Today we’d like to introduce you to Jennifer Lleras.
Jennifer, we appreciate you taking the time to share your story with us today. Where does your story begin?
I grew up in Baltimore County, beginning in Catonsville and later moving to northern Baltimore County where I finished high school with the National Art Honor Society’s Award for Artistic Excellence and graduated with special honors. Art was always the foundation of who I was, and it led me straight to Towson University. I lived in Charles Village in downtown Baltimore during college, studying sculpture under Professor Al Zaruba before shifting my focus to graphic design. I wanted a more technical path in the arts, even when teachers and advisors warned me that my diverse style would keep me from finding a career locally.
I proved them wrong. My first major role was with Diamond Select Toys where I designed toys and toy packaging for licenses like Star Wars and Marvel. I even had the chance to work on local favorites, including Duff from Ace of Cakes, creating his Minimate action figure and packaging. In 2009, after a company layoff, I accepted a contract with the Baltimore Ravens as a graphic designer. I spent a little over a year with the Ravens before moving on to several corporate design roles within large Baltimore-based companies.
After five years in the corporate world, it became clear that I needed to build something of my own. I freelanced for several years before officially launching Hampstead Marketing and Design in 2019. Today, as a wife and mother of two, I dedicate my professional life to helping small businesses across Maryland with marketing, branding, and website design.
My work, however, extends far beyond business. Philanthropy and community development have become the heart of everything I do. I founded my town’s community garden, which now serves as a hub for local families and volunteers. I also created a series of Youth Entrepreneur Expos that highlight the talents of young artisans and business owners under the age of 17, giving them a platform to showcase their creativity and build confidence.
Although I occasionally accept fine art projects, including a PBS special where I painted and sculpted live for three hours before the piece was auctioned off, most of my artistic work is created for myself. My deepest fulfillment now comes from giving back. This includes my unexpectedly large online audience. More than one million people follow my TikTok account where I raise awareness about corporate retail waste through ethical dumpster diving. Everything I recover is donated to local shelters, community organizations, and people in need, ensuring these goods end up where they should have been all along.
At my core, I am an artist and a philanthropist. Baltimore shaped me, inspired me, and continues to fuel the work I do today.
I’m sure it wasn’t obstacle-free, but would you say the journey has been fairly smooth so far?
The road has never been smooth, but every challenge shaped the artist and business owner I am today. Early on, I was told repeatedly that my artistic style was too diverse and that I would struggle to find a career in Baltimore. Hearing that as a young art student was discouraging, and it planted a lot of doubt. But it also pushed me to prove that creativity has value, even when it doesn’t fit into a box.
Losing my dream job in 2009 during a major layoff was another turning point. I had finally found my footing designing toys for huge licenses like Star Wars and Marvel, and suddenly I had to start over. The uncertainty that followed was overwhelming, but it led me to opportunities I never expected, including my contract with the Baltimore Ravens.
The corporate years were also difficult. As a creative person, corporate culture can feel confining. I often felt like I had to shrink myself to fit within someone else’s structure, and that tension eventually made it clear that I needed to build my own path. Starting a business while raising a young family came with its own set of challenges, but it also reaffirmed my belief that meaningful work and motherhood can coexist.
Even today, balancing a marketing agency, community projects, philanthropy, and a social media platform with over a million followers can feel overwhelming. Dumpster diving to prevent retail waste, managing donations, and showing the reality of corporate waste isn’t always easy or glamorous. There is emotional labor involved when you’re constantly advocating for positive change.
But every setback opened a new door and every struggle reinforced why I do what I do. The challenges weren’t roadblocks. They were part of the story that made me more resilient, more resourceful, and more committed to using my creativity for something that impacts my community in a real way.
Thanks for sharing that. So, maybe next you can tell us a bit more about your work?
My work has always lived at the intersection of fine art, found objects, and storytelling. At my core, I’m an assemblage artist. I’m drawn to materials that most people overlook or throw away. Bones, feathers, antlers, old dolls, broken toys, scraps of metal, forgotten household items, and pieces of nature are often the foundation of my work. I’ve always believed that discarded objects hold energy and history. When you bring them together in a new way, they take on a second life and tell a completely different story.
In addition to assemblage, I create mixed media paintings that are also sculptural. I use a blend of traditional paint and hot wax, which forces me to work with a heated surface. The wax has to stay molten on a hot plate while I paint, so every piece becomes a race against time and temperature. The result is dimensional, textured work that feels alive, almost as if the paint itself is shifting and breathing as it cools. It’s a process that requires patience, intuition, and a willingness to let the materials guide the final outcome.
What sets my work apart is the way I merge the natural and the discarded, the delicate and the broken. I see beauty in the overlooked. I see potential in objects that have lost their purpose. Whether I’m sculpting with bones and found materials or painting with hot wax, the through-line is transformation. I take what has been forgotten and turn it into something that demands attention.
I’m most proud of the pieces that make people stop and question where beauty comes from. My art isn’t polished or predictable. It feels raw, honest, and rooted in the idea that nothing is truly waste when viewed through a creative lens. That philosophy has carried into my philanthropic work as well, particularly my efforts to rescue retail waste and redirect it to people in need.
At the end of the day, my work is about giving new life to the discarded, whether through art or through community impact. That is what defines me as an artist and what continues to inspire everything I create.
Networking and finding a mentor can have such a positive impact on one’s life and career. Any advice?
My biggest advice is to look where you already love to be. Your people are usually standing right beside you in the places that inspire you. Whether it’s a creative space, a community project, a volunteer group, or an online niche you’re passionate about, the most meaningful connections happen when you show up authentically in the environments that energize you.
I’ve never been someone who networks in a traditional way. The mentors and collaborators who shaped my work came from shared interests, shared values, and shared goals. When you’re doing something you genuinely care about, the conversations are natural and the relationships grow without feeling forced.
So instead of chasing the idea of networking, follow what you love. Immerse yourself in the work, the causes, and the communities that light you up. The right people will meet you there.
Contact Info:
- Website: https://www.hampsteadmarketinganddesign.com/
- Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/HMandD/
- LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/jennifer-lleras/
- Twitter: https://x.com/AndHampstead
- Other: https://www.tiktok.com/@eldestmillenial
