Maya Hill | One Year Later

Video Credit: Kevyn Tapia

Maya Hill is a past mentee from Forest Park. Maya first got connected with TFD through workshops hosted in the Firehouse space back in 2020. Shortly after, the idea for a mentorship program came to life, which Maya then began in Spring ‘21. Now, she is our Executive Assistant here at TFD and is in school to become a physicians assistant! We are so proud of Maya and we are excited to continue to support her in her journey!

“No matter who you are or who is impacting you at the moment, you should do what you want to do.”

- Maya Hill

Photo Credit: Mya Rose

Our Last Day | Spring 2022 Mentorship

It’s here, our last day together. We are so proud of all that our mentees have accomplished throughout our 12 weeks together. It's sad to be at the end, but we are excited to see what our mentees do post-mentorship! On our last day, each mentee presented their brands to the rest of the group. Those who created websites showcased their finished sites explaining logos, color choices, photos, and when their websites will launch. Each person was then offered some advice and feedback to better their websites from our mentors and fellow mentees.

Once everyone presented their brands, we had mini graduation for our mentees. Each person was awarded a certificate of completion and the graduation song was sang via acapella from our staff and mentees. It was bitter-sweet to be here at this moment, but it was so much fun. We also recognized our staff that will be transitioning off. We want to thank Sandra, our Mentorship Coordinator, Mariah, our Mentorship Assistant, and Lu’Cretia, Our Creative Project Manager, for all that they have done for TFD.

Once everyone received their certificate, we stepped outside to hop into an Uber headed to Thai Time to celebrate an amazing cohort completion. Until next time friends!

Photo Credit: Mariah

Creating A Brand | Part 7

Well it's here, our last Wednesday of Spring 2022 Mentorship. Can you believe it?!? One more day together and we are done. To celebrate our last Wednesday we set aside time to add last-minute touches to everyone's websites. Each group got together to edit their logos and update any details on their websites. Sandra, our Mentorship Coordinator, assisted each group with turning their logos into files so they can have a copy of the digital file after the mentorship. On Saturday, we’ll have all groups present their finishing products.

After everyone finished with those updates, we transitioned into our last photo shoot of Spring 2022 Mentorship. Our mentees have grown throughout our 12 weeks together and it is amazing to show their progress through photos. Today we had many laughs, awkward moments, so much fun, and a little bit of confetti! We cannot wait to share all of the amazing photos we took from today!

Creating A Brand | Part 6

As the mentees continue to work through their businesses, it is also the last week of mentorship. Today, the mentees started off with a fun bell ringer of “Guess Who”. Each mentee wrote a person down and stuck it to their forehead for the rest of the mentees to give them hints on who they were. Some celebrity guesses were Kanye West, Beyonce, and Bill Murray.

After the game, the mentees were focused and went right into continuing to build their businesses. Jasmine and Jocelyn continued a design job TFD was hired to do. On this day, they worked on putting photos into the client’s website design. Tracy continued to work on his denim design by finding new inspiration. Jordynne, Jamia, Cameron, and Kendall all worked more on their website designs. Lastly, Julian finished his website design and plans on starting to record his podcasts! As we wrap up the last week of our spring mentorship program, everyone is starting to feel the bittersweet moments. Nonetheless, we are so proud and grateful our mentees have found a business they want to continue with.

Creating A Brand | Part 5

During our second to last Saturday of mentorship, each group gathered together to add last-minute details to their websites. All of our mentees have been working so hard to get their websites completed before mentorship wraps up. Jordynne and Cameron took a trip outside to get some needed headshots of Jordynne for her website, as well as adding some photos to Cameron's portfolio. They’re both in the process of creating their own photography businesses.

Inside, our other Mentees got feedback from their partners on how their websites looked and if they were missing anything. Jasmine and Jocelyn, a current mentee, took time to work on a branding project that TFD was hired to complete. They used canva to create graphics, brand boards, and used Squarespace to add to their designs. It was amazing to see Jocelyn put her new skills into practice and to help complete this project.

Photo Credit: Mariah