A black and white portrait of Sarah Cornejo is positioned in the foreground against a vibrant orange background featuring event text and a black information block.

AIGA Baltimore

General Admission

Right now, AI can spit out a logo, a color palette, a whole brand voice in seconds. Canva&#39;s got a template for everything. Trend-chasing promises you&#39;ll look &quot;professional&quot; by tomorrow. But if you&#39;re a first-gen founder, a woman of color, a culture-driven business owner, or just new to your industry, here&#39;s the catch: that ease comes at a cost. Everyone starts looking the same, and our stories get diluted in the process. The messy, specific, hard-won parts of you, the parts that actually set you apart, get sanded down until there&#39;s nothing left to notice. This session is about breaking that on purpose. We&#39;ll look at the brand you&#39;ve actually got right now (or the one AI, a template, or &quot;what&#39;s trending&quot; handed you) and get honest about it. Where have you been softening yourself? Adapting? Hiding the parts of your background that didn&#39;t fit some mold that was never built with you in mind? Then we&#39;ll build back up from there, using your actual life, culture, and experience as the foundation that makes your positioning stand out. This isn&#39;t an anti-AI rant. It&#39;s about deciding, on your own terms, when to use these tools and when to put them down, so what you end up with actually sounds and looks like you. Not like the ten other brands in your feed. You&#39;ll walk away understanding where your brand has been lying to you, and how to lean into your story, messy parts included, to rebuild something truer and more confident. Wednesday, October 21, 2026 | 7 - 8 p.m. | Virtual About Sarah CornejoSarah Cornejo is a designer, creative director, and founder of MYCO Studio, where she helps founders, especially first gen entrepreneurs and culture driven businesses, turn their story into brands that connect and grow. With 15 years in human centered design, Sarah specializes in translating culture and language into design that&#39;s both emotionally resonant and commercially effective. Her clients&#39; work has been featured in Eater and The Washington Post, and on ABC News. In this session, she&#39;ll explore what that means in the age of AI.IG:<a fr-original-style="" href="https://www.instagram.com/brandwithmyco/" style="text-decoration-color: currentcolor; user-select: auto; box-sizing: inherit;" target="_blank">&nbsp;@brandwithmyco</a>Linkedin:<a fr-original-style="" href="https://www.linkedin.com/in/sarah-cornejo-06b8a018/" style="text-decoration-color: currentcolor; user-select: auto; box-sizing: inherit;" target="_blank">&nbsp;https://www.linkedin.com/in/sarah-cornejo-06b8a018</a>Website:<a fr-original-style="" href="https://www.mycreativeoutlet.co/" style="text-decoration-color: currentcolor; user-select: auto; box-sizing: inherit;" target="_blank">&nbsp;https://www.mycreativeoutlet.co/</a>

Right now, AI can spit out a logo, a color palette, a whole brand voice in seconds. Canva's got a template for everything. Trend-chasing promises you'll look "professional" by tomorrow. But if you're a first-gen founder, a woman of color, a culture-driven business owner, or just new to your industry, here's the catch: that ease comes at a cost. Everyone starts looking the same, and our stories get diluted in the process. The messy, specific, hard-won parts of you, the parts that actually set you apart, get sanded down until there's nothing left to notice. This session is about breaking that on purpose. We'll look at the brand you've actually got right now (or the one AI, a template, or "what's trending" handed you) and get honest about it. Where have you been softening yourself? Adapting? Hiding the parts of your background that didn't fit some mold that was never built with you in mind? Then we'll build back up from there, using your actual life, culture, and experience as the foundation that makes your positioning stand out. This isn't an anti-AI rant. It's about deciding, on your own terms, when to use these tools and when to put them down, so what you end up with actually sounds and looks like you. Not like the ten other brands in your feed. You'll walk away understanding where your brand has been lying to you, and how to lean into your story, messy parts included, to rebuild something truer and more confident. Wednesday, October 21, 2026 | 7 - 8 p.m. | Virtual About Sarah CornejoSarah Cornejo is a designer, creative director, and founder of MYCO Studio, where she helps founders, especially first gen entrepreneurs and culture driven businesses, turn their story into brands that connect and grow. With 15 years in human centered design, Sarah specializes in translating culture and language into design that's both emotionally resonant and commercially effective. Her clients' work has been featured in Eater and The Washington Post, and on ABC News. In this session, she'll explore what that means in the age of AI.IG:<a href="https://www.instagram.com/brandwithmyco/" target="_blank"> @brandwithmyco</a>Linkedin:<a href="https://www.linkedin.com/in/sarah-cornejo-06b8a018/" target="_blank"> https://www.linkedin.com/in/sarah-cornejo-06b8a018</a>Website:<a href="https://www.mycreativeoutlet.co/" target="_blank"> https://www.mycreativeoutlet.co/</a>

AIGA Baltimore

Late Creates: Make, Break, Rebrand: Escaping the Algorithm to Find Your True Brand

General Admission

Free

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