When most of us were just trying to get by, Domonique Brown was working. In April 2020, the marketing manager by trade started DomoINK, a lifestyle retailer creating art, apparel, and home decor celebrating diversity and empowerment.
At the time, Brown was working two full-time jobsmarketing for both a health insurance firm and commercial real estate firmand saving up to buy her first home with her fiancé in California. Art had been a hobby for Brown, but she thought it might be time to see if it could finally sell.
I didnt have this confidence before, and I didnt feel like there was space for me as a Black artist, she recalls to Fortune. I didnt have a network, and I thought Id have to know somebody.
When she noticed a lack of work by Black artists or art featuring Black subjects in affordable big box retailers like Target and Home Goods, she began posting her original artworkmostly abstract, colorful portraits made with markers and acrylic paintfor sale on marketplaces like Etsy and across social media. I was trying to find art that looked like me, and there wasnt much of a variety, she says.
While she expected minimal tractionnail and hair money, as she puts itsales began to multiply. Between 2020 and 2021, DomoINKs revenue grew by 300%. To date, the brand has earned over $500,000, per documents reviewed by Fortune. This year, her products ended up in the aisles of Target stores across the country, as part of a Black History Month collaboration.
With products like screen-printed duvet sets and custom wall art set in bamboo frames, its clear Brown made a dent in her mission of bringing more Black art to shelves. The collection encapsulates the growth shes made over the yearsand solidified for her that DomoINK is here to stay.
Hitting her Target
Browns art was originally intended for her new home. She blogged about decorating her walls with her own original pieces, posting it social media. Thats where she says she found an audience who wanted her art in their homes, too. Coupled with her Etsy sales, she says, the brand really started to take off. I didnt have a structure to what I was doing; it was really just a passion project.
A few weeks in, she quit her commercial real estate job. That summer began the first of her licensing deals with websites like Society6, through which real cash began to accumulatea couple thousand of dollars a month, she says. It was a turning point for Brown. Thats what made me understand it was marketable, she says, explaining that it inspired her to look at what other artists were doing and put herself in a more competitive realm.
And so she set out to address the Black art retail gap. Following the murders of George Floyd and Breonna Taylor and the subsequent explosion of protest and activism that year, Brown noticed more press for Black artists, bolstering her determination to elevate her work and get on the list of the same five Black artists she kept seeing over and over again. She posted as much art in different ways as she could in order to get that attention, which she credits to eventually receiving brand deals.
Her first brand collab was with Jiggy Puzzles, featuring a bright illustration of Nike sneakers floating against a California landscape. After that, other retailers came calling, including Target. I was a cashier [at Target] when I was 18, she laughs. I wasnt the best employee or the stand-out person. To have my own collection there is crazy. The call came on the ten-year anniversary of me working there.
Gradually, Brown has increased her works prices. Today, prices for original paintings (mostly portraiture) range from $750 up to $8,000. Each piece sells at twice her profit marginshigh enough to ensure she wont take a loss if someone returns an order and to demonstrate her value over a cheaper option, she says.
But such success didnt come without a side of burnout. As a one-woman team, Brown was also using her marketing background to do her own content creation for DomoINK. She says she spent six or seven hours a day conceptualizing new ideas and making mood boards early on, on top of her full-time jobs.
Last year, she finally took a step back after feeling she was killing herself by trying to stay competitive. Today, Brown estimates that she works about three hours a day on DomoINKno more, no less.
Setting limits on productivity: You cant create when youre under stress
Its a possibility that maybe, five or 10 years down the line, Brown will take DomoINK full time. But, for now, the 9-to-5 life is how she likes it. She wants the freedom to travel and save for retirement, and she doesnt hate her day job. And, as a homeowner in California in todays hot economy, she feels the need to do both.
I had no money during college, and that traumatized me to the point where Im terrified to go full-time, she says of DomoINK. Im in this money-sucking phase where Im just trying to save as much as possible. I want to pay off my house, invest in property, and do so many different things.
Aside from pure economics, Its not good to be stuck in a hustle culture for the long run, she says. You cant create when youre under stress.
The hallmark of Browns side hustledoing it entirely herselfalso has its limitation. I love collaborating with brands, but Im trying to build my own brand, make DomoINK more than just a small business, she says. I dont want to rely on brands to boost me, I want to be able to boost myself. She also eventually wants the requisite capital to hire employees and invest in outside marketing, a mentor, or coaching to learn more about the art business.
But she stresses the importance of savings, especially for other creatives. Not every day is going to bring a sale; can you handle a month of no sales? Can you handle just not having money? If you cant, then dont quit your job.
Because she always has had a full-time job, Brown says she can handle those days easilyand shes not slowing down. This year, she wants to create a planning website for other artists and creatives. She often fields questions from hopefuls looking to start their own businessand she wants to share with them what shes learned. Even though Im still trying to figure myself out, she laughs.
You dont need a network or millions of followers to build wealth, she says. She had fewer than 3,000 followers and zero industry contacts when she began posting. I decided to just pitch myself and put myself out there, she recalls. Id tell any other creative that they dont need the glitz and glam to start, just the hard work and determination to build their brand.
