Building A Brand

Everyone knows of someone who owns their own brand but have you ever thought about how they formed it? We just started our fifth week of mentorship that all about branding. Our board President Deon Bonaparte of Agency Evolve, led his 4th workshop with TFD on “How To Build A Brand".” Deon went over the steps on how to build your brand with three steps: build the foundation, brand strategy, and a business plan. The most important information that our mentees learned was to clearly articulate what they want their brand to be, look like, and feel. Deon left the mentees with a quote from Walt Disney. “Walt Disney was asked, “How do you feel on your deathbed knowing that you will not be able to see Disney world come to life?” Walt Disney replied “I already have”. You need to understand your brand before you start it.” We are so appreciative of our Board president and cannot wait to welcome him back during our Summer mentorship!

Photo Credit: Mariah

A Day Full Of Creatives

Today was an eventful day at TFD! We had two past mentees come back to lead worships for our new mentees, and it was amazing to welcome them back.

In the morning, Amanda from Amanda Leon Calligraphy came in to lead a calligraphy workshop. She provided the mentees with hand-written packets designed by herself! They used markers to trace and draw their own letters. Everyone was involved and engaged during her workshop and they loved having Amanda here!

Afterwards, Dulce came in for a Procreate 101 workshop. She taught mentees how to create a design in the app, Procreate. Everyone then played a game where each team came up with 3 words, then they passed the iPad throughout their group. Without talking, each person added to the drawing. Jordynne and Jocelyn won unanimously for their National Women’s Month drawing! Sandra then taught everyone how to digitize the drawings they created. It was a fun and eventful day and we are so grateful for everything accomplished so far!

Coping Skills & The Basics Of Illustrator

Can you believe we are already halfway through week 4 of mentorship? On Wednesday, our mentees participated in a coping skills workshop led by Erika Luna from the Oasis Project. As mental health is one of our three pillars, it is important we incorporate it into our mentorship. Throughout this workshop, coping skills were discussed amongst our mentees and Erika Luna. Our mentees learned how to deal with stress more constructively, establishing boundaries on what you cannot control, and skills to deal with stress.

We then transitioned to our next workshop with our mentorship coordinator, Sandra. The mentees and Sandra talked about the basics of Adobe Illustrator on an Apple iPad. All through this software was challenging to use, it was rewarding to see our mentees work together to meet their goal of designing something new!

All Things Editing, Safe Spaces, And Intro To Graphic Design!

Photo Credit: @mariah_julianna_

Not only is photography difficult, but the editing process is a lot harder! During the first day of week 4 in mentorship, our mentees wrapped up the learning process of editing, partook in a safe space dialogue, and began the intro to graphic design! It is so awesome to see all that our mentees have learned in the past few weeks. We are eager for what is to come in week five!

Photo credit: @mariah_julianna_

Product Photography

Photo Credit: Mariah Julianna

Our mentees have been learning all about photography these last two weeks! This past week we walked our mentees through how to plan a photo shoot, and then on Saturday they put what they learned into action by working in small groups and photographed 3 different brands. We invited Amanda from Amanda Leon Calligraphy and Sandra from Papelitos Lindos to join the fun! TFD also has some exciting new merch that was photographed as well. This was a great learning experience for our mentees and we are so excited to share the amazing photos they took with y’all.

Photo Credit: Mariah Julianna