Malia McCabe grew up in Enumclaw, about 40 miles outside of Seattle and has lived in Western Washington most of her life. A girl who always seemed to have a little artistic flare, even as a child. An indication of her grown-up career happened back in the 4th grade, when a local pharmacy had a poster contest to promote good health. A poster of animated, dancing vitamins won Malia the grand prize of $25. Art pays. What a concept!

After high school she happily ran off to college at Washington State University. She graduated in 1991 with a bachelor's degree in Advertising and a minor in the Fine Arts. As eager and aspiring young graduates tend do, Malia decided that moving to the Big City (a.k.a. Seattle), was the place to live, if one was to land that high-powered position in the world of advertising.

After several months of being turned down at most of the high-powered ad agencies in Seattle for lack of experience, and after months of trying to appease an ever impatient Father (who was also the benefactor for the groovy Seattle apartment where she was now living) she decided to take a step down from her ideal job. So she took a job working as a waitress.

For the next several years, instead of the high-pressure, high-paying job she had been planning on, she worked in the low-paying, high-stress restaurant business, first as a waitress, then as a restaurant manager.

Finally, the opportunity for a career change presented itself. One afternoon while working at a Seattle restaurant, the general manager mentioned that she was planning to hire an artist to design and illustrate several chalkboards hanging in the restaurant. Malia spoke up and offered to, "Give it a shot." And so it began. From that day, people started to inquire as to whom the chalkboard artist was, because it seemed that they also had cafés, or espresso stands, and all needed chalkboards!

After several years of working out of her one bedroom apartment, she was finally able to quit the restaurant business completely and support herself with Chalk of the Town alone.

It has now been eight years since she started Chalk of the Town. It has blossomed into a thriving, one-woman business. She wears many hats. Artist and Illustrator, President and CEO, accountant, secretary, messenger, delivery service, cleaning lady, and so on.

Now happily married and living in Kirkland, Washington; Malia is doing exactly the opposite of what she thought she wanted upon graduating from college. Instead of the high-powered advertising job, she now works for herself, and has a productive, satisfying career. A career that she created herself and which has become something that is far more meaningful to her than any job ever could.

Read about Malia:

Seattle PI - Jan 2007

Seattle Times - Jan. 2004

Eastside Business Journal

Wine Business Monthly