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I’m Drake Mayo, and if you knew where I started, you might be surprised I’ve ended up here—channeling my passion for visual storytelling into strategic, results-driven work. Growing up, my family and I didn’t have much. We faced real hardships that shaped my character but never limited my potential. Long before I knew terms like “brand strategy” or “stakeholder engagement,” I realized a pen, a page, and a story could open entire worlds of possibility.
As a kid, Saturday nights were sacred. I’d stay up past midnight, immersed in anime on Toonami’s Midnight Run. While the world slept, I sketched comic characters, mapped out entire universes, and choreographed elaborate fight scenes. I wasn’t just doodling; I was crafting narratives—learning to convey emotion, action, and pacing visually. Without formal training, I taught myself the basics of sequential art and perspective, discovering how each panel guided a viewer’s understanding from one moment to the next.
Those late-night sessions taught me something crucial: visuals connect the dots in ways words alone sometimes can’t. Even when my ambitions shifted—first aiming to become an architect, then pivoting to graphic design—I always returned to the idea that a well-crafted image or sequence can transform how people perceive complex ideas. Over time, I refined these skills at UNC Charlotte, taking on every poster and campaign I could find. That’s when I realized design wasn’t just about “making things pretty”—it was about shaping perception and inspiring action.
Driven by a desire to make a broader impact, I headed to graduate school, where an unexpected phone call in a CiCi’s Pizza catapulted me into a new realm of creative responsibility. That moment reframed how I viewed my work: visuals are connectors, drawing people into solutions, opportunities, and mutual understanding.
Eager to push this concept even further, I joined the Peace Corps in Kyrgyzstan, working on community radio campaigns to improve access to information for marginalized groups. By pairing brief radio segments with infographics, bilingual materials, and simple visuals, we earned local trust and clarified what might otherwise be overwhelming information. Soon, I moved into Peace Corps’ communications office, applying the same story-driven approach to counter rumors and highlight real successes—demonstrating that design and narrative can unite communities, even when misconceptions run deep.
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I carried these insights into subsequent roles with NGOs and eventually Google, where I focus on community development and social impact. No matter the setting—rural village or tech giant—the principles remain the same: people respond to stories that feel authentic and visually compelling. It traces back to those childhood nights sketching worlds on cheap printer paper, scene by scene, learning how to captivate an audience’s imagination.
Today, I’m committed to helping individuals and organizations harness visual storytelling not just for aesthetics, but to solve real problems, build trust, and drive meaningful outcomes. If you’d like to know more about how we can combine design and strategic communication to transform ideas into impact, feel free to explore my portfolio, check out my upcoming book, or drop me a line. Ultimately, I believe every story—like every sketch—can reshape how we see the world, one panel at a time.
