Your Newest Instagram Obsession: Cartoons Coming to Life IRL

In our series Selfmade U, we’ll tackle the most common questions and pain points that come up for business owners with tips and tricks from Selfmade, a virtual business coaching program, founded by Brit + Co founder Brit Morin and sponsored by Office Depot OfficeMax. We’ll hear from Selfmade members and business coaches on what it takes to run a successful business and make it as an entrepreneur.

Entrepreneurship can be demanding, challenging, unpredictable, and deeply satisfying. The wins, big and small, help you rise above the challenges and there are so many perks to being your own boss (set your own schedule, do creative work you love, work from wherever, to name a few). But sometimes you can find yourself stuck on a problem – with nowhere to turn.

“I didn’t really feel like I had a community around me here in Maryland. We moved after the pandemic to be closer to my husband’s family,” says Lucia Diaz, a first-generation Colombian-American and the founder of LUCIA DIAZ, a Latina-owned business dedicated to empowering and honoring Latinas through illustration. “My artworks are a reflection of my commitment to provide cultural representation and instill pride in mujeres poderosas.” That is, powerful women like her.

Lucia turned to Selfmade, receiving an Office Depot OfficeMax scholarship to the program, to help her connect with business mentors and other female founders. “Being the first one in my family to build a business of this magnitude, it's really comforting to have mentors, especially of color or who come from first-generation immigrant families,” says Lucia. “The Selfmade Community is just an outpouring of love and just lots of great women who understand what you're going through and help put you in the right direction with the right resources.”

Lucia has had a banner year, her third in business. She has partnered with major fashion and beauty brands, like Tiffany & Co., Chanel, and Estee Lauder, and has curated a show of 100 LatinX artists at the The Oculus Center in NYC for Hispanic Heritage Month. We caught up with Lucia before she was heading out to NYC to speak at the United Nations Science Summit about the digital art exhibit.

Here’s Lucia’s day in the life!

6AM I start my day early, doing a lot of journaling, meditation, giving my cats some love and attention. My Selfmade mentor was like, “You can't just get up and go and just read emails. You have to do something for yourself first!” I've noticed that once I do my morning routine and just really focus on myself first, I tend to have a much better day.

7AM I head to the gym and listen to one of my favorite audiobooks, “I Will Teach You to Be Rich" by Ramit Sethi or "Wealth Warrior" by Linda Garcia, running at my own pace (AKA not super fast!). This is something that I established this year. I feel like I'm much happier now and I feel so grounded and connected to self.

9AM I record two The Art of Representation podcast interviews. Today's interviews were withAlyssa Reynoso-Morris, an Afro-Latina author, and Vero M. Estrada, a life coach. I use Zencastr to record the episode and then I'll use Canva to automate my podcast bookings. To collect guest information, I'll use Google Forms, which will help me create the blog post for fearlessyaya.com. Finally, I'll prepare the podcast links and content for social media. To save time, I'll also schedule social media reels in advance.

12PM I enjoy a lunch of my mom’s amazing beef and potato empanadas. Whenever I visit her, she'll always pack me some empanadas even though I tell her to rest now that she’s retired.:) I am from Colombia and I always feel connected to home through food.

1PM I answer emails and work on my United Nations speech for next week. I'm researching every panelist and just really digging through their history, so I can ask them specific questions.

I'm super honored that my friend Sandy Martinez selected me to be the first moderator. I remember being a little girl presenting a book report and being so nervous. Now I'm presenting to the UN and it's crazy. It's a dream. When I told my dad he teared up and my mom was bawling. She's like, “How is it that we migrated to this country and now you get to speak to delegates from not only all over the world but delegates also from Colombia.” So it's really powerful.

The main thing that I will touch on is the work that I've been doing with an orphanage in Colombia called CASA HOGAR NAZARETH. For the last seven years, I've been able to donate proceeds. Last year, I was able to donate a whole collection’s worth of proceeds to the orphanage because I had a really great year. My grandfather, Manuel, was an orphan. He raised 12 children, was a rural farmer, and became a leader in his community and made sure to take care of others. That's what he instilled in me. If there's enough for me, there's enough for everybody. We can make it work.

3PM I Zoom with some of the artists to help them upload their artwork for the exhibit. I want to make sure they can all participate. They are artists from all over Latin America, from the Caribbean, from Venezuela and Colombia, Mexico, Peru, and some don’t speak English. I want to make sure they have their chance to show in NYC, many for the first time.

4PM I edit my podcast episodes using Final Cut Pro. I have a passion for video editing. I also create eye-catching thumbnails for YouTube and social media using Adobe Photoshop. My workflow involves scheduling episodes two months in advance, which I attribute to my detail-oriented nature – perhaps it's my inner Virgo shining through!;)

6PM I have dinner with my husband. He is the one who encouraged me to take the leap and start my business. He’s been so supportive.

7PM After dinner, we like to walk by the creek. It’s something my mom and dad used to do. In Colombia, there are a lot of waterfalls and little lakes and places that you would go and reconnect with nature.

8PM I work on my artwork. Fridays are my days for my own art, where I illustrate and I draw for myself. I don't have an agenda. Sometimes it is personal illustrations. Other times it's illustrations of incredible women in the Latin community. I don't take meetings on Fridays. I'm not posting anything on Instagram. I'm not answering any phone calls or emails. I literally hide my phone in my safe and I asked my husband to change the code [laughs].

Lucia also started a stationery business and uses her printers from Office Depot to support her print business. “Aside from my services, I develop greeting cards and stationery and work on showing how through stationery we celebrate the holidays and milestones in our Latinx community.”

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Illustrated by Daniela Jordan-Villaveces

We recently partnered with Bounty to support emerging artists and designers in a national design competition. The ask? Design a graphic for a new Brit + Co and Bounty paper towel collection themed A Clean Fresh Start, which launches this month. In this creator spotlight series, we are featuring the winners of that competition to learn more about their inspirations, their design process, and their winning Bounty design. Read on to meet…

Jill Reynolds | Jill OREY Design | @jilloreydesign | Saint Paul, Minnesota

Tell us your design process? I like to play and experiment a lot. I don’t have a hard structure to my work and instead I prefer to let ideas flow and come about with experimentation. I love to use different objects to paint with and create imperfect textures and marks that I’ll piece together. I work with traditional mediums as well as Adobe programs and Procreate. Color is really important to me and I love an unexpected combination.

How did you get into illustration? My career goal when I was 10 was to travel the world to find inspiration for the books I would write and illustrate so from a young age, I knew instinctively that I wanted to create. I’ve always followed what I’m good at and what I enjoy and that has created a career path that has eventually brought me to becoming a full time surface pattern designer. I still strive to illustrate my own series of children’s picture books.

What are three IG accounts you love?

Fantastic Fungi They forage all these amazing mushrooms and discuss the texture and color and other magical properties. With some ASMR thrown in, it’s addictive!

Lucy Tiffany She paints from her imagination on large-scale using beautiful color palettes and bold strokes. I like designers who take risks, create from the heart, and aren’t following trends.

Domino Magazine There are lots of amazing interior accounts out there and Domino has been one of my favorites for aspirational and real-life living spaces.

How do you know when a piece of art, like your winning Bounty Paper Towel design below, is “finished”? I just know. I can’t really put my finger on it but there’s a certain level of balance and being slightly ‘off’ that I find satisfies me.

What will it be like for you to see your design on a Bounty paper towel at your local store? To see my designs in my local store will be such a thrill! I imagine it’s like when a musician hears their music on the radio. A lot of work and moving parts goes into the final product and it’s starts with an idea and some imagination. It’s a huge reward as a creative to see my thoughts become a real tangible product that people can use. I always hope my work at the least spreads some joy and I think we have done that with these new prints!

Be sure to look out for Jill’s winning design wherever Bounty Paper Towels are sold!

As much as we love talking about Taylor Swift and Travis Kelce...Jason Kelce and his wife Kylie Kelce deserve their time in the spotlight too! They have a loving and hilarious dynamic that's somehow made room for not one, but three kids. And guess what? They recently welcome baby number 4! From their very funny announcement to everything they've said since, there's a lot of fun to unpack here.

Here's everything to know about Jason Kelce & Kylie Kelce's exciting pregnancy!

When did Jason and Kylie announce she's pregnant?

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Kylie Kelce shared the huge news on Instagram November 22nd! Of course grandma Donna Kelce was the first to leave a comment. She wrote, "🔥🔥🔥🔥😍😍😍 Love it!!!" Brittany Mahomes also commented by writing, "Ahhhhhh Congrats you guys!!!🥹🤍."

How did Jason and Kylie's other daughters react?

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In Kylie's same Instagram post, her and Jason's daughters can be seen expressing a range of emotions. There's an 'Eek' expression from their oldest daughter Wyatt, a happy look from their middle daughter Elliott, and pure tears from baby girl Bennett. Kylie wrote, "I feel like we captured a very accurate representation of how each of the girls feel about getting another sister. At least Ellie, mom and dad are on the same page! 🤷♀️"

How did Jason and Kylie prepare to be a family of six?

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Jason Kelce took the news of being an official girl dad like a champ. He told E! Newshe's "got it pretty easy" because "the clothes are all going to be hand-me-downs or already bought." Not only that, but they'd already secured a baby crib prior to their newborn's birth.

“I love my kids so much, and especially my daughters,” he added. "I was telling somebody out there because they're expecting their first — and they look at you. They smile at you. There's just a way that kids have to warm your soul in a way that nothing else can.”

He also shared his excitement about watching his daughters grow up with a new sibling. "And hopefully we'll welcome a fourth into this world, and we'll be able to watch them fight and tear each other apart and all the good stuff."

He even appeared on The Rich Eisen Show where he joked, "I'm screwed [in] like in 10 years. The moment they’re all in middle school, I feel like it’s just gonna be chaos." He also hopes Wyatt "can start helping out a little bit more." But, he's still looking forward to it! "I obviously have not had a son, but there is something about a daughter in the way I think as a dad, you feel an extra amount probably of protection and love toward that child," he shared.

Follow us on Facebook for more updated about this cute family!

This post has been updated.