Meet Angela Aquino

We were lucky to catch up with Angela Aquino recently and have shared our conversation below.

Hi Angela, thank you so much for opening up with us about some important, but sometimes personal topics. One that really matters to us is overcoming Imposter Syndrome because we’ve seen how so many people are held back in life because of this and so we’d really appreciate hearing about how you overcame Imposter Syndrome.

I don’t believe one ever overcomes imposter syndrome, to be honest. It’s something that continues to raise it’s ugly head, even after you think it’s defeated. The trick, I’ve found, is to believe in what you do with your whole self. If you are passionate about what you offer and committed to your drive, the little voice urging you to silence and inaction will be drowned out, little by little, by a voice of confidence that can only come from following the path you know is yours. Practice, as they say, makes perfect.

Let’s take a small detour – maybe you can share a bit about yourself before we dive back into some of the other questions we had for you?

I knew I was an artist when I had to go home with a note for daydreaming in Mrs. Partlow’s first grade class. Being a daydreamer continued to get me into more than my fair share of trouble as a kid. Lucky for me, it was great training for my career as a designer and artist.

As a designer, I specialize in making work that serves as much as it informs, specifically focusing on design for social and environmental impact. My 25+-year career has spanned corporate advertising, product campaigns for Fortune 500 companies, video art direction for small businesses, strategic branding for nonprofit organizations, and more. I founded Lightdaughter Studio to put my design ethos of marrying systems thinking with the eye of a fine artist to use for greater purpose.

Though the Studio has always been around in some form or other as a source of freelance and passion projects, I made the leap to full-time independence in 2020—on the cusp of what would become a massive pandemic. Still, it has proven to be the right path.

As independence is in my nature, so is creativity and exploration: I’m also an artist working in various mediums, including photography, painting and ceramics. My most recent venture is into ceramic jewelry design, which is still very much in its dream state. I have also made the odd piece of furniture from time to time.

I was born and raised on the wrong side of the tracks in Tupelo, Mississippi. No, I am not a great fan of Elvis, even though I grew up a stone’s throw from his birthplace. I have a BFA in Graphic Design and Photography from Mississippi State University—a whirlwind of over-achievement and perfectionism that I’m still, to this day, trying to work out of my system. Now I live in Atlanta, Georgia with my nerdy software engineer husband and two furry kitty babies, making messy art and designing cool stuff.

Looking back, what do you think were the three qualities, skills, or areas of knowledge that were most impactful in your journey? What advice do you have for folks who are early in their journey in terms of how they can best develop or improve on these?

Did I mention that I’m very independent? Well, I’m also stubborn. Combine that with my creativity, and watch out.

Breaking it down a bit…

Being independent gave me the freedom to be curious, to try things, to make messes and mistakes and learn from them.

Stubbornness allowed me to commit, sometimes too completely, to what I wanted to achieve.

And being creative means that I can—and often do—try pretty much any path to get to where I want to be.

These may seem like just general personality traits. And they are; that’s the point. The things that make me me are the things that got me to where I am, and the things that still steer my path. As Shakespeare writes in “Hamlet”: “This above all: to thine own self be true.” That, my friends, is the secret to happiness.

How would you describe your ideal client?

An ideal client for Lightdaughter Studio is one whose mission is positive impact, be it social or environmental. The nature of an ideal client’s business is far less important than the values and mission that business is built upon. And it is essential that they are open minded, adventurous and genuine. Working with me means expecting, at times, the unexpected. The right direction for brand and design projects may very well be what is least obvious.

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