardrooms and the classrooms and the statehouses and the courthouses and, yes, even the White House. I'm excited at the notion of Kamala Harris as president not just because I detest Donald Trump, or because I oppose what the Republican Party has become, or because I have a vested interest in Project 2025 not happening (dissolve the Department of Education? Really?). And it's not just because I mostly agree with her policies and think she has made a fine Vice President. With Kamala Harris as president, maybe the rest of the country can get a taste of the reality I've known for the majority of my professional career: that Black leadership, Black female leadership, is to be celebrated and embraced and normalized. I also know this: a Howard University graduate is just as equipped, if not more so, to be President of the United States as any Ivy graduate.

8

Non-profits need captivating brands! This process helped take an outdated look and bring it up to speed, better capturing the modern and energetic nature of GreenHomeNYC. Check it out 👇 #graphicdesign #logo #logodesign #rebrand #branding #nonprofit

3

I am pleased to announce that my business, The Graphics House, LLC, has just been certified as a WOSB. It has truly been a process to reach this point. I don’t remember the exact date that I started this journey, but it was about three years ago. I started gathering the documents that I needed. I worked on getting or creating other documents. At times the process seemed overwhelming. I heard about a national organization that would help you with your certification for a fee. At the time the fee seemed worth it if they could help me get it done quickly and it would be complete. What I got for my money was one webinar attended by many women business owners where they explained their process to us. Then I submitted my documents for their initial review. I received a spreadsheet telling me what was missing and what needed revising. I gathered more documents and revised others and resubmitted them. No response. I followed up with emails. No response. I think I called one time. Still no response. So I put my certification attempt aside for a while until I heard about an in person event that GA Tech Apex was hosting for women business owners seeking certification. We were to meet in person, bring our laptops and submit our certification papers right at the event. I thought “Great, I can’t be ignored if we are all in the same room.” That was September of 2023. So a group of women business owners met and submitted our certification documents to the SBA. After that I got emails from the SBA first saying they had so many applications that processing would take a while. Then they requested revisions to one of my documents and I submitted that. They requested a couple of revisions to my operating agreement. I made those revisions, but was having trouble uploading the file. I emailed the help desk and they sent me the instructions for how to upload the file. I knew how the document was supposed to be uploaded. What I wanted them to understand was that the process was working. Systems do break down sometimes. I responded to their email and attached the document I was trying to upload. I hoped someone would attach it in the proper place. I was under a time crunch because the SBA gave me four days to respond or I would have to start the certification process over on a future date. When I had not heard from them by the deadline I decided my application was rejected and I would try again in the future. But a few days later I got an email saying my business had been certified! 😀 This is a story about perseverance. Getting my WOSB certification was a goal I set for myself and my business a few years ago. It took time. Some people promised to help and didn’t. Other people promised to help and did. Just when I thought I would have to wait longer to reach my goal, I was at the finish line. I know we have all heard this a thousand times, but hang in there and don’t give up. You will get there, whatever you are trying to achieve.

77

38 Comments