Today we’d like to introduce you to Keimaya Downey.
Hi Keimaya, thanks for sharing your story with us. To start, maybe you can tell our readers some of your backstory.
Hi! My name is Keimaya! I’m a marketing professional, writer, and curator from Birmingham, Alabama. I grew up as a shy and reserved, but highly creative child and vividly remember wanting to be a fashion designer, actress, and chef when I grew up. My mom was really big on me and my siblings prioritizing our individuality, curating our own taste, and not getting too heavily sucked into trends, so my upbringing involved a lot of self-expression and marching to the beat of my own drum. Part of that involved me having a bit of a smart mouth and often getting in trouble for talking back. This eventually led to me using notebooks and diaries as a safe haven for all my thoughts, comebacks, questions, song lyrics, poems, short stories, and more. Writing became a place for me to be honest, unfiltered, and make sense of myself and the world around me, but I didn’t know it could serve as something bigger than me until years later.
My parents were very much the type of parents that made it known that college wasn’t optional. I remember getting towards the end of high school questioning what I wanted my path to look like. I wanted to start my own clothing line/clothing store and go to esthetician school (as a teen with horrible acne, I became incredibly interested in wellness and holistic skincare), but I felt the pressures to follow a more “traditional” and “secure” path and attended college in Georgia. I was strongly advised to pursue a degree that would make me lots of money post-grad, so I enrolled as an Accounting major. Although I did well in my accounting courses, something in me knew I wouldn’t be happy or fulfilled as an accountant. I want to say around my sophmore year I changed my degree to Marketing with an emphasis in Fashion Merchandising and a minor in Business Analytics. My new goal was to become a Buyer and maybe even work in Product Development. The summer of 2019 I had the honor of interning in corporate retail . It didn’t take me long in my internship to realize, “omg, I hate this.” I would write myself emails throughout the day about the 9-5 woes, how I despised being at a desk all day, and how I desired more. I got through the internship and took an offer to work there full-time post graduation. I was set to graduate in December of 2019 and was set to move to a new state and start my big girl job in February 2020. Throughout my time in college I was part of a poetry organization and took part in different open mics on campus. I was still writing a ton and kept a private blog and zine collection that I only shared with close friends. They all urged me to share my writing more publicly, but I often brushed them off and felt safer keeping my words close to my chest.
I made my move and started my new job. I was certain that I had made it! But it wasn’t long until that same misery and drain I experienced during my internship found me. I would often spend my lunch breaks crying in my car wondering how I had done everything “right” and still ended up feeling so low. Even though I was obviously unhappy, I was terrified to quit my job at the time. I didn’t have anything else lined up and couldn’t afford to pay back the relocation funds the job had provided. March 2020 arrived and there were talks of a global pandemic. My job became remote for the time being and eventually the company furloughed a good bit of us. As much as I was devastated, I was also relieved. I was able to get out of the job without having to pay them anything back.
During 2020 I felt so lost and confused. It was difficult finding new work and I eventually decided that I would use the time to tend to myself and do a little soul searching. I focused heavily on working out, doing my best to eat well, and I decided I would finally give my writing a public place to live; I started working on my poetry and prose book, Blooming Hurts.
Towards the end of 2020, I decided to move back to Birmingham to be closer to my friends, family, and loved ones. I had spent a good bit of 202o in an isolatory state in a city where I barely knew anyone, I needed my people! I initially resisted returning home, but in retrospect it was what I needed. I eventually found myself immersed in the growing arts and creative scene in Birmingham. I started attending and performing at various open mics throughout the city and connecting with other writers and creatives. In May of 2022, I self-published my poetry and prose book, Blooming Hurts, that follows my healing and self discovery journey from 2018-2022. I wanted to release a body of work that showcases that blooming and becoming isn’t always rainbows and sunshine, that sometimes it can be painful, difficult, and uncomfortable. It was incredibly well received, and seeing so many people support my work made me realize that I had something to offer in my writing and that my voice is needed.
Fast forward to today, I work as a freelance marketer, curate events, host and faciliate writing sessions and workshops in the city, and serve as a writing teaching artist for local high school students. I’m in a place of giving myself permission to actively choose my creativity and see where that takes me.
Can you talk to us a bit about the challenges and lessons you’ve learned along the way. Looking back would you say it’s been easy or smooth in retrospect?
It hasn’t been a smooth road by far! I would say one of the biggest struggles has been existing in a state of survival mode. My family wasn’t necessarily well off growing up, so I’ve always felt a sense of financial pressure from a young age. I was always terrified of becoming the stereotypical “starving artist,” so I often worked and pushed myself to the point of extreme burnout and stress. Which isn’t healthy or sustainable at all. I think other struggles have mostly been internal. Learning how to trust myself, my voice, my path, and my timing. I’ve spent a lot of time questioning whether I was doing enough, whether I was where I was “supposed” to be, and whether the things I wanted were actually possible for me. There’s a particular kind of discomfort that comes with knowing you have a lot of potential while still trying to figure out how to turn that potential into an actual life.
Appreciate you sharing that. What else should we know about what you do?
I currently work as a Marketing Manager at an arts-based nonprofit. I thoroughly enjoy helping brands and organizations bring their stories and visions to life in ways that feel true to who they are. I’m truly someone who has “marketing brain,” as I always have a mood board in mind, a freestyled jingle for something in my head, or a great idea or concept tucked away in my notes app. Outside of marketing, I’m known for writing and curation. I write regularly on my personal newsletter, SOULFOOD, and have more and more started helping others with their writing as a facilitator and teacher. I’m most proud of my authenticity and the fact that I’m building a world through my words! I’m constantly showing myself that the world won’t end if I live a life in accordance with my fullness. What sets me apart from others is my sensitivity, depth, and vulnerability. I think my ability to feel deeply and express myself allows so many others to feel seen while also giving them permission to meet that part of themselves, too.
Can you talk to us a bit about the role of luck?
I think luck has played a role in my life, but I’ve come to understand luck as being a combination of timing, opportunity, preparation, and sometimes simply being willing to follow my curiosity, even and especially when I don’t know where it’s going to lead me.
There have definitely been moments where I’ve been in the right place at the right time, met someone who opened a door, or had an opportunity arrive that I couldn’t have orchestrated myself. I will often set an intention, do what I can from where I am, and when the timing is right and aligned, I’m afforded the experience I was seeking, usually in ways that are better than I could’ve imagined.
I think a lot of the things that initially felt like bad luck or setbacks ended up redirecting me. There have been plenty of moments where I wondered why something wasn’t working out, only to realize later that it wasn’t “working out” so that it could work for me. I don’t necessarily believe everything happens for a reason in a way that requires us to romanticize difficult experiences. Sometimes things just suck. But I’ve learned that I have more agency than I sometimes give myself credit for in what happens next.
I don’t think of myself as someone who has been particularly lucky or unlucky. I think I’ve been fortunate enough to receive certain opportunities, and stubborn enough to keep following what feels meaningful to me when the path isn’t always obvious or easy.
Contact Info:
- Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/keimayad/
- Other: https://substack.com/@keimayad
