Meet DaJaniere Rice | Multidisciplinary Artist and Graphic Designer

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

Hi DaJaniere, can you walk us through the thought-process of starting your business?
Growing up I saw my family hustle. There were 7 of us in one house and we all contributed to our household. My granddad would make BBQ pits out of barrels and shopping carts, my brother would mow lawns, my sister and I would sell candy bars, my mom and aunts would make beautiful baskets for Valentine’s Day and other holidays to sell, my Dad would do custom painting on clothing for men and women, my nana would make dinners, and my mom would make custom cakes. This all pushed me into wanting to learn how to build wealth.

Seeing my family hustle and still be considered low-income with all the hard work they were doing on top of their 9-5’s, taught me that I wanted to see something different. Both, within my family and in my community. This encouraged me to explore my entrepreneurship journey throughout college. I began to learn about how to build a business and was in the process of figuring out what exactly I wanted to do. When I lost my first professional job after college in 2018, that experience pushed me into the deep end of entrepreneurship. I used money from my savings to get a business coach, watched so many YouTube videos, and even started to listen to entrepreneurship and marketing podcasts. It had to be hundreds of hours of content. I still have my notebook full of notes from them all.

After losing my job and my one source of income, I realized that putting all my eggs in one basket was no longer an option for me. I looked at what I knew well enough to teach others and that was art and graphic design. I put all the information from the podcasts and YouTube into play and started my freelance graphic design and paint party business! Since then, I’ve gotten to see my businesses grow exponentially. And I’ve gotten to see my paint parties go from having just 3 people to my biggest paint party being over 100 people! It’s still a journey and I’m still learning so much about entrepreneurship and balance. But I am so grateful for my accomplishments and growth.

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.
My intersectional identities as a black, woman, artist, sister, daughter, aunt, niece, and American, and the experiences I have due to these identities, inspire the work that I create. With art being my expressive form of therapy and mindfulness, I use a variety of mediums, including oil, acrylic, digital, and fiber, to convey the different emotions going on inside of me. This helps me be able to gain clarity and healing about events/situations happening in the world and in my personal life. By sharing my experiences and inviting viewers into my mind, I’m hoping to create a vulnerable and intimate space for them to connect with my pieces on a deeper level. The ability to share those dark, uncomfortable parts of myself through my art is one way I stand apart from other artists. I also believe that my versatility sets me apart. I’m still learning about having a “style” and if having a style really matters but I love exploring different art mediums. I feel that they all add a unique connection and perspective to my work.

As far as my professional journey and if its been easy, it has not been easy. It’s been a lot of trial and error. Figuring out how to market myself creatively and create a business, in general, has for sure been a journey. I’m grateful that I have a supportive family that’s always supported my art. And a big shout out to my Aunt Tonya, Aunt Val, and my mom who are the best word-of-mouth marketers lol. I am also grateful to a few of my art college professors like Dennis Wojtkiewicz and Todd Childers for always being supportive and encouraging when it came to me creating art around my blackness at a predominately white institute.

Through this whole journey, I’ve been learning more about how important it is to have more black representation in our colleges, at our jobs, and seeing them as successful entrepreneurs and business owners. And if there’s one thing I want the world to know it’s that there is currently a huge wage gap, education gap, and health gap within underrepresented minority communities. We need more black college professors that are going to have the support they need to strive and teach through their lens. We need more black businesses to strive. We need to see more black people and women in the fields of tech and design. With that said, support small black businesses, support black artists, and hire black artists, graphic designers, illustrators, soap makers, etc. Share knowledge. We are not one another’s competition. Lastly, be open-minded to learning more about the privileges and positions of power you have and how you can use those to make the world a better, more equitable place.

Any places to eat or things to do that you can share with our readers? If they have a friend visiting town, what are some spots they could take them to?
Ooouuuu this is a great question! So Monday we would have to hang out at my Art and Chill events that happen every 2nd or 3rd Monday at the Detroit Shipping Company. If they’re visiting on a day that my event is not happening, we’ll have to check out the Monday open mic sessions hosted by Free Body Entertainment. Tuesday I’ll have to take them to the DIA and then Baobab Fare for dinner. Wednesday we’ll go check out The Belt and the latest exhibit at the Playground Detroit Gallery space. Thursday we’ll have to hang out at Detroit Axe in Corktown. Friday we’ll be hitting up the Comfort Zone Bar and Grill for their dope happy hour and karaoke night! Friday we’ll check out the newest exhibit at the Irwin House Gallery and then definitely hit up Spotlite for good drinks, vibes, and music. Saturday we’ll start with breakfast and infused smoothies at the Michigan Squeeze Station and then visit Nikki’s to get our dance on. Sunday we’ll have brunch with Sensei at the Telegraph Road BBQ and Smokehouse and then go for a nice stroll along the Detroit Riverwalk.

Who else deserves some credit and recognition?
I’d definitely love to shout out my family! They were the first people that taught me what being a hard worker looks like. They also taught me to give back to my community and be kind to others because you never know what someone else is going through. Those lessons are tremendous for me and remain to be a founding principle in my business. Being an artist all my life, my family never told me that I needed to go to school to be a doctor or anything. They believed in me and to this day are always supporting me and sending me new ideas I could potentially incorporate into my business. Mom, Dad, Gyona, Zo, Val, Tonya, Nana, Granddad – I love you all and I am so grateful for everything you’ve done for me. You all have contributed to making me into the ambitious, amazing woman that I am today.

I’d also love to thank Cynthia Snodgrass, Sheila Brown, and Sue Zwayer for being amazing mentors for me throughout college and after. My mentor, Cynthia Snodgrass, published a book, Get Boss, that I recommend for all women that are at the beginning of their journey to start a business, go to college, or even get a start a new position getting paid more money. Very inspiring book. I’d also like to give a shout-out to TRIO, McNair Scholars, and the Office of Multicultural Affairs. These are programs that gave funding, tutoring, and mentorship to students that come from low-income or underrepresented backgrounds. Sadly, these programs are the first to get funding cuts but they were a tremendous help in helping me get through college as a first-generation student.

Website: https://janier.co/

Instagram: http://instagram.com/janierco

Twitter: https://twitter.com/janierco

Facebook: https://facebook.com/janierco

Youtube: https://www.youtube.com/channel/UCK3_5FLIZtx2AKw20X88p_A

Image Credits
For image in blue dress- credit: DJ Poundcake