Being from a tight knit community, friends and family were never surprised by my creative itch. “Just like your Mom!” they’d say, and I still hear probably weekly. So when I have to tell someone brand new how I began my creative journey, I tend to feel unclear on where to start. It took me years to begin answering the question with, “Well my family’s Greek.” For some reason that seems to wrap a bow around it— always together, usually celebrating something.
We grew up with seasons of pretty standard Sunday night family dinners– grandparents, aunts, uncles, cousins included. Altogether we make 11. Occasionally an additional guest joined, always someone close who might as well have been family. It was on those nights I learned how to host— scratching out a menu from cookbooks that have been on my mom’s shelf since I was little, setting the table just because, picking up fresh flowers while grocery shopping, how to clean the kitchen as you prep, the timing of a meal, a cheese board in place for nibbles upon arrival, and always Elton John radio humming along. Usually a three layer cake under the dome on the counter for dessert. Ever casual, but always detailed.
Holidays and special occasions only heightened the experience. No stone was unturned to make us feel invested in the season, or extra celebrated.
Through a working lens, I watched both my parents and many of my relatives establish entrepreneurial endeavors with so much fervor. Catering, restaurants, invitations, artwork, advertising, and more. Blend it altogether plus years of observation, and my creative itch starts to make sense.
My dad gave me his eye for the perfect punctuation of a moment— a feeling, or a detail. My mom gave me her hands and their comfort with a paintbrush, and a whisk. I’m grateful every day for my family of influence, their interest in taking things over the top, the inspiration they’ve provided me to find what I love doing: making every day a celebration.
“Holidays and special occasions only heightened the experience. No stone was unturned to make us feel invested in the season, or extra celebrated.”
Madeleine was born and raised in Dallas, Texas, and attended SMU as a Hunt Leadership Scholar. She earned a degree in Advertising and Graphic Design, then pursued a marketing career following graduation. She still resides in Dallas with her pup Ruskin, surrounded by lifelong friends and family. She supports the brand and marketing initiatives of her mom’s company Rosanne Beck Collections, and continues to work a career in corporate marketing alongside the client projects and content creation for her own company, Madeleine Creative. She’s the first to plan a soirée for a friend, hightails it to the beach as often as possible, and keeps the Elton John radio humming in her own house.
