Embracing Change: Conversations with Shulisa Collins

Her Creative Journey to Growth Mastery

Reported on: Feb. 10 2026 by Voyage Baltimore

Today we’d like to introduce you to Shulisa Collins.

Hi Shulisa, so excited to have you on the platform. So before we get into questions about your work-life, maybe you can bring our readers up to speed on your story and how you got to where you are today?

My creative journey started long before I knew moving to the East Coast was a possibility. While I was born and raised in Los Angeles, California, I like to say I was truly molded in the DMV.

I didn’t start out career-driven in the corporate sense. Like most young people fresh out of high school, I started small. I worked in grocery stores and eventually landed a job at Coca-Cola. That role became a pivotal turning point, though in an unexpected way. I wasn’t always ‘soft around the edges’—I actually injured my foot by dropping a pallet and was placed on light duty. That accident was a blessing in disguise; it moved me off the floor and into an environment where I first discovered my fascination with visual communication.

I have come to understand that growth arrives at various stages in one’s life. I entered higher education later in my twenties, viewing it as a necessary evolution—an escape from the ‘LA lifestyle’ of my youth. I began at Los Angeles Trade-Technical College, earning my Associate’s in Visual Communication. I am a firm believer that trade schools are powerful pathways to success.

From there, I was accepted into Howard University’s College of Fine Arts for Graphic Design. I was determined to maximize that opportunity. After a year and a half of intense focus, I completed my Bachelor’s with a 4.0 GPA, graduating Summa Cum Laude. Being a first-generation college student, this achievement meant everything to my family, and I hope it set a tone of possibility for my younger siblings and cousins.

My career path eventually took me through various industries, from restaurants to real estate. It was later in my creative journey that I discovered my passion for systems and structure.

I found my second love—my ‘geek love language’—in architecting a creative flair around tracking my day-to-day life. I believe you can design the life of your dreams, whether you are in your ‘Glow Up’ phase or entering your ‘Soft Persona Era.’ I realized that a well-designed planner doesn’t just track your day; it holds you accountable for all aspects of your life.

This passion, combined with my love for structure, is what ultimately allowed me to form The Luxlisa Co.

I knew I wanted the brand to reflect a blend of minimalist art, tracking, and organization. This led to the creation of my signature product: ‘2026 is My Year: The Evolutionary Digital Interactive Planner.’ It is a planner built with intentionality, designed to foster self-accountability. It represents the evolution of my years of bullet journaling—taking that analog structure and modernizing it for the digital age to help others build their own systems.

Alongside product development, my service niche is branding and logo design. I love bringing a client’s vision to fruition, using that same blend of creativity and structural logic to build brands that last. I can honestly say it has never felt like ‘work’ to me—as long as I keep doing what I love, the energy is always there.

We all face challenges, but looking back would you describe it as a relatively smooth road?

I can certainly say the road has not been smooth. In fact, this is not my first business venture. I launched a creative Print-on-Demand store back in 2020, and—well, we all know the story of that year.While that venture didn’t scale financially, I refused to let the experience go to waste. I took the research and design skills I gained from that ‘fail forward’ and applied them to my 9-to-5, creating branded products for internal staff. It was a lesson in pivoting.

However, the challenges were deeper than just market saturation or competing with younger creatives who had more free time. The real battle was internal. During that period, I struggled significantly with time management—or, to be more transparent, a lack of discipline. I hadn’t yet developed the systems I rely on now.

On top of that, the distance from my roots in Los Angeles took a heavy toll. Homesickness spiraled into depression, which is a critical danger zone for any artist. For a creative, motivation stems from emotion; when your mental health suffers, your ability to create evaporates. The feeling of being overwhelmed kicked in, bringing a wave of self-doubt with it.

Ultimately, I realized that I had become my own biggest challenge. I had to learn that mastering my mindset and my schedule was just as important as mastering my craft.

Thanks for sharing that. So, maybe next you can tell us a bit more about your work?

I specialize in what I call ‘Visual Translation.’ I am known for taking a client’s scribbles, industry jargon, and broken thoughts and synthesizing them into the reality they’ve only dreamed of. My passion lies in that specific moment of alchemy—creating a tangible, professional identity from a raw concept.

What sets me apart from others is my methodology: I incorporate structured systems into a creative spin.

Most designers stop at aesthetics. I don’t. My ‘geek love language’ is building systems that talk to one another to maximize efficiency. Whether I am designing a logo or a workflow, I am always asking, ‘How does this function? How does this make life easier?’

This unique approach is dual-faceted. By day, I apply this rigor as a Design and Marketing Coordinator. In that role, I manage branding, website design, content creation, and track Marketing KPIs (Key Performance Indicators). It’s a high-level environment that keeps my skills sharp and grounded in real-world business results.

However, I am most proud of how I have channeled this dual passion into The Luxlisa Co. Specifically, I am proud of the creation of my digital interactive planner. It isn’t just a calendar; it is a system. I am currently working on maximizing its capabilities to interact with external platforms, pushing the boundaries of what a static planner can do.

Ultimately, I am known for bridging the gap between the artistic right brain and the analytical left brain—ensuring that everything I create is beautiful, but more importantly, that it works.

Can you talk to us about how you think about risk?

Am I a risk-taker? Without a doubt.

I moved across the entire country to a place where I had very little family, and I did it based on a visit that lasted only a couple of days after being accepted to HU, you know the one. That move was, without question, the biggest gamble of my life.

I love the family I am engaged with here on the East Coast deeply, and I appreciate them with all my soul, but early on, the struggle of leaving my roots was immense. I am going on 12 years now, and I honestly never thought I would stay on the East Coast this long—mostly because of the climate shock. It is cold here—very cold—and it snows. In LA, I lived literally 20 minutes from the beach—another 10 and you’re in Santa Monica (depending on LA traffic, of course!).

I left the life I had known for the majority of my early adulthood to plant seeds in frozen ground. But as I said earlier, I was truly molded in the DMV. That growth required leaving my comfort zone.

Professionally, the risk was just as high. I didn’t know exactly where I fit in the graphic design world initially. I realized later that I wanted to work in an ad agency, creating witty memes or thought-provoking campaigns. But I hit the classic wall: you need experience to gain experience.

Sad to say, very few people were willing to take a chance on me. Except for the company I have now called home for nearly seven years: The Menkiti Group.

Taking the risk to stay here paid off when I found them. At The Menkiti Group, ‘family’ is defined not just by bonding with a vision, but by an entire ecosystem of some of the most diverse, talented people I have ever met. From the team members who are still hanging in 20+ years strong, to the ones who have gone on to greater pastures, that environment gave me the stability to grow into the creative professional I am today.

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