A division one athlete, who has spent a lot of time on the basketball court, Gabby Anderson does more than play sports. In addition, she is a young artist who owns her own custom shoe company, Graffiti by Gabby. What started as her “just doing a few pairs for friends”, quickly turned into orders from all walks of life.

One of her early projects was for WNBA legend, Sue Bird. Gabby lists her design for Sue Bird as one of her favorite projects, “I’m so proud of that shoe,” says the young designer, “to get the opportunity to work with someone that means so much to our game was an honor.”  She has also designed shoes for the NFL’s My Cleats, My Cause, Nike’s DIY with Kai campaign, and several NBA stars.

She views her company as being bigger than shoes—it is about taking a canvas and making it your own. “I was asked to do a custom shoe for one of my mom’s friends who is fighting cancer, I used an original black girl ninja character that I created. She loved them so much, that she wears them to her chemotherapy treatments—that’s when I realized that this is bigger than just painting shoes.”

Her company has expanded into other genres including commissioned paintings, web content, and a product line. Most recently, she was commissioned by Wal-Mart to paint portraits of five business owners in the beauty industry. These paintings were then used to build an endcap that was displayed in over 1,500 stores. She also has an original web series, Soul II Sole, where she designs shoes for others around a passion, then shares it with the world. Brilliant, Authentic and Black, is her product line that features her original art. “I think everything I have done has led to this moment. To be able to create art that makes a difference was always the goal.

Gabby is a sophomore at Harvard University where she is majoring in economics with dreams of growing her company in such a way that she can fund art programs in her community. She is also represented by William Morris Endeavor.