Taming Creativity: A Case Study on the Creative Process, from Concept to Launch.
- Aera Hope
- Nov 7, 2025
- 7 min read
They say the hardest part about being an artist is...
...not coming up with ideas; ideas dance through our consciousness like the very air we breathe. It's not starting a project either; a simple whiff of inspiration can get that ball rolling...
...the hardest part is keeping the ball rolling when the fumes of inspiration fade, our energy wains and the stream-of-consciousness-idea-flow falls silent. It's trusting the creative process when you realize just how difficult taming creativity can be. The hardest part of being an artist is seeing the creative process through, from beginning to end. It's why each and every client Æra Hope has served is honored and respected first and foremost, as the courageous artist they are for taking up the challenge of taming their wildest creative visions.
Completing a project in its entirety and to its highest potential, is the great challenge of every artist.
My collaboration with director Abdias Laguerre of Lux Media & Marketing stands as a living, breathing testament to this approach and our philosophy: conversation creates collaboration creates art. And it really did, and always does, start with just a conversation.
The Concept
Abdias thinks in scenes and seasons; ideas flowing from him in abundant streams of color. As a director, his mind operates in the magical and abstract, transforming melodies into music videos and scripts into feature films.
I first witnessed this creative force while working as the marketing strategist on the indie film he was directing, This Unexpected Love. My role in post-production was building the website and social media launch that would successfully land negotiations with streaming platforms. Abdias was impressed with my strategic work, and I, in turn, was captivated by his directorial vision. Our first conversation revolved around the art we longed to create and what was missing from our respective toolboxes. I was a strategist who dreamed of creative direction. He was a creative director in need of strategic structure. Our collaboration wasn't just inevitable; it was the answer to the question we were both asking.
Where do I even begin?
And so we began: a stream of WhatsApp audio notes was always the starting point. He’d send over his raw, untamed visions, and I’d spin them into strategic gold: mood boards, visual concepts, and data-based campaigns. He trusted my strategic input and grew to respect my creative instincts, until my first official opportunity to serve as Creative Director arrived.
The project was "DODO," (Haitian Creole for “Sleep”) a love song by Fatima Altieri, a powerful voice in the Haitian Music Industry returning from a career hiatus. As her new manager, Abdias needed to create a bold new entry point for her, and he believed my creative strategy perspective was the key. Together, we unearthed the core vision for the single, and I began the work of taming that vision for Abdias to direct as a music video.
I led concept development, creating the mood board, the travel itinerary, the set list, and the production timeline—all organically, as this was before ChatGPT was widely available to streamline the process. With the plan in place, we flew to the Nevada desert and filmed across four different climates. Abdias as the Director & Videographer, and I as the Creative Director & Strategist. Together, we transformed whimsical imaginings into a tangible masterpiece.
The second hardest part about being an artist is...well..telling the world (and all the people in it) that you're an artist.
Our collaborative process transformed notes and paper into a cohesive project, one that could now be shared. And this act of sharing was more than the music or the video; it was the sharing of ourselves in our new creative identities. Fatima, re-entering the industry, Abdias, re-imaging the industry, and I, re-introducing myself as a Creative Director.
We decided to share our work with a live audience before its YouTube debut. We moved beyond a traditional release party and designed a private listening party — as unique as Fatima’s music and as sacred to the creative process as the art itself.
Our Artist Launch
Miami, of course, is full of artists and creatives, but so many of us stay tucked away inside. It's overwhelming to be outside. The vibes are vibrant and electric, of course, it's Miami! But being outside is also loud, crowded...draining. While the fumes of inspiration run wild and free, outside is never quite the right place for taming creativity, let alone nurturing it.
Artistry is exhausting work and while being around other artists brings great comfort, seeking them out can prove just as challenging as being one.
So, we invited everyone we knew, even having friends fly in from nearby islands, to be part of an event that was outside, but not too outside. We hosted our listening party at the Lux Media & Marketing studio; our safe space and sanctuary where Fatima, Abdias, and I introduced ourselves as the courageous artists we had become to create and unveil "DODO" as a stepping stone for our creative futures.
By unveiling the video to a live audience first, we created a palpable wave of anticipation—a wave that crashed beautifully into 2.9 million views, a new visual standard for the Haitian Music Industry, and a successful career relaunch for Fatima. But the real success of that evening was the shared moment of human connection; everyone in the room was moved, bearing witness to the sacredness of the artist journey we had embarked on.
Pushing the Limits
A crucial part of my work with Abdias was knowing when to wield strategy as a tool to protect or amplify a creative vision. This was put to the ultimate test when Abdias was tasked with a national pride campaign for Heineken’s Prestige in a politically tumultuous Haiti. He turned to me for a creative solution to a seemingly impossible question: How do we inspire national pride during one of the most unstable periods our country had seen?
I went to work, building a concept from the ground up. I pulled inspiration from that year's creative landmarks like Gunna, Jacquemus, Zoe Kravitz's Super Bowl commercial and niche Instagram artists—piecing together a resonant visual language for our target audience. I presented this bold concept to the client with a firm, strategic recommendation: if the mission is genuine national pride, the video must be shot in Haiti. Filming elsewhere was not an option.
Despite all odds, the team flew to Haiti and executed the vision. With Abdias as director, anything is possible, and with me ensuring the creative strategy remained sound, we were an unstoppable team. The National Flag Day Campaign launched exactly as intended, and its Instagram debut alone spiked audience engagement by 20%—proving that even in chaos, creativity can be tamed and harnessed.
This success cemented our reputation, landing us simultaneous campaign executions for Heineken's sister companies. Abdias and I dove into the work, all while continuing to nurture the artistic growth of Fatima Altieri, masterfully juggling multiple visions at once.
Leveling Up
By the time we started working on Fatima’s sophomore album, our toolkit had evolved. Generative AI became a new partner in our process, which I harnessed to visualize Abdias’s and Fatima’s most abstract imaginings. This was not without its own creative challenges. I found myself literally training the tools to depict Black/Haitian excellence, painstakingly correcting prompts that defaulted to white counterparts. It was a fascinating, necessary act of ensuring our culture was represented with authenticity and pride, across all facets of concepting.
Our collaborative rhythm had also matured. Throughout the process, Abdias continued dreaming in chords and colors, as the creative force of the project, and I, the strategic translator, ensuring every whimsical idea stayed grounded in a plan that could resonate, impact, and inspire. I managed the logistics of content development, social media promotion, campaign strategy and project management all while securing accurate press releases and coordinating Fatima's interviews with top Haitian podcasters. This strategic foundation freed Abdias to fully take the reins as director and artist manager, ensuring top level production with featured artists like Grammy-nominated Manno Beats, and timely submissions into Spotify and Apple Music.
When Abdias whipped out his dark horse, flying to LA for impromptu videos featuring American actor Robert Richard to broaden Fatima's audience, our strategy was decisively validated. Before our eyes, her fanbase grew, accolades rose, and streams soared, with views catapulting from 2.9M to 13M. The perfect momentum for launching her sophomore album, P'Wotejem (Haitian Creole for 'Protect Me').
After months of photoshoots, late night studio sessions and brainstorms, spontaneous travel for music video executions and nonstop editing, the album was live! We sustained our engagement momentum through non-stop communication with media channels, bloggers, and influencers who continued to listen, repost and promote. Fatima's audience grew in tandem with her online presence, her numbers doubling by the time she performed as a featured artist at Michael Brun's Bayo Music Festival.
The momentum of our efforts crescendoed with the planning of Fatima’s first solo concert—a grand-scale evolution of our original listening party. We went all-in, wearing every hat necessary to ensure the project finale was executed to its highest potential. The result? A historic milestone. Fatima became the first artist from the Haitian Music Industry to headline Montreal's iconic Théâtre L'Olympia; her highest-grossing and most-attended solo show to date.
While I have the luxury of recounting this journey with words and metrics, I must stress the fact that this case study is nothing without the dedicated people who overcame sleepless nights to execute the strategy and vision of this project. Fatima spent countless hours rehersing her songs and dance routines with flown in band members and dancers. Abdias worked relentlessly to execute a flawless production, overcoming budget cuts, unexpected delays, calendar conflicts, the list goes on. Regardless of what was thrown our way, the courage of our collective artist journeys pushed us forward. The show must go on. And it did, surpassing our wildest imaginations and expectations.
We are continually humbled by the challenge, the beauty and the sacredness of the creative process. And this body of work lives as a testament to what a small, dedicated team of artists can build from a stream of audio notes, shared courage and a collaborative spirit. It proves that with the right partnership, strategy and direction, even the wildest creativity can be tamed and shared as new standards for how we converse, collaborate and create art, together!
Today, Fatima enjoys the fruits of her labor on international stages. Abdias prepares to direct his own project as the star of his own show. And I, having served as the essential translator between vision and execution, am ready to scale my impact as a Creative Director & Strategist.
To explore more Æra Hope Collaborations, please visit www.aerahope.com
This is an Æra Hope x Naomy Grand'Pierre writing collaboration in reference to collaborations with Abdias Laguerre and Fatima Altieri. All images sourced from Æra Hope Creative Incubator and Lux Media & Marketing.
Incredibly inspiring to read through your creative journey! I know you'll jusy keep on going up with it. So happy for and proud of you!
Remarkable project history!