Meet Bennett Hogan

We recently connected with Bennett Hogan and have shared our conversation below.

Hi Bennett, 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.
Imposter syndrome was and sometimes still is something I struggle with. It was always easier for me to see some of the success and exposure I have as coincidence, dumb luck, or in some cases, a literal coin toss. As a graphic designer, I see myself as more of an artist, but even in that respect, I have no formal training, no classical education. When I’m in a room of other artist, designers, and business owners, people who worked under others to gain experience, put in countless hours in some course work and speak in terms I’ve heard of but never been tested on, it’s easy to feel like you don’t belong when others took this incredible journey to get here. To over come that, I have to start within, Turn the things I don’t have or haven’t experienced into positives. Reminding myself I got here with little guidance. Nobody sat me down and said keep posting drawings, keep using hashtags, learn how do vector art, parlay that into t shirt designs. The things I do know, I learned outside a class room and that has just as much value as someone who took a more traditional path. I belong in this space because I found another way to get here in spite of not having a road map. It also helps that others co-sign your success. Family, friends, strangers in social media, they all see me and my work as having just as much value as if I did go to a design school or was a popular artist with millions of followers. Remembering that, It gets easier to overcome that feeling of not earning my place here when I actually have, just a different way.

Thanks for sharing that. So, before we get any further into our conversation, can you tell our readers a bit about yourself and what you’re working on?
Ok, so. Sole Workz is my Graphic Design business where I create logos, typography, Illustrations, and other design concepts for apparel. I also collab with other artist on projects ranging from branding to social media interaction. In the beginning I was just an artist posting drawings on multiple platforms and using #soleworkz to tag it. After 7 years in the US Army I was trying to get back some of the skills I lost. The name Unique Artworks was already trending as a hashtag but after looking at a thesaurus and a quick google search, Sole Workz was born.

In the early going, I started off more “Artist” than ”Designer” attempting to grow the business with portraits and illustrations. I drew a lot of fan art, most notably drawing NBA players. I am a huge Atlanta Hawks fan and regularly tagged them when I posted new drawings. Back then they didn’t directly respond or so I thought. On August 6, 2016 the hawks did a mini piece on NBA.com about some of my fan art. It was an amazing moment, but because of that, people thought that Sole Workz was an artist name. My artwork has taken me places I never expected even getting a chance to meet the players I was drawing. Probably the most significant connection was meeting Anthony Prince after drawing his son Taurean Prince when he played for the Hawks. They really pushed me into turning my art into an actual business.

Since 2020, I’ve I been doing apparel designs like shirts and hoodies. The shift of focus to more on the design side, especially these last 2 years, has been surprisingly successful. This came at a time where I thought I would slow down due to the pandemic shutting down everything, and the bulk of my business then came from event flyers and youth sports camps.

Every now and then I’d get the occasional commission for a portrait or illustrations, but the t shirt and clothing design just unlocked so many opportunities. This shift was 100% my Wife’s idea as she is always coming up with different shirt ideas but just didn’t have a way to make them.

Currently I take on projects from various Facebook groups like @brandgood, the occasional flyer design from one of my first Clients Anthony Prince and their diverse ventures, T shirt designs from local businesses and churches like Fountain Grove A.M.E. wanting something different. Also, I gotta mention Vanthony Bryant and his graphic group. He has given me some great opportunities to illustrate books, turn kids into cartoons and other art heavy projects. When things seemed dry he had a project or 2 he trusted me with and I am very grateful for the learning experience.

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?
Hard to pick just three but for me, three things that helped me along this journey I would say 1: Being open to improvement and learning new skills 2: Taking on projects I am passionate about and love doing and 3: Being patient with the realization things take time, there will be things that will not go your way and not every project is a home run that’s gonna generate attention or likes.

Some advice I have for those getting started, I started in posting artwork online in 2014, the artist I followed and admired the most were always improving their style, making adjustments and evolving. The best there is gets that way by trying to get better. You should be open to criticism so long as it helps you and if it doesn’t block out the noise and negativity. In the area of art you shouldn’t compare your work with other artists as a way of judging how you are doing. There are so many different styles and variations you would be comparing apples to oranges. The goal should be making each piece better than the last.

Something else I recommend doing is taking on mostly projects you enjoy. It is natural to take on any work when things are a little dry, and sometimes those projects aren’t gonna be your ideal jobs. You’ll do your best but we naturally do more for things that we vibe with. Don’t force yourself into things you obviously don’t agree with it. If you are most comfortable doing illustrations, don’t load yourself up with work doing typography.

Finally, for someone just starting out especially in the art field you gotta have patience. Don’t come into this with 20 pieces to post on social media and expect to be an overnight influencer. Yes, there are some exceptions especially with the TikTok generation, and there are those who can manipulate that ever changing algorithm to get themselves seen… but it doesn’t mean people will like your work or subscribe to what you are doing. You have to be ok with that. You will have to put the work in, be consistent with posting on different platforms, keep doing videos, and know sometimes they will pick the Instagram model and pic of avocado toast over the piece you spent 15 hours on. It happens but don’t let that stop you. Also, if you are like me, posting fan art or drawing celebrities, be patient and sparing with the tagging. My first celebrity response from a pic I drew came 2 weeks after I posted it. One took a full year. You have to get in the mindset that these are people too with schedules, movies to make, songs to write, games to get ready for etc. Don’t get discouraged if the subject you tagged doesn’t immediately hit you up or acknowledge your pic. I drew Dwayne “The Rock” Johnson 4 times and after 8 months he responded. For every pic that doesn’t generate buzz, consider it working on building your presence and improving your style.

On the business side of things be sure if you feel strongly about a particular topic in the media, be sure you never flip flop. It’s a good idea to try and keep a personal page for that but, if you feel strongly enough about it, just be sure you don’t contradict yourself and get cancelled. Nothing worse than commenting from your business page about something like women’s rights thinking you’re an ally only to have those social media detectives find where you posted, shared or even liked an offensive joke from 6 years ago.

Lastly, you don’t know, what you don’t know. Asking questions, asking for advice and asking for help should not be looked at as you being inadequate or unqualified. You are trying to educate yourself and fill in gaps of knowledge you don’t have. You’d be surprised how many “business owners” went and paid for an LLC to take advantage of those PPP loans a few years back. Now those same people are dealing with the fallout because so many of those “non existent’ businesses caused everyone to be investigated. Some knew and still applied while some genuinely didn’t know what they were doing. Ask questions.

Alright so to wrap up, who deserves credit for helping you overcome challenges or build some of the essential skills you’ve needed?
The people most helpful to me on my journey, first gotta be my Wife Valerie. She has always supported my art dreams but was a huge motivator in pushing me into apparel designs and making custom shirts. Next would be my Mother Barenda, my most tenured fan. Growing up she let me be creative and grow into who I am today. A big influencer on me drawing to begin with, Vanthony Bryant. What little guidance I did get, he never steered me wrong, going over things he ran into when he was doing freelance work. My Army brother Terrence “ Big Will” invested in my first digital art pad. Man literally just had this thing shipped to the house one day and said “be great.” My son and especially daughter Illeana, who is also starting her own art journey, remind me of what’s at stake. They watch me, my ups and downs and how I react. I had to keep going because they need to know what is possible no matter what your background is.

On the business side, I have to recognize Tierra and Lena Josey. I watched their business grow and learned a lot from what worked and what didn’t. The main thing is the ridiculous amount of confidence they have. They never seem out of place and command your attention in any arena.

Once I started design work, the advice from my peers Jamaal Price, Micheal Smith, and Deandre Hall was so helpful and having people going through similar struggles and headaches that you can relate to is priceless.

I have to recognize the US Army for toughening me up during my young adult years and also my late father, Bennett “Speedy” Hogan for instilling in me not to quit when it’s hard or give up because it doesn’t look like you’re going to win. Would have never made it through basic without that.

Lastly, I need to recognize Anthony Prince and his family. As a parent of a NBA player you get all sorts of praise, feedback, noise, whatever from fans. Drawing that fan art of Taurean and finding out from his father he loved it. He didn’t have to but Anthony felt he needed to reach out to me. I never expected that and it would have been enough had we just stopped there knowing they liked the picture… But no, he saw something in me I never saw. He could see my artwork and creativity being utilized in so many different ways that would allow me to build a better life. The man made me a branding ambassador before I truly knew what I doing seriously. Before I knew it, I was bringing ideas and videos to him I made for his business. Having someone I never met before really go out of their way to say they see me, my talent and potential and then welcome me into their world like that, I am forever grateful. He would never take credit for “discovering” me but I honestly wouldn’t be where I am giving interviews like this without him and the people closest to me. The theme here is with people around you and supporting you, there is so much that is possible.

Contact Info:

Image Credits
Credit to The Atlanta Hawks and NBA.com reference link https://www.nba.com/hawks/features/instagram-user-has-sketched-some-crazy-awesome-hawks-fan-art?cid=16playbuzz_social_080816_twitter_fanartsoleworkz#

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