Engineer Profile

Melissa Mitchell is an abstract artist, textile designer, and supreme entrepreneur. Her whirlwind journey from “accidental” artist to global brand in just 5 years is wild. But what really makes her story compelling is the prominent role that God and manifestation plays in her success.

THE JOURNEY

There is something about Melissa Mitchell that is hypnotizing. If you’ve never heard her speak, you need to. She vibrates on a whole other level. Bold, fearless, pure boss energy. Like a divine hustler.

2014

But let’s rewind it back. It’s February 2014. During the big Atlanta snowstorm. She’s stuck inside and restless. And she hears God tell her to paint. So she does. Melissa doodles on some wood and colors it in. She posts her creation on Instagram, someone offers to buy it, and viola, an artist is born. 

While someone else might have chalked it up to a fluke and never thought about art again, Melissa took immediate action. She created a website the same night of her first sale. And within the first week, she had sold over 20 pieces. Just an incredible level of hustle! Melissa dove into the art world like she belonged there. Within a month, her art was all over the country. And just a couple months later, she was showcasing her fledgling work at art shows and networking with the most prominent artists in Atlanta.

2015

In 2015, Melissa boldly seized the opportunity to make her first mural. She trusted in her talent and moved with blind faith. Like everything she touched, that mural became a hit. Successfully creating art of that magnitude opened many other doors for her. Melissa has gone on to create over 40 murals in bars, schools, churches, and even a MARTA station.

2016

But it was 2016 that became Melissa’s most transformational year. That was when she transformed from painter to textile designer. The year she created wearable art. The idea emerged from her need to continue conditioning her natural hair as she went out in public. Since she regularly needed to cover her hair, Melissa decided to design her own headwraps. Her debut collection in October of one hundred headwraps sold out in an hour at her college homecoming. She soon expanded to designing socks, bowties, and pocket squares. By the end of the year, she had sold one thousand headwraps and sold out of all her wearable art.

2017

In 2017, Melissa’s decision to create wearable art paid off substantially. A popular actress that Melissa had gifted a headwrap to months earlier gave Melissa a shoutout on Instagram in February. The publicity made Melissa’s inventory sell out in 30 minutes.  In July, that same actress appeared on the cover of Vogue and named Melissa’s headwrap as one of her favorite things. The article made other celebrities take notice of her. Then in August, ESSENCE called Melissa and chose her to be the featured artist in the ESSENCE + Ford “My City, 4 Ways” event. This included huge perks, such as making a commercial for Ford and getting her own page in ESSENCE magazine. It was definitely the year of momentum.

2018

And in 2018, Melissa landed a deal with billion dollar brand Spanx that would catapult her success to incredible heights. As the winner of Spanx’s Illuminate-Her contest, Melissa’s art would be on Spanx bras all over the world. The exposure from Spanx would also make her brand go global and cause a 1000% increase in demand for Abeille head wraps and her other wearable art. How fortuitous that just as she needed to ramp up production and drive her art from coast to coast, she won a fully loaded Ford Explorer in another contest. 

CURRENT PATH

So that’s Melissa’s extraordinary breakneck journey from accidental artist to global brand in less than 5 years. She credits her success to being a master manifestor and highly favored from God. Given the book I just wrote about her and how much I had to leave out for brevity sake, I’d say Melissa is quite the walking testimony.

In February 2021, exactly 7 years after first picking up the paintbrush, she finally made the leap and quit her day job.  It is the middle of 2022 as I write this and she has not slowed down. Her most recent win is a big partnership with Footlocker for a multi-piece apparel collection, which includes leggings, jackets, joggers, and hats. Melissa Mitchell’s results from following her purpose and grinding day after day are truly an inspiration.