Senior Nick Davis is a digital media major associated with being the Treasurer of the Black Student Organization (BSO), a member of the Alpha Phi Omega and is on the University Council. Davis’ journey has been full of turns and twists, but with his business “A Dream to Obtain”, he is able to get a head start on his future.
“I do want to grow this business called ‘A Dream To Obtain’. Basically a short synopsis of the business is we help people achieve their dreams. We get to know people personally, we do video calls with them and then we allocate resources and connect them to certain people, mentors and try to get them money,” said Davis.
Davis is very passionate about the business he was able to create. With that, he wants to help any and everyone who wants to start their dream.
“First of all, I would like them to submit a form on our ‘Dream To Obtain’ website. You know how I said ‘Dream To Obtain helps people with their dreams?’, on the homepage of the website it says ‘Submit Your Dream’. People can say their name, age, and dream. We get in contact with them and guide them accordingly,” Davis said.
In addition to figuring out how to expand his business, he has decided to make personal goals for when he graduates.
“I want to grow my design skills and my stature to a point where different companies and different people would like to hire me or invite me to make a big change in their company, visually or design wise. I think that is pretty cool. Basically a creative director, if you will,” Davis said.
Throughout his childhood, he was always surrounded by creativity, though early on he didn’t spend much time drawing.
“I never really had the patience to sit down and go through all the little details of drawing. I still liked to sketch and draw little things, sometimes I drew abstract things. Sometimes I like to draw dragons for some reason, stuff like that. Other than that, my dad likes to draw…My cousin likes to draw. In general, a lot of people in my family have creative minds. They created certain things; my aunt created baskets for holidays and stuff. She did different crafts, she made jewelry. All those things played a part in cultivating my creative juices,” Davis said.
Being raised in the creative environment he was a part of, he was able to use his creative juices in his own way.
“I used to customize clothes back in high school. I would tear up clothes bought from thrift stores and bleach dye them. That’s when the creativity started. I had one graphic design class, but I didn’t really like the teacher. I learned some stuff; I learned layout, how to create a poster and other things like that. That’s my preliminary introduction to design,” Davis said.
Davis did begin at Valpo with a major that was not for him, but he was later able to find his true calling and doesn’t regret any of the changes he made.
“I was originally in the College of Engineering,” Davis said. “After a while, I figured out it wasn’t for me. I don’t know what it was or what sparked it, but I went back to design. I tried it and I was like ‘Okay I’m [going to] do this. I’m going to keep doing it.’ I wanted a wider array of stuff because of my creative director aspiration.”
After putting himself on the path he wanted, he wanted to start growing something of his own.
“I got some free software off the internet and then I tried to make a logo. Then somebody wanted me to do a book cover and everything was going well. I seemed like a natural at it. I learn quickly so I looked up videos on how to do things and everything came together pretty easily,” Davis said. “I enjoy doing this, I became passionate. It’s a whole process to do it. Sometimes you don’t get it the first time but then you keep trying and then you have a sense of accomplishment. That’s what led me here and led me to creating a business.”
Through Davis’ decision making and choices, he said that he was always able to rely on Valpo’s support.
“Valpo has supported what I’m doing a lot. Many examples going from people that I meet, to professors, to discretionary funds. Last school year I wanted to make about 200 masks and hand them out to people. I put in a request and Valpo gave me all the money to pursue that. Laura Krepp was my web design teacher, she definitely helped some. She tried to get me in contact with a design industry for an internship. I ended up not being with the industry, I went with a guy who was a designer for many years who had a store that created clothes and stuff,” Davis said.
Davis has experienced a lot of support in his business as well as his college career. Whether it has been people who have purchased items from him or people he has worked with.
“My partner pushed me to do design more and pushed me to the next level. They always told me I was really good and that I have talent,” Davis said.
Davis has some advice for anyone who’s afraid to begin their own business.
“One, make sure you know what you are getting into. Make sure you research at least some and make sure you enjoy it either doing it for free or money. After that, just start. It’s kind of cliche to say ‘just start’ but it’s a real thing. You need to just start doing it,” Davis said. “The preliminary stages of most businesses are going to be trial and error. It’s going to be about learning and seeing what works and what doesn’t, while improving your processes. Everyone’s business is different so when you have that trial and error period, then you can perfect your processes.”
If you would like to keep up-to-date with how Davis’s business is going follow: @dream2obtain on Instagram. If you would like to check out his website, type: www.dream2obtain.com. He designs logos, posters, graphics and clothes. He also edits photos, dabbles in video and does audio editing.
If you would like to nominate someone for an Artist Spotlight in The Torch, please email torch@valpo.edu.
