Most of the media often paints all businesses with a single stroke, but in our experience businesses are each unique and so many of them are focused on making the world a better place. We’ve highlighted a few such gems below.

Asad “Asaeda” Badat | Conceptual Artist, Fashion Designer & Photographer

My photography and marketing business helps mobilize entrepreneurs’ dreams of making their business a reality. It provides them with professional images and strategies to gain visibility and communicate their message to their ideal audience. In the past, I managed the social media content and strategy for Pop Up Shop Galleria, which is a collection of artists, makers, and entrepreneurs based in the Houston Galleria Mall. My copywriting and product photography helped increase its brand visibility, customer base, and vendor recruitment. I recently photographed the debut collection of eyelashes, accessories, and packaging for JMGlam Cosmetics, a Houston-based beauty brand that launched online. The crisp images made for a seamless online shopping experience. Read more>>

Ginny Eckley | Fiber Artist & Teacher

So often as Artists, we create alone. More and more, I am enjoying teaming up with others to have a broader impact. Over the last 6 years I have worked with another artist, Susan Ennis. We create large Art Quilts, designed to be hung on the wall. Last year we teamed up with 3 other Artists, Kim Ritter, Janet Bodin and Kay Hendricks for an exhibit at the International Quilt Festival. The theme of our exhibit was titled, “ Women of the West”. We had a fantastic time reading of daring women who headed West. Kim Ritter and Kay Hendricks have Cherokee heritage, and included beading and stories of Native Americans. Janet Bodin creates soft sculptures of dolls. The collaboration allowed us to tell our story to a wider audience. It was fun to see people enjoy different elements of the exhibit. Read more>>

Samantha Jacobson | Muralist & Mixed Media Artist

As an artist who is passionate about painting murals, my business helps the community by injecting rich color, joy and personality into an otherwise typical man-made structure. We take for granted how amazing humans are at building the world we wish to see around us. Filling a public space with artwork calls people to stop and take a moment to appreciate that big painted wall, then perhaps keep looking up to notice the beautiful crown molding they never saw before, then on to the fluffy shapes of clouds in the sky. Giving people a larger-than-life moment gets them out of their head and back into the world, allowing them to flip the switch to entertain and nurture their inner child. With my studio pieces and reproductions, I’m able to infuse that same experience into people’s personal lives. Read more>>

Amy Beth Wright | Artist & Professor of Art

A few years ago, some young kids in Texarkana were inside my four room exhibition, and when their parents said it was time to leave, they said, “No, you can just leave me here.” No phones. No TV. Then I overheard a mother there asking her daughter what my painting reminded her of, and they talked about their grandmother for a long time. I think if my work can draw people together, spread some joy and curiosity, it’s worth sharing with the community, and I’m very thankful for to be able to give back to world sharing something I love to do. I recently connected with Davis Cohen Art, and they’re helping me reach a wider audience, and one outcome of that is now having a collection of paintings hanging at MD Anderson Cancer Center. Read more>>