Arts Entrepreneurship Podcast: Making Art Work
Arts Entrepreneurship Podcast: Making Art Work
#337: Stephanie Diamant (Fashion & Serial Entrepreneur) (pt. 1 of 2)
This week on the podcast is part one of our interview with Stephanie Diamant. She has a background in fashion and worked as a sales and brand ambassador at Saks Fifth Avenue, and in visual merchandizing for Chanel.
Recognizing the collaboration between corporate executives and artists, she decided to become an artist and ultimately worked with many fashion brands to design their illustrations, custom signs, murals and pop-up stores and events. From there she expanded her arts offerings by creating original art, exhibiting in galleries and designing installations for homes, brands and special events.
Join us to hear how Stephanie applied what she learned in the Fashion industry to all her other entrepreneurial pursuits, including art and real estate. https://www.pinterest.com/mixedmediabysteph/ and https://www.instagram.com/mixedmediabysteph/?hl=en
Welcome to the Arts Entrepreneurship Podcast. Making art work. We highlight how entrepreneurs align their artistry, passion and vision to create and pursue opportunities to capture value in the arts. The views expressed by guests on the Arts Entrepreneurship Podcast are solely their own and do not necessarily represent the views of the podcast or its hosts. The appearance of a guest on the podcast, the venture they represent or reference to any product or service does not imply an endorsement or recommendation by the podcast or its hosts. The content provided is for entertainment and informational purposes only and does not constitute business advice. Here are your hosts Andy Heise and Nick Petrella.
Andy Heise:Hi Arts Entrepreneurship Podcast listeners. My name is Andy Heise.
Nick Petrella:And I'm Nick Petrella Today. Today we're joined by arts entrepreneur Stephanie Diamant. She has a background in fashion and worked as a sales and brand ambassador at Saks Fifth Avenue and in visual merchandising for Chanel executives and artists. She decided to become an artist and ultimately worked with many fashion brands to design their illustrations, custom signs, murals, pop-up stores and events. From there, she expanded her arts offerings by creating original art, exhibiting in galleries and designing installations for homes, brands and special events. She continues to grow her brand and recently added real estate investing to her portfolio by applying the business skills she learned in fashion and art. We'll have her websites in the show notes so you can check out her art and designs. Thanks for being with us, stephanie.
Stephanie Diaman:Thank you so much for having me.
Nick Petrella:When you decided to leave corporate America, were you confident you had the art skills to design packaging and were you surprised when you turned the idea into a full-time gig.
Stephanie Diaman:So I don't know, to be honest, how I had the confidence, but I was extremely confident.
Stephanie Diaman:I think part of it was because, moving to New York, I'm from Canton, ohio, so small town. Moving to New York, I knew that I was never going to ask my parents for another thing again. So my first role at Saks, I had never been in the sales environment like commission sales and since I succeeded, and succeeded so quickly, I just knew that basically anything I wanted to do, if I put my mind to it, I could do it. And so I think that's where that confidence started to come from putting myself in different environments and succeeding. And so when I actually quit my job cold to start the art thing so I think that was definitely a bit of a surprise for me and everyone around me, but because of that it was kind of the same thing. Like I just knew I had to put all of my effort into one thing and I didn't have the time to do it with a full-time job. So I just quit, knowing that that was the best route forward, and I never looked back really.
Nick Petrella:So just a couple things to unpack. So you said success was that sales success?
Stephanie Diaman:Yeah, so I was, um, there's this uh award at Saks called the million dollar book and it's when you sell over $1 million in a year. And, just to put it into perspective, most people who are in sales like their whole career can't do that, and I did it in my first year at the company. So I was just this young girl, 24 years old, who, like, had never had that type of job before and somehow I was just so good in sales.
Nick Petrella:So why do you think that that was?
Stephanie Diaman:I think I I'm very genuine, just by nature. That's who I am, and people kind of took to that on the sales floor, like a lot of salespeople are more pushy or just not as easygoing and I just had something that a lot of people don't have and I was just like persistent in getting the client what they needed and what they wanted and I was able to upsell. With my fashion background, I knew so much about all the brands on the floor. There were just so many things that I had that just a normal like other salesperson maybe didn't have.
Nick Petrella:Yeah, and then before you may, I might've stopped you short, I don't really remember, I just wanted to unpack that. But so you totally left corporate America to start. You didn't have, you didn't continue to work and then try to get your art career off. You just I'm assuming you saved some money.
Stephanie Diaman:I did save some money because, unlike a normal fashion job coming straight out of college where you're making like $40,000, I was doing pretty well in sales. So, I had saved enough where I wasn't worried, but not enough to not have a job for a long time.
Nick Petrella:So right yeah Great.
Andy Heise:Could we could. Could you back up a little bit and tell us, like, how did you get to New York, what was, what happened before then and why did you want to go to New York?
Stephanie Diaman:So I had been. I studied at Kent State and I did a couple of like study aways travel abroads while I was there. I was in Italy, Hong Kong and New York. I spent a semester in New York, so New York was obviously the most realistic of the three for a full-time job opportunity and I knew Ohio wasn't going to cut it for fashion, so I just moved pretty much right after school.
Andy Heise:And did, was the job at Saks. Did you have that lined up, or did you move to New York and then look for jobs?
Stephanie Diaman:No, I moved to New York first and actually I can't believe I will admit this on a podcast that goes to so many countries. But one of my very good friends and I she was the only girl I knew who moved to New York with me. I knew no one else. The two of us, like we had nothing. So we actually shared a room in an apartment with two other girls Like we shared a bedroom, slept in the same bed for like three months before we actually figured it out and like, got our own lease and it was wild.
Nick Petrella:Yeah, yeah, you can do that when you're young.
Stephanie Diaman:I guess you can do it when you're older too.
Andy Heise:Yeah, I don't know if I would do it now, but I don't regret it. Yeah, it's funny. So you've said in your bio that adaptability is your superpower. Can you think of a time when being adaptable completely changed the outcome of a project or something that you were working on based on a decision you made?
Stephanie Diaman:Yes, yes. So the first thing that comes to mind when you've asked me, that I did a mural in New York city almost a year ago today, last May and it was a client that I had done a mural for previously, so we had a good relationship. She's in the physical therapy space, so doesn't know much about art, and she admitted to me after she hired me and the first project was done that she was so scared, had no idea how the project was going to turn out like, could not visualize it, and so for the second one, she was in a different space, so I was designing her new space and we were just talking via email. Before um, I had been living in New York and she was there as well. So I was designing her new space and we were just talking via email. Before um, I had been living in New York and she was there as well, so we met in person. I got to see the space. It was more like um, like I could visually see what was happening, versus just going back and forth via email.
Stephanie Diaman:And for a large project like that, it's really not the best idea to not see the space. So we just had a few conversations via email. She never sent me any measurements, she just sent me videos, and I should have known better, because, being in real estate, you see so many like houses and properties online where they somehow make it look so much bigger than it is Right. So in this case it was actually like a different size than what I thought. So I had the whole thing mocked up and sketched out for her and then when I got there, the one wall was like significantly larger, and so I just I mean, I guess, because I've been doing this kind of thing for a while I was pretty unfazed, but it was a significant difference in the design I showed her.
Stephanie Diaman:And luckily, since she had hired me prior, she still like trusted me and there was no issue, but I think for somebody who had never done a job like that before, it could have been significantly harder.
Nick Petrella:Well, that's. That's going to change your labor. That's going to change a lot of things.
Stephanie Diaman:Yeah, yeah, and I was only there for two days to do this mural.
Nick Petrella:So I was like oh boy. Wow, but did you get it done?
Stephanie Diaman:Yes.
Nick Petrella:Good. So how did you find other fashion brands to work with when you launched your art career, and had you already compiled a large network when you were in the industry?
Stephanie Diaman:so I had a couple of people who, yes, like I did know a few people, I guess I would say, but, um, most of it was just putting myself out there, just going to events. The woman who I was just speaking about, who I did the mural for I went to a yoga event and met one of her friends who was also in the physical therapy space and he referred me to her.
Stephanie Diaman:So, things like that, where maybe it's not even art or fashion, where I would just meet people who are like, oh, I need an artist or oh, I have this project, and it just kind of like would roll from there.
Nick Petrella:So networking, it just kind of like would roll from there. So networking, and my hunch is the personality, your personality, that lends so well to sales, it's really networking. It's what you're doing.
Stephanie Diaman:Yeah, it's a lot of networking, but it's harder to like sell yourself, so that was difficult for me.
Nick Petrella:Yeah, and that comes up here quite a bit, doesn't it Andy?
Andy Heise:Absolutely. Yeah, well, and I'm also thinking like the the. The problem that you sort of described was like a physical therapist is a great example. They want their space to be unique, distinctive, you know what may be Instagrammable, whatever it is right, some sort of something distinct about their space, and they're like, oh, I bet an artist would be able to do something, but they don't maybe know artists, they don't like even know where to find them or the ones that could do that. So I, the whole the problem I guess that I'm getting to here is like they think they need an artist but they don't necessarily know how to do that. And I think it takes a special person to sort of bridge those two worlds, like one that can either do the art and have those conversations with people who don't maybe fully understand what they're even asking for, but also to maybe even like to bridge that gap, to find the artists that are able to help people in those situations.
Stephanie Diaman:Yeah, I agree. I think it's hard, hard for people to visualize, right yeah?
Nick Petrella:So you're not only selling's hard for people to visualize, right? So you're not only selling the work, you're kind of selling the idea, or at least you know what. There was a study a while back that ads that you see people who purchase the items, whether it's a luxury watch or something like that they go back and look at the ads as affirmation for what they've done. So in your conversations it's probably the audible version of that. Yeah, I guess so?
Stephanie Diaman:No, I guess so, and you kind of have to build that relationship too, to where they trust you, and it works that way.
Andy Heise:And I suppose at this point you have a portfolio of work that you can sort of show people. I guess a question might be and, Nick, stop me if I'm stepping on a question you ask later but how do you, where, where do most of those leads come from? You just gave the example of the physical therapist that came from this yoga event. Is, I mean, do they, is that how they usually happen, or are you actively pursuing clients, or how does how does that usually work?
Stephanie Diaman:Um, I think now going forward, I would have to do more of the active pursuing. But it's because I'm in a different place too. Um, so I guess, yeah, it's definitely going to be a lot of that. It's easier when you're more, when you've been somewhere for a long period of time, I think.
Nick Petrella:Yeah, yeah, yeah.
Andy Heise:Yeah, and so you've built your career across lots of different industries and even on different continents, as we'll talk about in a little bit. You do a lot of traveling, have done a lot of traveling. Do you see any common threads between fashion, art and real estate that maybe most people don't see the connection to those things?
Stephanie Diaman:So I wish I had a super cool answer for this, but I don't know if I do.
Stephanie Diaman:What comes to mind, though, is I'm starting to see a lot of people I'm sure you guys in your audience have heard and seen people who travel in vans and just like go around the world to different locations. I'm starting to see now people who build businesses out of those vans. So there will be like fashion, like vintage sellers, who have like an entire van of just vintage clothing, and they'll go to different cities and they'll post on their Instagram like we're here, and I see like that type of world persisting, moving forward. Um, because it's so like location dependent or independent.
Nick Petrella:And.
Stephanie Diaman:I think people love that.
Nick Petrella:It's like a fashion version of a food truck that you can go on a long trip with. Yeah.
Stephanie Diaman:Yes, exactly, and it seems like they're doing very well too.
Andy Heise:Yeah, I mean the the pandemic brought a lot of that to the forefront, right. People like whatever, were either laid off or quit their jobs or whatever and became digital nomads like, or the van life like that whole. That whole sort of culture came to the forefront because I think there were more people doing it, of course, but it had already existed, but certainly came to the forefront during the pandemic. And I've thought about that too and I was looking for, like a vintage travel trailer during that time and they were super expensive because everybody was buying them up, because they were doing this. And now there's a lot of them on the market for sale and so, to your point, maybe there might be like adapting the business model from that van life travel thing to more of a boutique sort of thing that might be happening. I don't know. Certainly seems like it's a trend, like you mentioned.
Stephanie Diaman:Yeah, I think it's super cool to see. I'm excited to see like new takes on that, like maybe artists start doing it or I don't know how you could do it in real estate, but maybe I'll come up with a way.
Nick Petrella:Yeah Right, have you ever thought about doing that? Not necessarily real estate, but a truck, and art and or fashion.
Stephanie Diaman:Not really to be honest, but the location independent thing that I mentioned is something that's very top of mind. So, yes, like I'm in one place right now because I'm trying to build my real estate portfolio, so it doesn't feel like my true self. I'm like every day what am I doing here? I've been here for so long.
Andy Heise:Right, I see yeah.
Stephanie Diaman:Yeah.
Andy Heise:We had what was his name, the print.
Nick Petrella:Oh, velazquez, was it Velazquez?
Andy Heise:We'll have to cut this out. I was hoping you'd remember.
Nick Petrella:No, it's Velazquez. He had a. Was it Joseph? Is it Joseph Velazquez?
Andy Heise:Okay, from Florida. Yes, yeah, yeah, yeah, he has a printing press in the back of his van that he would travel around and do print events and art shows and pop-ups and things like that.
Stephanie Diaman:Okay, I love that.
Andy Heise:But I think those, to your point, location-independ, I think, like you said, I think are really interesting, but because there are like unique experiences that can only happen in that with that one thing, that van or whatever, but yet you can take it around to different places, so it's more accessible to more people and things.
Nick Petrella:Yeah, so let's just switch gears here. And in your bio it states you work with teams of people to create pop-up stores and events. What's that process like? Can you walk us through that?
Stephanie Diaman:Yes, so it depends. There's so many different types of events that I've done, whether I was, like, essentially, the project manager or the producer on that event, where I'm running the whole thing, or I would just join in as a freelancer, like day of, or for multiple days when everything had already been planned. See the site, choose the site. We would have to decide how we wanted to set it up. Then we would decide who we would bring on as a freelancer who could support the idea that we had in that space and we basically would have to depending on what it was, um, order, everything make sure everybody was there on time. Like when I worked at a marketing firm. We were doing, we designed like galas and we also did like runway shows, so that was more like very large production. But then I also worked with a friend who was working for a big agency and they hired me for like an Amazon pop-up where I just came on as a freelancer and basically was just working with her direct, so they had already brought everything in.
Stephanie Diaman:They hire like carpenters, like they're building walls and everything. It's like a whole scale production, so all types of different creators are in that space and they have to be in there at different times. So it's also like if one thing is late, then you've ruined the whole schedule and then the producer is having to like back up the timetable and everybody's just like trying to follow what's going on. So you really have to have just strong management skills and be able to adapt really quickly to anything that goes wrong.
Nick Petrella:Yeah, because some of those spaces I mean I imagine there's going to be, there are going to be, there could be permits. You're going to have to hire actual electricians. You can't do this stuff right. If there's lighting, you just can't do this yourself in. It depends on the areas technically. Technically well, someplace I mean just coming out of music, trade shows and stuff, right, yeah, you couldn't. You couldn't touch certain things yeah so. But had you had that experience, or is that again just something that came naturally to you?
Stephanie Diaman:I guess, yeah, more so came naturally Again. Just, I knew I wanted to do it and I kind of start from a place where if I'm feeling stuck in something, I know I need to make a pivot. So I had been in a different corporate role and I was not excited about it. And then when I started going off on my own, that's when I started picking up some of these other jobs because I could be my own, like under my own brand but, still make bigger money with like these bigger brands.
Stephanie Diaman:So I just would like push myself to be in those types of environments where I would meet more people and get the experience and it was hard at first, I think, to like get people to believe that I could do the job, but it's just all about actually doing it and succeeding at it.
Nick Petrella:So you just put yourself out there, you did it, and then, once you get some success, you build on. It sounds like.
Stephanie Diaman:Yeah, that's my game plan event or pop-up yep okay yeah, and in different spaces too. Different industries with different people, it's so interesting to see how it varies across the board.
Andy Heise:Yeah, because I can imagine, like I don't know corporate insurance event versus like a merchandise or even a fashion show type of event like those are two very different things, but ultimately you're trying to accomplish the same types of goals yes, what would you say is the most unique event you've been a part of.
Stephanie Diaman:Um oh boy, that's a tough one. So I helped produce an event in Las Vegas for a fashion company that makes clothes and works with other fashion brands to design clothes for disabled people, and it was incredible Like they had people walk the runway who were disabled and it was just so special to see and I think those kinds of organizations like don't get enough of those views because it's not like so glamorous and you know you don't typically see that on the runway.
Stephanie Diaman:So it was just very like heartwarming, and it was just such a good experience.
Andy Heise:Yeah, that's awesome. And what? What role did you play in that?
Stephanie Diaman:That when I was a producer. So I was part of producing the whole event.
Andy Heise:Wow, yeah. So, stephanie, when you took the leap and started pursuing art full time, what surprised you most about the realities of trying to make a living doing creative work?
Stephanie Diaman:That's a good question. So I think that the most surprising thing was when you know what you're asking, a lot of people are definitely willing to help. But it's also a matter of time, which is very frustrating when you own your own business and you're just trying to survive, essentially Cause a lot of people will say, oh, I would love to hire you, or oh, I know somebody who can do that, and then they connect you with that somebody and then it takes six months or a year or the project never even happened. So it's so much excitement on the upfront and all of the followup and then a lot of times it just like doesn't even work out. So that's why you have to have just so many like. Never put one egg. All your eggs in one basket, I guess.
Andy Heise:Yeah, yeah. So so patience, being patient, but being also diligent and continuing to pursue it, even though maybe you're not getting any immediate payoffs. Yes, a lot of patience, and I think that it was very character building too, because I am not a patient person. It was hard for me. Well, I can see that you're ambitious, you're excited, let's get to work. And they're like not yet. And you're like okay, well, jumping up a bit, yeah, I could see that.
Stephanie Diaman:Yeah, and I've had projects fall through to where it's they don't have the budget, or like we go through rounds of different ideas and they're like, oh, we just can't do it. So that happens too.
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Nick Petrella:Thank you.
