Find this Baton Rouge creative’s bold art on shop windows, T-shirts and book pages

Though she was born and raised in Baton Rouge, Jenn Lee Hester says she hadn’t realized her appreciation for its landscape until she traveled. Venturing to big cities around the country, she enjoyed the sights. But she simultaneously found herself understanding for the first time how much Louisiana has to offer.

“I used to hate on the city a lot,” Hester says. “But as I’ve traveled, I have this appreciation for how green it is here, and just the lusciousness and the things that we can grow here.”

After obtaining her degree in graphic design, she channeled her talents into hand-lettering artful designs on the chalkboards at the Baton Rouge location of Trader Joe’s.

“That was kind of like my springboard job,” Hester says. “I feel like that pushed me into getting into my business.”

After having her first child, she left Trader Joe’s to start her own business, Jenn Lee Creates. Today, she keeps busy with window painting, branding, design work and murals—and has even published two volumes of the Letter It Out book series, elevating the work and personal stories of other creatives.

One of her recent projects was painting a Louisiana-themed mural on a food truck. She splashed the exterior with the state’s famous sunset scenes and the local critters she’s come to adore. It was a bucket list project, she says.

“It was good for me to find appreciation,” Hester says. “It kind of refreshed me.”

This article was originally published in the November 2025 issue of 225 Magazine.