How did you start your business?
The images I use are all my mother’s [Constance Depler’s] artwork. Her work had been reproduced in the past and I decided we could do it instead of just licensing it out. At first, I tried just starting a website, but I spent a lot of money, and it didn’t work great. Then, I took the Bad Girl Ventures classes and was a finalist. Ultimately, we decided to focus on my mother’s 1950s work, the bar hounds, reindeer and a lot more. Right now, we’re at the point of reconstructing the website and starting with web-based sales, with a plan of going into wholesale retail next year.
How did you come up the idea for your business?
It was a mutual decision between my mom and I; she’s thrilled and loved that I’m doing it.
What resources here did you take advantage of and how did they help?
Bad Girl Ventures helped me form connections with business people and mentors. It also forced me to to sit down and do the work I don’t like: financials, business plans, and just really studying what a business entails. Connections I made through Bad Girl have been great for finding people who would work with me on marketing and design; it helped me make my support team.
Overall, I learned to go slower and really take the time so that things aren’t rushed and everything we put out looks great. That lesson helped me: slow down, think it out, you don’t have to do everything at once.
What inspires you?
When I tell people about the store and the artwork, they love it and they love the look of the pieces. Also, keeping a support system around me helps. My mother, who’s really interested, still lives on Milton Street here in Cincinnati. She’s 85, still painting, still working, and still doing the pet portraits she’s known for. Personally, I’m excited about getting more involved in the design aspect of what we’re producing, which is a part of myself I haven’t tapped into yet.
What’s next for you and your company?
We’ve switched our focus to the 1950s genre of my mother’s work. Our immediate next step is to have a new online store by April, and the next big goal is to have a new product line coming out. The first year we’re starting with products like purses and kindle covers – things with a flat image on them. Hopefully, by September, we’ll bring out barware and then develop into products like candlesticks, figurines, corkscrews and other items that we’d need to have molded.
By 2013, we plan to have a full-fledged product line for the wholesale and retail market.
By Robin Donovan
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