A Colorful Career

Peters Township High School alum Alisha Cohen turned a hobby into a creative production agency—and now her colorful photography is featured on planners and calendars in more than 1,000 Walmart stores nationwide.

When Alisha Cohen was growing up in Peters Township, she didn’t necessarily see photography as a career. In fact, she thought the opposite.

“I always thought that photography/art wasn’t a practical career choice, so it was something that I did on the side just for fun,” says Cohen, a 2010 Peters Township High School graduate.

Today, that hobby has grown into a career that has taken her photography into more than 1,000 Walmart stores across the country.

Cohen, 34, studied marketing at Virginia Tech University before returning to Pittsburgh and working for several local advertising agencies. She held positions ranging from intern and copywriter to social media specialist and creative strategist. Outside of her regular 9-to-5 job, however, she was quietly building something of her own.

In 2014, Cohen began using Instagram more seriously as a way to get noticed in the advertising industry. She photographed things she found interesting, colorful and visually appealing—often using nothing more than her iPhone. Then brands started taking notice.

“I didn’t even own a professional camera at the time, let alone know how to use it, but I kept saying yes to opportunities and learned as I went along,” she says.

As the opportunities grew, so did Cohen’s portfolio. She began freelancing on nights and weekends and developing her own personal brand. Eventually, she was getting so much work through Instagram that she had to turn down projects, otherwise they would interfere with her full-time job.

That was when she knew it was time to make a change.

In 2016, Cohen launched LISH Creative—a creative production agency specializing in photography, video and stop-motion content. The agency works with brands to develop and produce visual content, handling everything from creative concepts and storyboards to styling, talent, locations, production and post-production.

Her client list has included major brands like Starbucks, Dunkin’, Nestlé, Puma and Delta Airlines.

Despite the creative nature of the work, Cohen says running a production agency involves considerably more than taking pictures.

“One thing I’ve learned is that 80% of my work involves customer service, scheduling, planning and logistics, and 20% is the ‘fun part,’ which is a fact that surprises people who aren’t familiar with the industry.”

Along the way, Cohen also found a way to turn some of the photography she had created simply for fun into another part of her business. She began licensing her colorful images through agent Liz Wain of Wain’s World.

That led to opportunities to put her photography on physical products, including greeting cards sold at Trader Joe’s and wall art available at Marshalls and TJ Maxx.

Then came Blue Sky Planners.

Wain connected Cohen with the company, which selected images from her portfolio for a new collection of planners and calendars. Cohen provided input throughout the development process—from helping with the weekly layouts, to selections for the song of the week section, and approved the finished designs.

The Walmart collection is her largest licensing project to date, and the first to feature her branding prominently on the products themselves. These planners and calendars are being featured on end-cap displays in more than 1,000 Walmart stores nationwide.

For Cohen, the opportunity was especially gratifying. “I was so excited! It’s always been a dream of mine to develop a collection for retail, and I’ve always been obsessed with planners and stationery, so this was a great fit.”

There’s also a personal connection. As a teenager at PTHS, Cohen remembers customizing the school planners she was given with patterned paper and magazine clippings. Now, years later, her work is appearing on planners that shoppers can pick up in stores across the country and right here at home.

The collection is available at various Walmart locations in the region, including Cranberry, Washington and West Mifflin. Having her work in these stores has made the accomplishment even more meaningful.

“It’s so cool that my parents, family and friends from home are able to walk into a Walmart store and see such a prominent display of my brand!” says Cohen.

Former teachers have looked for the planners, and former colleagues have reached out to congratulate her. Friends have even purchased them as gifts. For Cohen, it’s a full-circle moment that connects her current career to the community where she grew up.

While the Walmart collection is a major milestone, Cohen’s advice to young creatives is surprisingly simple: Start creating. She encourages students and aspiring photographers to build a portfolio, develop their own point of view and share their work even before they feel confident about it.

“You don’t have to be an expert, and you don’t have to have it all figured out to start creating and sharing,” she says.

For Cohen, developing a recognizable style was an important part of building her business. Her photography is known for its bright, colorful and feminine aesthetic, and she believes that staying true to the style helped attract brands that were a natural fit for her work.

Today, Cohen lives in Columbus, Ohio, with her husband, Graham, and their 2½-year-old daughter, Camille. The family moved several times as Graham completed his medical training, living in Los Angeles, Ohio, Pittsburgh and North Carolina before settling in Columbus.

Cohen plans to continue growing LISH Creative, working with brands and developing new licensing collaborations. She’s also developed another “creative” interest in recent years—running. After spending more time running in her free time, she’d love to eventually work with more running-related brands.

For someone who once considered art and photography an impractical career choice, Alisha Cohen has certainly found a way to make a colorful career. And now shoppers across the country can find a little piece of that creativity sitting on a Walmart shelf—including shoppers back home.

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