Today we’d like to introduce you to Blake C. Hollaway.
Hi Blake C., so excited to have you with us today. What can you tell us about your story?
The best stories don’t end when the final word is read, the credits roll, or the telling has concluded. They ripple. They resonate. They illuminate. They reveal.
Because the best stories do more than just entertain or express. They bring communities together, shift perspectives, prompt questions, spark conversations, make people feel seen, and sometimes change the way we understand ourselves, each other, or the world around us.
This has always fascinated me about storytelling. It is what I absolutely love about it, and it has become the heart of everything I do as an artist as well as the foundation of Bholla Entertainment.
I wouldn’t say I became a storyteller so much as I made a career out of telling stories. As far as I know and can remember, I have always been a storyteller. Writing stories is the first creative medium I can remember gravitating toward as a child. Apparently, I had a series of picture books that I wrote and illustrated titled Tom the Cat, in which a grumpy orange tabby went about his daily activities. In middle school and high school, I was known as “the notebook girl” because I always had composition books with me full of stories I had written or was in the middle of writing.
From there, though, my path became much less linear. Honestly, I didn’t set out with a perfectly mapped-out career path, and I’m not sure how effective that would have been for me as a creative if I had. My professional and creative work has moved through several mediums, from performing arts and film to digital media and publishing, with storytelling always being the underlying thread connecting them.
In many ways, becoming a multi-hyphenate creative was a natural byproduct of following my curiosity and intuitive nudges. I gravitated toward the stories that moved me, the ideas and questions I felt compelled to explore, and the mediums that gave those stories the strongest form of expression. Different stories called for different ways of being told, and each new medium required me to develop a different set of skills. Writing led to directing. Directing deepened my understanding of producing. Digital media taught me about audience, connection, and mass communication. Each discipline added another layer to my understanding of storytelling and another tool to the creative process. Over time, those experiences began to compound, giving me more ways to take an idea from possibility and give it form in a way others could experience.
The first big move I made in my career was a literal one back in 2015. I wrote and directed a television pilot that was optioned in Los Angeles, which ultimately led me to make the move west. Over the years, I went on to build an award-winning body of work as a producer, director, and screenwriter while also creating various forms of content for brands, platforms, and creators including Instagram, Freeform, Project Mermaids, and celebrity YouTube creator Marlin Chan.
As my interests continued to evolve, and eventually brought me back to the East Coast, I found myself being pulled more deeply toward writing again.
Currently, writing and publishing are the mediums I feel most called to explore. I am a published author with three books to my name, all of which are available on Amazon and Barnes & Noble. There are two self-improvement and guided journals: The Break Up Journal: A Guide to Get Over Your Ex & Fall Back in Love With Yourself and Progression Through Reflection: A 90 Day Journal for Self Reflection & Goal Tracking. Then, there is my most recent creation, Ellie & Her Super Fabulous Friend Monster, which I both wrote and illustrated. I’m currently working on its sequel, along with two additional children’s books that I am really excited about.
So, in a way, where I am today feels less like a pivot and more like a return to where my roots. Only now, I am bringing all of those years of experience in the various mediums and creative languages back with me.
I suspect I will continue to create and tell stories through various mediums with the starting point being to ask the same three main questions: What story is worth telling? What impact can it have or how can it serve the people who experience it? And what is the best way to tell it?
We all face challenges, but looking back would you describe it as a relatively smooth road?
I’m not sure I’ve ever met an artist, creative, or entrepreneur who would describe their path as a smooth road. Frankly, I’m not convinced a completely smooth road should even be the goal. I think that line of thinking can be a quick descent into madness.
There have been plenty of struggles along the way: burnout, budget limitations, inconsistent pay and income, the pressures of hustle culture, and the general unpredictability and accompanying stress that come with building a creative career, to name a few. But some of the most difficult seasons have also created the greatest opportunities for growth, expansion, reevaluation, and alignment. Some obstacles have even ended up being huge blessings in disguise.
The people in my inner circle know I tend to repeat two things often: the only certainty is change, and get comfortable with being uncomfortable.
No matter how great of a planner you are, or how talented, disciplined, or dedicated you may be, life has a way of surprising you. The way you choose to respond can set the tone for your own experience. I’ve had to learn that although sometimes I can and should direct the tide, my job isn’t always to do so. Sometimes it is to be receptive. Sometimes it is to adapt or shift. Sometimes it is simply to release the need for control and surrender.
That last one has probably been one of the biggest lessons of my career and my life as a whole.
For anyone who considers themselves a doer—and I think this applies far beyond creative work—I would say: be present enough to know your true self and notice what your life is actually asking of you. Define success and progress on your own terms. Listen to the rhythm of your own life rather than constantly measuring it against someone else’s timeline. Don’t take yourself, or everything around you, too seriously. Learn when you need to get out of your own way.
Life and people have a way of reflecting information back to us. Pay attention to it. Use it.
Most importantly, build a way of working and living that allows you to find joy in the process and in the present moment, not only in the outcome or potential future. When we become too consumed by what could be or what was, we can miss the only place where we actually have any agency. Right now.
The present moment is where your life is happening. It is also where every dream you eventually realize has to begin.
Alright, so let’s switch gears a bit and talk business. What should we know about your work?
I’m going to frame my answers to these questions around my children’s books, since they are my most current work and what I’m most excited about right now.
What I’m really building now is a body of children’s work centered on wholesomeness, imagination, and core values. The stories are told entirely in rhyme, often carry a meaningful lesson or message, and are paired with a vivid, watercolor-inspired illustration style that feels distinctly mine.
Ellie & Her Super Fabulous Friend Monster was released in February of this year, and it was the first children’s book I had ever written or illustrated. It is currently available through Amazon and Barnes & Noble.
When I first started exploring illustration, I was actually looking for an outside illustrator for a different project when my partner at the time suggested I do the illustrations myself. I was very resistant to the idea. Although I had a background in painting and drawing, I had virtually no experience with digital art outside of some minor graphic design work. I was also worried I would find the process tedious and unenjoyable. So the entire process started way outside my comfort zone, which really pushed me as an artist.
After much deliberation, and honestly a ton of encouragement, I made a decision. If I could create just one rendering of each main character that I genuinely liked AND I enjoyed the process, I would attempt to do more. To my surprise, I did. And somewhere in that process, I also began developing my own digital illustration style. One that is inspired by the watercolor pages from my own childhood but uses brighter, more vivid colors and has a slightly more modern feel.
When I published the book, I truly had no idea how it was going to be received. The story felt very different from much of what I was seeing on the market at the time. I had little to compare it to. It was also one of the first projects I created entirely for me and purely I enjoyed it in all its aspects. In a way, this felt like coming home, because it was something I did so often as a child. I went into the process with no expectations, focusing on my love for the story rather than marketability, audience, or any of the many other factors we’re often told to consider when creating something. Frankly, there was a certain freedom in that experience.
The story follows Ellie and her magical best friend, Friend Monster. Ellie introduces readers to all the little things that make her best friend, and their friendship, so unique. Friend Monster is actually inspired by my own imaginary best friend from childhood and everything my mom and I could remember about her.
I was surprised when the book started selling, and even more surprised when it continued selling consistently. Then I started receiving messages from parents telling me how much their children loved Ellie and Friend Monster, how much they appreciated the messaging behind the story, and how both they and their kids were already asking when another book would be coming.
The good news is that Friend Monster’s story is continuing. A sequel to Ellie & Her Super Fabulous Friend Monster is currently in the works, along with two additional children’s books. I can’t say too much about those projects just yet, but readers can expect the same kind of rhyming storytelling, meaningful themes, and distinctive illustration style that I’ve been developing through this work.
It has been a wild ride, and frankly, one of the most rewarding creative experiences I’ve had so far. There is something incredibly special about creating a character that once lived in my own childhood imagination and then watching that character become meaningful and inspiring to other children decades later.
What matters most to you?
What matters most to me as a storyteller has evolved throughout my life, but I think it now comes down to two things that are deeply connected: intention and service.
From an outward perspective, I want to create stories that serve something beyond myself. I believe stories have the potential to shift perspectives, create connection, offer comfort, inspire change, and sometimes genuinely alter the course of someone’s life. That kind of impact comes with responsibility, and I don’t take that lightly. If a story has the power to reach people that deeply, then I believe it should be created with care and intention.
From a personal perspective, what matters most is being as present as I can in the act of creating. Presence brings a kind of truth and resonance to the work that is difficult to manufacture. I want to enjoy what I’m making and enjoy the process of making it. I want the work to come from curiosity, joy, honesty, and positive intention rather than pressure, comparison, or chasing someone else’s definition of success.
Ultimately, I want to create work that I’m genuinely proud of, that feels aligned with my own values, and that has the potential to leave something meaningful behind for the people who experience it.
For me, those two sides are inseparable. The more honestly and intentionally I create, the better chance the work has of serving someone else in a meaningful way.
Contact Info:
- Website: https://www.blakechollaway.com
- Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/blakechollaway/
- Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/blakechollaway
- LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/blake-hollaway-05b95b110/
- Other: https://www.amazon.com/stores/Blake-C.-Hollaway/author/B0D2MJ978K/allbooks?ccs_id=1f842830-d89f-4c98-be85-bc26771cdb35
Image Credits
Madison Ford
