Meet Kelli Clark | Freelance Animator & Designer

We had the good fortune of connecting with Kelli Clark and we’ve shared our conversation below.

Hi Kelli, we’d love to hear about how you approach risk and risk-taking

I think about risk, especially in the context of one’s goals or career, as betting on yourself. Investing belief, time, effort, and maybe money into your own visions and ideas. For me, risk has played such a huge part in my freelance career. I was one of the few members of my family wanting to pursue an arts education. I didn’t have a blueprint for how a young black female animator could be successful. After some time at a production company, I decided to start a business with 0 business background. Which for a time looked like quitting my job, living with no stability, and learning on the fly how to source clients. The decisions I made with no blueprint and no guarantee of success were what landed me the freelance career I dreamt of.

When you really want something big, whether its a life goal or a career path or even a business, its going to feel outlandish. You’re going to experience self-doubt, and its going to feel risky because there’s always a chance you may fail. Like the Tiktok sound says, you have to be delusional. You have to put ian absurd amount of faith & belief in yourself for it to work.

Can you open up a bit about your work and career? We’re big fans and we’d love for our community to learn more about your work.
I’ve always been so drawn to illustration and animation. So I’d say I got where I am today by holding on tight to my passion and not ever letting go. And by having a stellar support system that continued to push and encourage me. All that said, the journey has not been easy. I’ve taken a lot of risks, but I’ve been fortunate to continue to be reminded of why I’m following my calling. Along this journey my biggest lesson has been that there is no point where the growth stops. There will still ALWAYS be another goal you can set for yourself. You may pursue higher education for your passion, and after you get that degree or certificate, there will still be more for you to learn. The art world is ever changing and evolving, and the one thing I want people to take away about my brand and story is versatility. I want to always continue to branch out with my work, take risks and step out of my comfort zone, and remain privy to what’s next on the horizon.

If you had a friend visiting you, what are some of the local spots you’d want to take them around to?

Oh wowww… so many places. I’m an outdoors person– so off bat I’d eithe take them to a rooftop park like Cira Green, where we could get some good views and chill, or Spruce Harbor Park– maybe finish off with Fairmount park to see the sunset. Otts Exotic Plants is like a good 45 minutes outside of the city and it’s like the most luscious, peaceful greenhouse ever. Philly has so many small intimate jazz clubs and jams it’s an amazing city for live music, so going to a small show or concert would be a must. There’s also tons of black-owned galleries and venues… I’d definitely have to take my friend to a nice popup shop or flea market for the day.

Who else deserves some credit and recognition?

Oh man, there’s so many people I’m grateful to have as mentors and support systems. My family, first and foremost– my dad, sister, and mom, they were very understanding of my call to be a creative. My dad let me switch high schools junior year, just so I could have a good art foundation going into college. Connecting with everyone I did at Carnegie Mellon was so valuable– it was an amazing to be apart of such a ambitious, like-minded community of people.

Shoutout as well to two wonderful creatives I consider to be mentors, Njaimeh Njie and Alisha Wormsley. They’re stellar artists and visionaries who lit the fire under me to go after what I wanted. Also the book “The Freelance Manifesto” by Joey Korenman– it broke down the real pros and cons of a freelance design career.

Website: www.kelli-clark.com

Instagram: instagram.com/kc.rams

Linkedin: https://www.linkedin.com/in/kelli-clark/