Meet Alaetra (Blvcklae) Chisholm | Creator and Event Strategist

We had the good fortune of connecting with Alaetra (Blvcklae) Chisholm and we’ve shared our conversation below.

Hi Alaetra (Blvcklae), why did you pursue a creative career?
I’ve always known that I would have an artistic and creative career. I come from a long line of creative lineage — a family of musicians, dancers, singers, and multi-hyphenate creatives, so it was only right that I tap into my personal creativity. Growing up, I toyed with the possibility of being a comedienne, a private chef, an attorney, a grade school teacher and even a talk show host. What those paths have in common is connecting with others and addressing a need by being a bridge and a resource, and I wanted to do that through the arts. Throughout college, and after changing my major from education to journalism, I found there were numerous creative outlets available to me if I had enough sense to apply myself. From there, I immersed myself into the creative scene and fell in love with content creation and events. I find when I’m behind the microphone hosting an event, or behind the laptop creating fun content strategy, I feel most at home.

Let’s talk shop? Tell us more about your career, what can you share with our community?
My art form is connecting with others. Through content strategy and events, I create safe spaces that contribute to the growing creative community, either online or in real life. I help other creatives tap into fun marketing strategy by helping them focus on authenticity and identifying their brand story, namely because it’s what has propelled me this far, and it’s what lasts throughout digital seasons and trends. My journey to this place has been eventful, to say the least. I’ve learned from family, friends, classmates, peers, mentors and trailblazers, and their lessons, paired with my optimism and resilience, have helped me overcome every single thing, person or obstacle that has stood in my way. What has also helped is getting comfortable with the journey and being strategic about my next move, so that my progress always brings me closer to my goal of creative freedom.

If you had a friend visiting you, what are some of the local spots you’d want to take them around to?
One of my favorite places in Charlotte is Camp North End. There’s always a cool event happening there, either at Dupp & Swat or Blk Mrkt CLT, two Black owned galleries and workspaces that often host community and arts events, so we’d definitely drop by there on a weekend day. If there’s a live show, we’d probably pop into Snug Harbor and check out some amazing homegrown talent, or Neighborhood Theater for a bigger act. Be Social, which is inside The Social Status on Central Avenue, is also a really cool co-working space and event venue where there’s bound to be events like panels, workshops, mixers, you name it. On the food side of things, I’d make sure we ate at LuLu’s, a Maryland style seafood spot on the west side of Charlotte, or if we wanted to drink too, we’d grab a table at their newly opened Central Avenue location. If it’s Taco Tuesday, we might hit up Taco Mama in Dilworth and grab some good eats and a margarita pitcher.

Shoutout is all about shouting out others who you feel deserve additional recognition and exposure. Who would you like to shoutout?
I want to dedicate my Shoutout to my late mentor, Tara La’Bonnae Kea, who invested her time and energy into helping me become a true professional and gave me my first shot at event production. Rest in peace.

Website: www.blvcklae.com

Instagram: @blvcklae

Image Credits
Photo in printed green/white top and black pants: shot by Bryant Lindsay @shotbylindsay on Instagram All other photos submitted: shot by Marc Prosper @marcprosper on Instagram