We were lucky to catch up with The Portwell House recently and have shared our conversation below.
The Portwell, we’re thrilled to have you on our platform and we think there is so much folks can learn from you and your story. Something that matters deeply to us is living a life and leading a career filled with purpose and so let’s start by chatting about how you found your purpose.
Honestly, by accident. We both had creativity and artistic qualities that presented themselves in our past, whether it be in school or hobbies, however, we did not fully utilize or develop them to what they are now until we started dating. The triggering moment may be lead back to when we first started dating and Tianna had an antique dresser that she mentioned that she always wanted to refurbish. This triggered the idea for us to designing and refurbishing this dresser together as something fun to do as a couple. After completely sanding, painting, clear coating, and replacing the hardware, we had a beautiful, bold dresser that became an attention-grabbing piece in Tianna’s apartment. From this moment, and with encouragement from friends and family, we began to create and express our artistic expression through a multitude of avenues, including canvas, furniture, writing, social media content, and marketing. After honing these skills further and finding success in the public enjoying our work, it seemed evident that this was our purpose to create a creative and artistic space for us to share our work with the world and hopefully help and inspire others to do the same.
Thanks for sharing that. So, before we get any further into our conversation, can you tell our readers a bit about yourself and what you’re working on?
At The Portwell House, we have established an environment to let artistic and creative expression thrive. Our goal is to create an all-encompassing site to learn, grow, and build on creativity and manage means in which to make it successful. Our main focuses currently are creating custom pieces of furniture that is either build from scratch or taking old and/or used furniture and repurposing it to be new and beautiful again. We also create beautiful works of art using multiple forms of media, with the majority of it being applied to canvas, as we are creating texture art in addition to spray paint, acrylic, or even epoxy. Additionally, we work with local businesses to cultivate events and marketing materials, which can be used for promotional purposes or means in which to grow their social media presence, which would include creating social media content and the managing of same.
The most exciting part of The Portwell House is that there is no ceiling or limit as to what can be made, as we are always growing, evolving, and experimenting with our mediums, which allows us to stay ahead of the curve and try new things in order to create something fun and enjoyable. Also, the depth of what we can bring and provide to our clients is vast because we both provide unique ideas and perspectives to each project, which is what makes our projects and products something desirable.
Looking back, what do you think were the three qualities, skills, or areas of knowledge that were most impactful in your journey? What advice do you have for folks who are early in their journey in terms of how they can best develop or improve on these?
On the marketing side of our business, the three qualities, skills, or areas of knowledge that were most impactful were the desire to seek out the resources and access within our community to refine our skills. These resources include obtaining formal education in marketing; participating in marketing internship programs; and attending continued educational courses offered in our community, which resulted in additional certifications. Our advice would be to network with people who are like minded and have similar interests to yours in order to learn some of the do’s and dont’s of whichever particular arena you are interested in. Networking is a huge resource and benefit to anyone trying to create a successful business or pursue a particular interest.
On the design side of our business, in addition to networking and learning from other artists or creatives, it is very important to experiment and be comfortable with the unknown or uncomfortable as some of the best pieces we have created happened at moments we least expected and can develop into bigger and better ideas down the road. Additionally, learning skills, including tips and tricks, to the creative process you are trying is very beneficial as this can provide a clearer path and provide you with proper guidance to what you want to create. For us it was the help and guidance of friends that knew the proper ways to use a saw or apply paint and clear coat to furniture. Our advice would be to just go out and try it, whatever it is that you are thinking just start with a color and see what happens. There will be moments where you will have to redo or fix something, but that is one of the best ways to learn and figure out how to improve your abilities.
How would you describe your ideal client?
Our ideal client would be someone who is either a business owner or a brand that is seeking marketing strategies to grow their business or meet any professional goals they may have for themselves. Our ideal client is also someone who appreciates and is seeking custom artistic pieces, whether furniture or art, or has a project they are looking to complete and need assistance or guidance on how to finish it. While we are always looking to work with new individuals and businesses, we welcome the opportunity to create and develop a community collective to help lift each other up and provide opportunities, which are mutually beneficial.
Contact Info:
- Website: Check Instagram for Website Release
- Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/the_portwell/
Image Credits
Karen Arango in Sarasota, FL
