Drawing Inspiration: Cal Poly Alumna Ceci Johnson Speaks Internationally About Her Journey as an Entrepreneur
As an art & design student at Cal Poly, Ceci Johnson (’99) never anticipated she would one day lead a business. So while she does regularly create the watercolor designs for Ceci New York, her couture invitation and graphic design studio, her work entails much more than painting.
“As the creative entrepreneur, you’ve got to be thinking on your toes, like, ‘How can I come up with that next big thing that saves the company or keeps the business alive?’” she said. “I’m very creative, don’t get me wrong, but I’m HR, I’m marketing, I’m managing the team. If they have a problem, it’s my problem.”
Johnson, who is also an internationally sought-after speaker, will provide the keynote address at this year’s Defining Her Future. The annual conference, hosted by the Cal Poly Women in Business, provides students with connections and insights from business professionals.
Even though Johnson never took business classes as a student, her parents provided early business lessons. Her father owned a pool and spa business in the Southern California town of Encinitas.
“His office was right next to my bedroom, and he always said we should learn through osmosis,” she said. “So I was always paying attention to what he was doing.”
The eldest of three daughters, Johnson helped clean pools during summers, absorbing valuable life lessons from her father, including: Your hardest day only lasts 24 hours.
While both parents instilled the value of work in her, Johnson’s creative side was apparent as a child, whether it be making art for gifts or class assignments. In high school, an art teacher suggested she attend Cal Poly, leading her to San Luis Obispo.
After graduation, she joined a graphic design firm in San Diego, where she performed work for department stores, such as Macy’s and Bloomingdale’s. While there, she was offered a job performing web design with an agency in New York City.
Living in New York had been a dream since college, which surprised a lot of her mentors, who noted the high cost of living, cold winters and lack of California beaches.
“I said, “There’s more to life from my little hometown in San Diego than the perfect wave and getting a tan,’” she recalled. “’New York City is just calling my name.’”
While she quickly adapted to web design, performing work for clients that included Major League Baseball and Johnson & Johnson, she eventually began creating art as a side hustle.
“I missed designing on paper,” she said.
When she learned one corporate connection was engaged to be married, she showed her an invitation she had created for a colleague in San Diego, and she commissioned her.
“That’s ultimately how Ceci New York started,” she said. “I just started doing it on the side as a passion project.”
The award-winning Ceci New York creates invitations for weddings, gala events, parties and more. Celebrity clients have included Jennifer Lopez, Logan Paul, Misty Copeland and Keegan-Michael Key. Notable corporate clients have included The Emmys, global fashion houses Baccarat, Perrier Jouet and Patek Philippe and leading international resorts, to name a few.
The studio’s custom invitations combine elegance with artistic flair and graphic design sensibility with a unique brand. Colorful, hand-painted floral patterns are common among wedding invitations, but announcements for other events might employ art deco-, tropical-, winter-inspired designs and more. The studio works closely with clients to create one-of-a-kind art.
“As the creative entrepreneur, you’ve got to be thinking on your toes, like, ‘How can I come up with that next big thing that saves the company or keeps the business alive?’ I’m very creative, don’t get me wrong, but I’m HR, I’m marketing, I’m managing the team. If they have a problem, it’s my problem.”
-- Ceci Johnson, founder, Ceci New York
The studio has expanded, and now its artwork can also be found on many lifestyle products, like clothing and accessories, such as phone cases with their partner Bandolier. And Ceci New York will even design an event site, be it a bat/bar mitzvah, quinceañera or a masquerade party.
Now in business for 22 years -- and a married mother of two -- Johnson leads a team of 15, including project managers and other creatives. While she delegates some of the creative work, her unique artwork is what initially drew clients and inspiration, so she knows it’s important to continue to carve out creative time.
“I had to set real expectations and boundaries with my team but also with myself,” she said. “So we established Mondays and Fridays are my painting days. The project managers know they can schedule me in, and nobody talks to me about any other business stuff. No client meetings. I’m just literally getting Mondays and Fridays to work from my home studio and paint on whatever deadlines are on my table.”
Artificial intelligence has repeatedly drawn criticism for culling the online work of real artists to generate everything from books and photos to graphic design, posing a challenge to human-created content.
“People look at an image, and they misunderstand if that has been hand drawn or hand made,” Johnson said. "It’s very threatening and scary for someone who really does pick up a paintbrush and draws from the imagination.”
At this point, AI-generated designs are low resolution, she said, so they can’t be reproduced with enough quality. And specific edits are challenging with AI.
Besides, she said, there’s a charm to custom, hand-created art.
“In today’s digital world, the ultimate luxury is receiving something in the mail or a product that you can touch and feel – an invitation that’s made of paper or material you can actually interact with and experience, versus it just getting lost in your inbox,” she said.
Figuring out how to compete with AI is another challenge she faces as a business leader.
“There’s this perception that entrepreneurs have it made,” she said. “’I wanna be my own boss, I get to lay at the beach and get my nails done and go to lunch all the time.’”
In reality, she said, entrepreneurs are thinking of the business even when they take time off.
“I’m so grateful and proud of myself for all the hard work, that I built this beautiful brand and this company that employs other creatives, and we can make beautiful things for people around the world,” she said. “And for sure my dream is that the brand will live on beyond me.”
The pressures of leading a business is one of the topics she shares during her role as a sought-after speaker. In the past, she has spoken to designers, wedding industry professionals and numerous companies around the world, including Goldman Sachs and Adobe Software, and luxury symposiums from Moscow to Paris.
“I’ve never had a mentor or anybody helping me through my business challenges and growth, and I’ve always felt very alone,” she said. “So I share a lot on my journey as a woman in business, what techniques have really helped me, the lessons I’ve learned, how they can apply them to their businesses and make themselves better.”
Anna Schraeder, president of the Women in Business, said the club is excited to provide Johnson a platform to speak at her alma mater.
“Ceci has had an amazing career and professional journey, getting her start at Cal Poly, just like many of the DHF attendees,” Schraeder said. “She is a true definition of a self-starter, forging her own path and starting her own business after college, but she believed in herself and ultimately created an extremely successful business.”
Starting as a liberal arts student, Johnson’s journey, she added, challenges the idea that there’s only one path to business success.
“Her success reinforces the idea that business careers can grow from many different academic foundations and reminds us that entrepreneurship is as much a mindset as it is a major,” said Schraeder, an accounting student.
Johnson’s Defining Her Future keynote will be her first Women in Business talk, and it will mark the first time she has returned to Cal Poly since graduation.
“This is going to be my trip down Memory Lane,” she said.
Follow Ceci’s brand @cecinewyork for the latest updates, her creative journey @cecijohnson for behind-the-scenes inspiration, and sign up for the mailing list at Ceci New York to stay connected.
