Today we’d like to introduce you to Beth Davis.
Hi Beth, it’s an honor to have you on the platform. Thanks for taking the time to share your story with us – to start maybe you can share some of your backstory with our readers?
I grew up in a very rural part of the Appalachian Mountains in Virginia, surrounded by farms, animals, woods, dirt roads, and a whole lot of space for imagination. My family was very blue-collar, and creativity was not necessarily something anyone around me thought of as a career path. But even as a kid, I was constantly creating my own little worlds. I spent hours outside with animals, drawing, making things, exploring nature, and turning ordinary moments into something magical in my head.
One of the first people who really recognized that creativity in me was my third-grade teacher. She noticed the drawings and little characters I was always creating and told me that what I could do was special. That moment stayed with me. There is something incredibly powerful about being a child and having an adult say, “I see this in you. It matters.” Looking back, I think a huge part of what I am doing now with Super Unique Beast is trying to create that same feeling for other kids.
I eventually earned a degree in Digital Media from East Tennessee State University and built a career as a graphic designer. For more than 20 years, I have worked in branding, marketing, illustration, and product design, helping other people and organizations bring their ideas to life. I love design, and it taught me so much about visual storytelling, communication, problem-solving, and how to take a creative idea all the way from concept to finished product.
But somewhere along the way, I realized I wanted to build something of my own that combined all the pieces I cared about most: animals, colorful characters, storytelling, creativity, and helping kids feel good about who they are.
That became Super Unique Beast.
Super Unique Beast is now an award-winning children’s book and educational brand built around animal characters who each experience the world a little differently. The stories explore themes like confidence, self-acceptance, perseverance, friendship, accessibility, learning differences, sensory differences, and inclusion, but always through bright, imaginative adventures that feel fun and approachable for kids.
What started with books has continued to grow into something much bigger. I now visit schools, participate in community events, create classroom resources, work with educators, and am developing a more complete social-emotional learning and literacy program around the characters. One of my favorite parts of school visits is giving children opportunities to create their own Super Unique Beasts. Seeing the wildly imaginative characters they invent reminds me constantly why this work matters. Kids have incredible ideas when they feel safe enough to express them.
My long-term vision is for Super Unique Beast to become a whole world of books, educational experiences, creative activities, products, and storytelling that helps children feel seen, encouraged, and proud of what makes them different.
At the heart of it all, the mission is actually pretty simple: I want kids to experience that wonderful feeling of someone looking at them and saying, “I see you. What makes you different is worth celebrating.”
And if I can deliver that message with colorful animals, a little humor, a lot of imagination, and perhaps some sparkles along the way, even better.
Would you say it’s been a smooth road, and if not what are some of the biggest challenges you’ve faced along the way?
It definitely has not been a perfectly smooth road, but I think that is true of almost any creative business worth building.
One of the biggest challenges has been learning how to balance the creative side of the work with the business side. I am naturally at home writing, illustrating, designing, brainstorming characters, and creating new ideas. But running a business also means understanding marketing, finances, sales, distribution, pricing, partnerships, contracts, production, websites, social media, and all the little behind-the-scenes systems nobody sees.
Another challenge has been building Super Unique Beast while continuing my graphic design work. That means a lot of evenings, weekends, and squeezing creative time into a very full schedule. Sometimes the hardest part is simply having more ideas than hours in the day.
But every struggle has forced me to become a better business owner.
I have learned to ask more questions, seek out mentors, connect with other entrepreneurs, listen to educators and families, and be willing to adjust when something is not working. Joining local business programs and building relationships with other small business owners has been especially valuable because entrepreneurship can feel very solitary if you try to do everything alone.
There are definitely days when I feel like I am chasing my own tail like a magical mystery Beast, but I also genuinely love what I am building.
The moments that keep me going are the ones where a child connects with a character, a teacher tells me the books are a valuable addition to their classroom, a parent says their child felt represented, or someone tells me one of my silly social media videos made them smile.
Those moments remind me that the work is reaching real people, and that makes all the less-glamorous parts completely worth it.
Thanks for sharing that. So, maybe next you can tell us a bit more about your work?
My work lives somewhere between storytelling, illustration, education, and a giant explosion of color and imagination.
I’m the creator, author, and illustrator of Super Unique Beast, a children’s book and educational brand built around one big idea: what makes us different is worth celebrating.
Each story follows a lovable animal character who experiences the world in their own unique way. The books explore themes like confidence, perseverance, friendship, accessibility, learning differences, sensory differences, and inclusion, but I always want those ideas to come through in a way that feels joyful, playful, and approachable for kids.
I write the stories, create the characters, illustrate the books, and design the visual world around them, so there is a lot of my personality baked into the brand. Bright colors, fun details, humor, heart, and probably more sparkles than strictly necessary.
I also love taking Super Unique Beast beyond the books. I do school visits, community events, creative activities, and classroom resources, and some of my favorite moments happen when kids get to create their own Super Unique Beasts. Give a child a blank page and permission to be wild and wonderful, and the results are usually better than anything an adult could have planned.
The moments that I’m most proud of are very personal to me. A child seeing themselves in a character. A parent telling me their child felt understood. A teacher saying a book opened the door to an important conversation. Those are the moments that make me think, “Yes. This is exactly why I’m doing this AND it’s actually working!”
What sets Super Unique Beast apart is that it is not just a book series. It is a growing character world built around real emotions, real differences, original artwork, direct connection with kids, and a mission to help ALL children feel seen, confident, and proud of who they are.
My background in graphic design also gives me a different perspective. I have spent more than 20 years working in design, branding, marketing, packaging, and illustration, so I naturally think not only about the story, but also about the entire experience around it.
At the heart of everything, I want Super Unique Beast to feel like a bright, welcoming place where kids can laugh, imagine, create, and discover that there is no one “right” way to be.
And if I can do all of that with a cast of colorful animals, a little chaos, and a generous helping of sunshine sparkles, even better.
If we knew you growing up, how would we have described you?
If you really want to know what I was like growing up, read my first Super Unique Beast book, *Lacinda the Lion*. Spoiler alert: it’s me.
I grew up in a very rural mountain town, and I was one of those kids who was always creating something. I loved animals, being outside, drawing, making up stories, and turning ordinary things into something much more interesting. Personality-wise, I was outgoing, curious, and definitely not afraid to be a little different. My report cards apparently liked to remind everyone that I “talked excessively,” which still feels pretty accurate. I loved making people laugh, asking questions, and being around people, but I also had a huge inner world that I could disappear into for hours.
I was especially drawn to colorful, magical things. I loved characters and stories that felt bright, imaginative, and larger than life. My Little Pony, Care Bears, She-Ra, and illustrated Disney books were absolute treasures to me because they opened the door to other worlds. I think I was always chasing that combination of color, wonder, adventure, and emotion.
Looking back, it makes perfect sense that I eventually created Super Unique Beast. The ingredients were all there from the beginning: animals, imagination, bright colors, humor, creativity, wanting to make people smile, and a deep appreciation for the things that make each person a little different.
So yes, Lacinda is definitely fictional, but if you see a colorful little red-headed lion with freckles who loves creativity, feels things deeply, has a big personality, and eventually learns that being unique is actually pretty great…
Well, let’s just say I know her very well.
Contact Info:
- Website: https://superuniquebeast.com/
- Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/superuniquebeast/
- Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/superuniquebeast
- LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/company/superuniquebeast/
- Youtube: https://www.youtube.com/@BethDavisCreative
- Other: https://www.tiktok.com/@superuniquebeast
