Art Biz & Hiring

When first started AvantGarb (we're a custom, mascot making company),  I was the only employee. I did everything, designed, made the mascots, shipped them, did the marketing ---everything.

Quickly, I realized I was going to have to hire people. Just as employees have a learning curve at a new job, I had a learning curve as a boss. I'm still learning.

Hiring people is a puzzle. In a an arty biz like mine, creative decisions and problem solving are constant. Intuitive, improvisational communication is the lifeblood of the business.

We make mascots, which are like costumes and also like really, really big props. There is a huge amount of something I call, "non-specific engineering" that goes into them. We're engineering with foam, zippers and quick release buckles. It's a type of construction that requires whims of imagination and flights of fancy. 

Those with the most experience may not be the best ones for the job. 

Yup, it's true. We can teach someone to sew ---after all, sewing machines are really just power tools, and power tools are fun! It's hard to teach someone to take courageous, creative leaps
 - creative leaps and courage are so much harder than learning to sew.

When I started hiring people, I was interested in experience in making costumes and education. My hiring requirements have evolved over time. Education is nice, but I also want to know that there is something behind the education---like the habit of work. 
I hire from a wide range of sources. Currently we have some puppet/performance art people, theater prop people, a philosophy major who really understands interior, mascot structures, a cosplay person, a fashion person ---who always wears great clothes, a 2D artist who has a real knack for mascot shoes and accessories (in mascotdom, tails are accessories) and a former bartender who is totally charming on the phone and online, and understands quickbooks and social media.

It is a magical group. I look forward to working with them every day

 

How to keep your soul, make art, do biz and tell a story

How to keep your soul, make art, do biz and tell a story.

...of course, that's the kicker. I read recently that truly successful people don't have a Plan B.

I never had a plan A. 

When I was young, this is what I knew:

I knew art made me swoon, and made me stand up straight and pay attention.

I liked cool clothes, big cities, funky apartments, meals with friends, and boys.

I liked stumbling through foreign countries and foreign languages.

It's a recipe for a rich life. 

...and a life filled with stories. I feel like a historian for my generation. I protested the war in Vietnam in DC & got maced. I met my first big deal boyfriend at a "Peace-in" at Cornell University.

I lived in Seattle when it was cheap and full of artists and punks. I made costumes with a costume performance group, Friends of the Rag. I was an artist in NYC (with a studio at P.S.1) during the disco years  and before AIDS broke our hearts. 

I celebrated my 19th birthday on top of the Pyramid of the Sun in Mexico.

I can start sentences with phrases like, "When I was in Mumbai" ....or "compared to Shanghai, NYC looks like Colonial Williamsburg" 

However, not to seem too exotic, Thirty-four years ago, I married the handsomest of the boys. I have 2 fascinating, twenty-something/30 something daughters, and a funny, arty business that keeps my fingers and my brain nimble. I live in Indianapolis, Indiana and I'm a church lady.

After a couple decades making mascots as the Queen of Fuzz at AvantGarb, my soul is intact, art makes me swoon, biz is good, and ohmygoodness do I have stories to tell.