Meet Malcolm Bellew | Creative Entrepreneur

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

Hi Malcolm, what was your thought process behind starting your own business?
Pain is a great motivator.

Prior to starting my own business/creative endeavors, I was working in factories, DVD stores, restaurants, moving furniture, and even selling vacuums door-to-door at one point. There’s no shame in hard work, but for me, it’s hard to be passionate about cleaning out grease traps or getting metal splinters in my hands.

This cycle went on for years, and it was insanity. I would lie during interviews to gain employment to a position at a job that I didn’t want to be at – doing things I didn’t want to be doing. When I realized I was my devoting my finite time to sustaining the dream of somebody else – anger, resent and fear consumed me. So I ultimately made a change, went back to school for design, while simultaneously working multiple jobs to fight my way out of the hell I found myself in.

My thought process behind starting my own business was fueled by desperation and determination mixed with calculated chaos. Experimental execution with an open mindset, and still learning.

Alright, so let’s move onto what keeps you busy professionally?
So, one of my main focuses is our e-commerce site, Blackgreil.com. Wifey (Josette) and I run Blackgreil together selling occult stuff. We started BlackGreil because we couldn’t find premium occult pieces that were high-quality yet still affordable, so we decided to make our own. We make things like Spirit boards (Ouija boards), black resin-poured scrying mirrors, along with screen printed apparel, sew-on patches and other hand-made things.

We started Blackgreil on a whim, almost as a “what if…” sort of thing, and over time it eventually got some traction, so we’ve since kept building it up. There’s a real “DIY-edness” to our craft and company. Everything surrounding Blackgreil was made by myself or Josette. It’s a real extension of what we’re capable of and who we are, and I think it allows us to stretch all of our creative muscles on many different levels.

We’re both artists, she specializes in epoxy-resin, crafts, and sewing. I do screen printing, design and illustration. She built-up the social media following on IG, I built the website. She handles the Etsy account, I run the WIX account. She scouts the pop-up shows, I designed the logo + branding. We both do marketing. Our house is a creative labyrinth. lol

Blackgreil allows us to experiment as creatives and explore woodcrafting, sculpting, up-cycling, repurposing, shaking, bending, yelling, re-using, etc. and so-on. We basically became our own clients and are competing with ourselves to beat ourselves at our own game, lol. We’re grateful to be doing what we are doing thus far.

We got to where we are today by putting in a lot of time/effort and having an open mind, which requires patience. Re-labeling our failures as opportunities to grow – a shift in perspective – is key. It was not easy, it still is not easy at times, but if it were easy, it wouldn’t feel good to conquer it, and life would be boring. So here’s to the hardships to come!

Let’s say your best friend was visiting the area and you wanted to show them the best time ever. Where would you take them? Give us a little itinerary – say it was a week long trip, where would you eat, drink, visit, hang out, etc.
Ideally, it’d be in the summer when they visit. Winter’s can be depressing here, not a good time to visit Ohio. Very grey. lol But…

Definitely have to check out the abandoned building spots, and the DIY skate spots. And we HAVE TO hit the punk bar “No Class” on Detroit Ave for some local noise. Maybe pop by Re-Store/Habitat for Humanity (imagine the offspring of Home Depot + Salvation Army) to get something to up-cycle or destroy n’ make art out of. Oh and the woods, Ohio has some super-dope nature spots. And we’d have to a have a fire too… A weekend at Nelson’s Ledges, or even in our backyard at home… we gotta burn stuff.

Who else deserves some credit and recognition?
My teachers from Cuyahoga Community College, Chris Do w/ The Futur podcast and YouTube channel, Aaron Draplin (designer), “Steal Like an Artist” by Austin Kleon, Stephanie Kluk – Future Ink Graphics Cleveland.

Also Josette, my 2 cats and snake, mom, family, hawmies, Ed Marshall, music, The Universe.

Website: Blackgreil.com

Instagram: @blackgreil

Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/BlackGreil/