Build your business foundation
Entrepreneurship is a creative act. It takes the same courage to launch a business as it does to make something new, and at Ringling College of Art and Design, that spirit shows up across every discipline.
Creatives Minding Their Business is a lunchtime speaker series that brings founders, cultural leaders, and working creatives to campus to share their stories. Each talk is a candid look at what it actually takes to build a sustainable creative career, from the early decisions to the pivots, the challenges, and the moments that made it worth it.
Whether you’re thinking about going freelance, launching a project, or just curious about what creative careers actually look like beyond graduation, this series gives you a real view.
Schedule
2026–2027 Speakers
Each presentation is held from 11:30 am-12:30 pm in the Academic Center (room 218).
From Creative DNA to the Business of Art: How to Build a World Around Your Work
Presented by Pepita Sandwich
September 29, 2026
A New York-based illustrator and visual artist trained at the Center for Cartoon Studies in Vermont. Rooted in a consistent Creative DNA, her career began with webcomics and drawings inspired by everyday life, emotions, relationships, and self-discovery. By building an international audience and using social media to share her distinctive visual language, Pepita has expanded her practice across books, exhibitions, products, courses, and brand collaborations. Her work has appeared in The New Yorker, The Washington Post, and Vogue, while her illustrated book The Art of Crying demonstrates how one deeply personal creative idea can grow into recognizable intellectual property and an entire world of creative offerings.
Beyond the Screen: Turning Creative Craft into a Venture
Presented by Victoria Lopez
October 27, 2026
An award-winning animator and educator, Lopez has worked on major AAA video games, including God of War, Call of Duty, Madden NFL, and Judas. After nearly a decade in digital production, she began asking a central question: What if animation could live beyond the screen? That question led her to create The Motion Box, a palm-sized analog animation player that brings 48 hand-drawn frames to life through mechanical motion. Selected as a Kickstarter “Project We Love,” the venture demonstrates how professional expertise, curiosity, and an appreciation for traditional craft can come together to create an original product, platform, and business opportunity. Her return to Ringling brings the journey full circle, showing students how classroom skills can evolve into both an international career and a creativity-driven enterprise of their own.
From Personal Brand to World Building: The El Mindo Case Study
Presented by Ana Bolena Ortiz
November 10, 2026
An industrial engineer turned entrepreneur, Ortiz is the CEO and co-founder of Ranga Media, a creator-led holding company serving Latin American and United States Hispanic markets. Together with her brother and co-founder, Armando Ortiz, known as El Mindo and recognized by Forbes Colombia as one of its Top Creators of 2025, she transformed an emerging personal brand into a broader business ecosystem. Under her leadership, Ranga Media has developed more than 200 brand partnerships, collaborated with companies including Apple, Coca-Cola, Nike, and Disney, and expanded across talent management, brand strategy, creator-owned businesses, and proprietary events. Her trajectory shows what must happen behind the scenes for creative influence to become a sustainable enterprise: building the systems, partnerships, teams, and revenue models that carry a creative vision forward.
