The Menkiti Group has been a part of Shulisa Collins’ career path since her college days, and it has been amazing to watch her growth from her internship to design and marketing manager for the MGR sales team. She made the move from LA to DC to pursue an undergraduate degree at Howard University where she received her Bachelor’s in fine arts. That cross-country move has led her to wonderful opportunities like the ones she has experienced with The Menkiti Group that have aided her in her “creative journey”.
Making the move to Washington, DC
When Shulisa began her undergraduate degree at Howard after moving across the country from LA, she began an internship at the Howard University Medical Private Practice Unit. As a design intern, she created advertisements for the sides of trains and billboards and through this creative process, she fell in love with the design side of the corporate world and knew a full-time career in design was in her future. During her internship at Howard Medical Center, her boss took notice of her exceptional work, and in honor of her hard work and creativity, they presented her with a beautiful mockup of a billboard design that she had created during her time there. This billboard mockup would be part of her internship interview with The Menkiti Group just a few months later. Shulisa’s creative spark and impressive portfolio are what ultimately landed her an internship at The Menkiti Group, which laid the framework for her future career with the sales team.
When Shulisa began her undergraduate degree at Howard after moving across the country from LA, she began an internship at the Howard University Medical Private Practice Unit. As a design intern, she created advertisements for the sides of trains and billboards and through this creative process, she fell in love with the design side of the corporate world and knew a full-time career in design was in her future. During her internship at Howard Medical Center, her boss took notice of her exceptional work, and in honor of her hard work and creativity, they presented her with a beautiful mockup of a billboard design that she had created during her time there. This billboard mockup would be part of her internship interview with The Menkiti Group just a few months later. Shulisa’s creative spark and impressive portfolio are what ultimately landed her an internship at The Menkiti Group, which laid the framework for her future career with the sales team.
Learning and launching From MG
Shulisa’s internship at The Menkiti Group gave her the opportunity to work on a variety of creative projects from designing signage and flyers for listings to crafting social media posts and collateral for different business units across the enterprise. As an extension of the marketing team, Shulisa had the opportunity to work with different people across the enterprise and to hone her skills in multiple areas. She attributes her professional performance and budding creative career to The Menkiti Group, but before she became a full-time employee she wanted to experience other types of design and thus sought out additional opportunities before returning to the enterprise in a full-time capacity.
New adventures in the creative world
After her time at The Menkiti Group Shulisa went to work for a bakery and café in Herndon called “Amphora Bakery” where she was able to spread her design wings and created all of their internal and external design materials. While continuing to grow her design skills, she also learned some of the basics about communications from her Marketing Manager at the bakery. Not only did her manager at the bakery give her opportunities that enabled her to learn a lot about graphic design, but an invaluable lesson she learned while there was how to communicate with her co-workers and bosses.
A skill she picked up in this role was how to communicate effectively and with compassion, always self-reflecting to ensure clarity is obtained every step of the way. She learned that it’s important not only to speak clearly, but to do so in a way that makes others want to listen and to fully understand you. This lesson would help her in her transition back to The Menkiti Group when she was done with the bakery nearly three years later. While she loved her role at Amphora Bakery, Shulisa missed her MG family and creative work at The Menkiti Group and applied to be a graphic designer on the team. With her new skills in tow, she joined the enterprise again and has been with them ever since!
Transitioning home to The Menkiti Group
As part of her interview for the role of graphic designer, Shulisa was given a design project to complete in an hour. As an avid lover of design and someone who works well under pressure, she knocked it out of the park and proved that she was a force to be reckoned with, earning her a full-time position with the enterprise. Shulisa was overjoyed to return to the MG family and describes her daily job as one that isn’t just about going to work but gives her the opportunity to pursue her passion for design. She considers The Menkiti Group a special company because the leaders at MG “don’t want to only see you succeed in their company but truly want you to succeed in every aspect of your life, whether that be professionally or personally”. Shulisa is currently succeeding personally and professionally by completing her Master’s degree while also working full-time. After completing her studies, she is excited to connect with other creators in the area and to continue to grow in her creative journey.
