In this episode of #WorkMomSays: Don’t Be an Idiot, Lori Jo Vest sits down with Detroit artist and creative director Trae Isaac—a multi-disciplinary creator known for murals, fine art, wearable designs, and now, app development.

Trae shares his remarkable journey, from amateur boxing to the loss of his brother and mother as a teenager, to building a career rooted in creativity, resilience, and community. He opens up about how art has become both a healing practice and a profession, and why he sees himself as a “creative tailor,” creating work that fits communities, businesses, and cultural needs.

Connect with Trae:
TraeIsaac.com
Socials: @TraeIsaac on Facebook, Instagram, LinkedIn, and YouTube

Time-stamped inflection points from the show

0:12 – Meet Lori & Trae – Lori introduces Trae Isaac, a Detroit-based artist whose work spans fine art, murals, and product design.
2:13 – Becoming a Creative Tailor Trae shares how he approaches art like a tailor—customizing his work to reflect communities, organizations, and cultural values.
5:00 – The Discipline of Practice How boxing taught Trae the importance of repetition, discipline, and being addicted to progress.
7:35 – Growing Up in Detroit Trae talks about his close-knit family, his grandfather’s boxing legacy, and the values instilled in him as a child.
12:09 – Loss and Resilience The deaths of his brother and mother shaped Trae’s journey, pushing him from boxing into art as a new form of healing and expression.
17:39 – Boxing Lessons for Life How the ability to “lock in” during a fight translated into resilience, recovery, and focus in art and life.
19:24 – Building a Career in Art From painting clothes in high school to earning mural commissions, Trae explains his path to becoming a full-time artist.
21:13 – The Five Ps The mantra that drives his work: Proper Preparation Prevents Poor Performance.
22:25 – The Godfrey Hotel Mural Story Behind the scenes of one of Trae’s most challenging projects, including negotiating unexpected costs and conquering a fear of heights.
30:13 – Finding Your Purpose Advice for young people: follow your passions from childhood, explore continuously, and don’t be afraid to pivot.
35:00 – From Murals to Mobile Apps Trae shares his latest leap—joining Apple’s Developer Academy to learn coding and app design.
40:00 – Marketing Mindset
Lori points out Trae’s natural gift for self-promotion and authentic storytelling.
42:47 – Looking Ahead
Where Trae wants to take his career next—and an invitation to reconnect in a year to talk about his new apps.

[0:00] Lori Jo Vest – Welcome to Work Mom Says: Don’t Be an Idiot. I’m Lori Jo Vest, and I’m here to help you learn to play the emotional contact sport of business—so you can experience a whole lot less drama and a whole lot more success.
Today, I’m so fortunate to have my guest, Trae Isaac. Trae is an artist—and I don’t even know how to fully explain who he is. I met him on Facebook of all places, and then I just had to bring it into real life, because I have so much respect for him as an artist and for how he moves through the world. I wanted to share him with you because I know he’s got wisdom that can help you move toward your own goals.

[1:23] Trae Isaac – Thank you for having me. Thank you for the love, the appreciation, all the good energy and feedback. It’s all genuine, and I’m grateful.
[1:40] Lori Jo Vest
Fair warning—I like to “mom” people sometimes, so if I do that, just forgive me.
[1:46] Trae Isaac
It’s all good. I accept it.
[2:13] Lori Jo Vest
Tell us a little about what you do. You’re an artist, you sell your work, and you also create these incredible murals.
[2:40] Trae Isaac
I like to call myself a lifestyle artist-slash-creative director. Since I started my journey in 2006, I’ve worked across so many mediums that it’s tough to land on just one title. On business cards, I usually put “fine artist, creative director.”
[3:30] Lori Jo Vest
I think I first bought a pin from you—rose gold angel wings, so detailed and gorgeous. Later I got earrings. You sell pieces on your website, but how did you get into murals?
[3:52] Trae Isaac
For me, committing to murals meant understanding that my art had to appeal beyond just my circle. When you create work for communities, organizations, or corporations, they have standards and expectations. Art may be subjective on a hobbyist level, but once you’re professional, you become a “creative tailor.” Like a tailor makes clothes to your exact fit, I create artwork tailored to each community’s history, values, and culture.
[5:00] Lori Jo Vest
That makes sense. How did you step up your skills to get there?
[5:12] Trae Isaac
Practice and repetition. I drew from my boxing background—constantly training, challenging myself, learning to love the feeling of progress. Growth became addictive. Every time I improved, I wanted to keep going.
[6:10] Lori Jo Vest
That’s something we share—the mindset of continuous learning. If you think you know it all at 25, you won’t get very far. But if you stay curious, you’ll keep growing.
[6:42] Trae Isaac
Exactly. That mindset drives me.
[7:35] Lori Jo Vest
Would you mind sharing your origin story? From what I’ve read, you’ve turned trauma into strength and growth.
[7:52] Trae Isaac
Absolutely. I grew up in a very tight-knit family—my grandparents and my mom raised me in Detroit. My grandfather was a Vietnam veteran, a boxing coach, and a cutman for professional fighters. He stepped in as my father figure. My grandmother was the loving backbone, and my mom kept me focused on school.
[8:59] Trae Isaac
They made sure I was both educated and street smart. My grandfather taught me to fight and play chess. My grandmother pushed me into reading and science programs. My mom kept me on track with homework. Being Black in America, and a skinny little kid, I had to know how to take care of myself in every way.
[10:00] Trae Isaac
I spent nearly a decade as an amateur boxer. My life was cardio, school, gym, homework, repeat. We all lived in the same building—my grandparents on one side, me and my mom on the other. I’d run across the hall when I needed them.
[10:55] Trae Isaac
When I was nine, I won my first amateur boxing championship—the same day my baby brother was born. Later I learned I actually had 17 siblings on my dad’s side, but at the time, it was just me and him. Sadly, my brother developed the same genetic cancer that eventually took my mom. He passed at age seven. Two years later, my mom passed as well.
[12:00] Lori Jo Vest
That had to be incredibly hard as a teenager.
[12:09] Trae Isaac
My brother passed in 2006 when he was just seven. I was 16, attending Cass Tech High School. Losing him, and then later my mom to the same cancer, was devastating. That’s when art became a lifeline for me.

[13:01] Trae Isaac
At Cass Tech, surrounded by kids with the latest clothes, I couldn’t keep up. So I painted on my own clothes—shirts with scriptures and images inspired by church sermons. That’s how I started experimenting with visual art.

[15:00] Trae Isaac
When my mom passed two years after my brother, it was a reset moment for the whole family. My grandfather, who was also my boxing coach, was grieving too. Art became the new path I poured myself into.

[17:10] Lori Jo Vest
The death of two family members had to be incredibly challenging. You’ve written that the tenets of boxing helped you through it.

[17:39] Trae Isaac
Yes—boxing taught me to lock in, focus, and move on. In a fight you only have 60 seconds to recover between rounds. That mindset helped me cope and find resilience in life.

[19:24] Lori Jo Vest
Tell me how painting on clothes turned into an art career.

[19:32] Trae Isaac
I was stubbornly determined. Slept on friends’ floors, avoided 9-to-5 jobs so I could focus on art. At first it wasn’t lucrative, but it felt like my purpose. As my technical skills grew, I started getting mural commissions.

[21:13] Trae Isaac
That’s when my grandfather’s mantra came in: the five Ps—Proper Preparation Prevents Poor Performance. I live by that in every project.

[22:25] Trae Isaac
One of my most challenging murals was for the Godfrey Hotel. I had to use a swing stage suspended 90 feet in the air—something that wasn’t in the original agreement. I had to renegotiate terms with the city and the client. It was scary but also a huge win when I finished.

[28:56] Lori Jo Vest
I love how you handled that negotiation. You didn’t walk away, you renegotiated. That’s a big business lesson.

[29:37] Trae Isaac
The words I used were, ‘Due to your egregious oversight, we find ourselves in this position…’ That phrasing helped me reset the terms professionally.

[30:13] Lori Jo Vest
So today, what does your career look like?

[30:24] Trae Isaac
I see my purpose as making things look good. I’ve pivoted from clothes to canvas to murals to products. Now I’m broadening my work instead of being narrowly focused.

[32:18] Lori Jo Vest
That’s great advice for young people—look back to what you loved as a child. My son was a Lego kid, and now he works with cars. Passions leave clues.

[34:56] Lori Jo Vest
You’re also learning app design at the Apple Developer Academy. How did that happen?

[35:23] Trae Isaac
A fellow artist friend, Jimbo, inspired me. He graduated from the program and encouraged me to apply. Now I’m learning coding, design, and teamwork—building apps that solve problems, just like I used to solve challenges through murals.

[39:58] Lori Jo Vest
I love that you even marketed your first week of school outfits on social media—that’s a natural marketing mind at work.

[40:15] Trae Isaac
There’s no method behind the madness—I just try things and see what works. Authenticity has always been my approach.

[42:00] Lori Jo Vest
Two big takeaways from your story: community matters, and fearlessness in learning new skills takes you far.

[42:47] Lori Jo Vest
Trae, thank you so much for joining me today. Where can people follow you?

[43:12] Trae Isaac
I’m on all social media as @TraeIsaac, and my website is TraeIsaac.com.

[44:00] Lori Jo Vest
Thanks again for joining us! To our listeners—visit WorkMomSays.com for past episodes, blogs, and resources. And remember… don’t be an idiot.

This podcast is for young professionals who want to learn to play the emotional context sport of business and experience less drama and more success.

How can you be more logical and less emotional? Be strategic, and Work Mom Says can help you.

“I tell people to back up, put down the magnifying glass, and look at the big picture when you’re responding to something,” said Lori Jo Vest, Work Mom. “In doing this, you will understand that what’s really upsetting you right now will be something you don’t even remember next week.”

Listening to Work Mom Says can help you grow your mood management skills, grow your ability to reframe situations, and look at things from a strategic point of view. This makes it easier to go into a work situation and get the most positive results.

On Work Mom Says, we also offer tips and tricks for creating connected positive relationships that last over time. People will want you on the team if you can create connected positive relationships and work environments. You become an asset, and you will be more successful when you’re an asset.

“I also like to talk about developing traits like optimism, persistence, tenacity, stick-to-itiveness, sticking with things, and approaching every project with a curious mind instead of a fearful mind,” said Lori Jo Vest, Work Mom

I do this because I naturally fell into the Work Mom role when I worked in the ad agency business and had so much fun with it. I also realized I had made just about every mistake there was to make. I don’t hold myself as a stellar example of truth and how you should be. I hold myself out there as someone who has been bruised, battered, and beaten up and learned some important lessons. I’d love to share these lessons with young people, so they don’t have to make those same mistakes or be the idiot I was.

I also want to help young professionals realize that many things our culture prioritizes aren’t really important. We talk a lot about what should be important and how to present your best face at the office so that you can succeed.

I’ve learned so much throughout my career, and it’s gratifying to share that with young professionals and help them avoid some of those mistakes and get to that success sooner.

Connect with me on LinkedIn. Order my book!

The post Episode 54 – Charting Your Own Path with Trae Isaac appeared first on Work Mom Says®.