Today we’d like to introduce you to Helen Yoon and Jaime Marum.
Helen, Jaime, can you briefly walk us through your story – how you started and how you got to where you are today. I am one of the owners of Painting with Influence. My husband, Jaime and I have always wanted to own and operate a family business but struggled with what we wanted to do. I am a practicing attorney and Jaime had been in operations and logistics for 28 years, but our opportunity revealed itself when Jaime was laid off from his job in 2016. Jaime knew that he did not want to continue in his career in operations and we began a quick search of available businesses for sale. The listing for Painting with Influence immediately caught my eye. Creating art and music has always been an integral part of both of our lives, but we had never imagined that it could be part of our dream of owning our own business. We discussed this idea with my sister, Amy Yoon and her husband, Albert Lin, on possibly becoming our partners in this business venture. My sister is also very artistic and creative and she was immediately intrigued with the idea. So, within a few weeks of discovering the studio, we had closed the deal with Painting with Influence. My sister, brother-in-law, husband, and I purchased the existing “paint and sip” studio in late December 2016. Since then, Jaime runs the day to day operations of the studio as well as teaching the classes. The rest of us kept our day jobs, but maintain the accounting, social media, R&D, website development and other tasks of the studio on the weekends and after hours.
Great, so let’s dig a little deeper into the story – has it been an easy path overall and if not, what were the challenges you’ve had to overcome? The studio was your traditional “paint and sip” like many other big franchised studios that you may have heard of, specializing in BYOB painting parties. Shortly after we purchased the business, we transformed the studio with new paint, furniture, and a new logo to make it our own and waited to welcome our customers. However, we quickly learned that very few people knew that we even existed in Downtown Carrollton. The business had no marketing or advertising program and no presence on social media. With little to no advertising budget available to us, we decided that social media was the best way to get our name out to the greater Dallas area. We have had a few local social media influencers nights and have partnered with some wonderful local bloggers to get the word out about our little studio, tucked away in an obscure old town square. Our greatest struggle today is still becoming an active player in the DFW small business community. We get out to as many local area events and festivals as possible and partner with well-known social media influencers, but it has been slow progress and depend on the positive word-of-mouth advertising of our customers.
Please tell us about Painting with Influence. We are an art studio and events venue. Painting with Influence provides a cozy and charming environment for friends and family to gather for fun while doing something creative. We offer classes and parties for painting on canvas, pottery, and wine glasses, as well as making hand-built pottery, making fused glass creations, and water marbling on silk.
We knew right away that we wanted to be more than just a “paint and sip”. We wanted our studio to be a place where people could discover their creative side, learn a new activity, gather with friends, and just have fun. We are most proud of our ability and willingness to work with our customers to help them tailor their parties/events to fulfill their vision. Many times, we create custom paintings for our parties and corporate events. We are very excited about our latest product offering, water marbling on silk. It is such a unique and fun activity that is not being widely offered in our area. Another new product we will be highlighting is our Artist Guided Family Painting. During this activity, we guide you, your children, or entire family in creating a large format (4’x5′) one-of-a-kind painting. It is a wonderful way to create memories and a lasting piece of art for your home.
Pricing:
- Painting on Canvas Class – Adult : $35/painter, Kids: $25/painter
- Painting on Wine/Pint Glasses – $30/person (2 glasses included)
- Handbuilt Pottery Class – Adult: $35/person, Kids: $25/person
- Fused Glass – $35/person
- Water Marbling on Silk Scarf – $40/person (15″x60″ 100% silk scarf included)
- Paint Your Own Pet – $50/person
- Artist Guided Family Painting – $300/family
- Paint Your Own Pottery – prices vary
Contact Info:
- Address: 1014 S. Broadway
Suite 104
Carrollton, Texas 75006 - Website: www.paintingwithinfluence.com
- Phone: (972) 446-0444
- Email: contact@paintingwithinfluence.com
- Instagram: @paintingwithinfluence
- Facebook: @paintingwithinfluence
- Twitter: @PWI_Carrollton
- Yelp: Painting With Influence
Image Credit:
Helen Yoon Photography, Dana Menendez Photography
Getting in touch: VoyageDallas is built on recommendations from the community; it’s how we uncover hidden gems, so if you know someone who deserves recognition please let us know here.
