On August 18, 2016, while on my way to work to Walmart Home Office, the whispers I kept hearing from God became a loud roar. That day, I chose to accept my calling and listen to God's voice. Four weeks later, on Sept. 16, after working 16 years with a company I loved and believed in the mission of helping people save money so that they could live better, I chose to take the leap and walk in faith with my Lord. At the time I really didn’t know what true mission he had for me until now. He wanted me to use the gifts he placed in me which is art and helping people see their potential.
I am the CEO/Founder of MY-T-BY-DESIGN “Imperfectly Painting With Purpose”, a creative arts service where our mission is to help restore families and individual lives through the gift God placed in me and that's through the creativity of art.
MY-T-BY-DESIGN is a metaphor from the scripture "I CAN DO ALL THINGS THROUGH CHRIST WHO STRENGTHENS ME." (PHILIPPIANS 4:13) meaning that we can do all things in life just as long as we start believing in ourselves.
Launched in 2017, our company began as a mobile service. Within a year, we have been blessed to open our first MY-T-BY-DESIGN Therapeutic Art Studio!
At MY-T-BY-DESIGN, our events are unique that #1 We have a studio and We’re Mobile! #2 We customize our workshops based on your needs. #3 We combine technology, conversation, leadership/personal development training, painting and much more!
With 16+yrs. of retail experience previously at Walmart Stores and Fred’s Dollar Store, I've been given the opportunity to infuse skill sets gained from Training & Development, HR, Operations, Customer Service, and Team Leadership into my longtime passion of art and creativity.
Has the process been easy? No. Is this journey worth it? YES! I am excited and grateful of the journey I am on.
Today, we serve daycares, senior assisted living facilities, Alzheimer’s and Dementia patients, church youth ministries, small and corporate businesses, juvenile detention centers, and the Benton County Probation Office. We also host Sip-N-Paint events free to families in the community who cannot afford the cost, where we collaborate with small businesses, every 1st Friday of each month. This is our way of giving back and allowing people to express themselves and heal through their art on the canvas. Through the grace of God, I currently attend John Brown University. My goal is to become a licensed Family and Marriage Counseling in order to grow my ministry/business even further by impacting lives through art therapy. At MY-T-BY-DESIGN Therapeutic Studio our facility is designed for families to leave feeling even better than when they first came. It’s our intention to allow you the opportunity to "release and heal into the canvas" to spark the process for you to SEE YOUR VALUE and KNOW YOUR WORTH.
By me being obedient to His word, right now God is placing me in front of people in the community from all different walks of life. I have met so many people in our community who are hurting right now. By allowing them a moment in time to escape from daily pressures or worries, MY-T-BY-DESIGN "Imperfectly Painting With Purpose" allows them an opportunity to see their potential, know their worth, and walk away with a smile through expression on the canvas. When people participate in either my Sip-N-Paint event or Conversate-N-Paint workshop, they discover this is not like any other.
There's magic that happens in those moments that I cannot explain and the greatness that comes out on the canvas from some people who have never touched a brush before is phenomenal. In our program, people paint from the heart and stories are birthed from it. However, the stories don't just stay there, participants are now able to go out into their community and allow their story to become light for someone else in need.
Overall, I am thankful for this opportunity because I know that each day given to me has been manna from above. I will continue to not only go, but GROW in my purpose that I have been called to do. As God continues to lift me, I will continue to lift those around me.
With Love,
LaKisha Bradley, Founder/Owner