Do What You Love ❤️
It’s been a journey.
After months of planning and executing we are finally open and available. This all started in July 2021, where inspiration met preparation and luck, and all the stars aligned to help this vision come to life. The idea was for a creative space that I could not only use to create art and photograph my clients, but also a space that I could share with others and allow them to create and share with their loved ones and clients the same. This space was the first space I took a look at and funny enough, Ray (my long-time friend and realtor) said that sometimes the first space his clients look at usually is the one that sticks, and he was right. I independently look at over 30 locations in Baltimore County, Dundalk, Essex, Middle River, Rosedale, and Baltimore City before finally deciding on 7014 German Hill Rd, Unit C, Dundalk, MD, 21222. The first space was the right space and along we went.
This is what the space used to look like when we received the keys. The feeling we had when we finally were able to freely roam inside the space was inexplicable. Due to business overhead, we couldn’t hold on to that feeling for too long, so much work had to be done. The clock was ticking, the bills were ongoing and the vision had to be executed. From shopping for inventory to thinking about what actually needed to be done and budgeting for it, to planning out a marketing and branding strategy and working on SEO during the busiest photography season I ever had, it was a lot.
Then a fresh coat of paint. Greek Villa, hand-selected. Luckily, I had Ray Gomez to help me out throughout the entire process. Not only was he my agent during the leasing process but he also owns Rise And Prime Painting and was able to get a crew in the space the same weekend I received the keys. They began work immediately and got the walls primed and painted and ready for the rest of the work. Once the space was painted, it was starting to come together. The color immediately changed how the space felt.
Warm tones for the floors. Ash and sands because we are always moving and life is a beach. The floors were hand-selected after hours of research on several websites. Who knew there were so many options when choosing floors? There was tile, luxury vinyl plank, epoxy, glue or click, the thickness of the floor itself, average life span to consider, colors, patterns and so much more! I got educated on flooring pretty quickly because without this the space was still unusable. After deciding on the flooring, specifically a light color to bounce the light around in the already white space, it was time to order it, wait for it to arrive, and then schedule installation which took at least 2 weeks to get done. While this was happening, the brand was being built, the story was being documented, and so many other photography jobs had to be completed. Let alone, all the other things life threw at us.
Intimate, cozy, and wide open. Perfect for intimate hosting. Once the floor was installed, we contacted a company to come in and apply a clear matte coat of wax to seal the floors to avoid any molding under in case there was a spill and liquids would get in between the cracks. Once this was done it was the first time I saw the space this clean since the first time I did a walkthrough as I was looking at all of the spaces available in the nearby area. It was all starting to come together. During this time, we installed security cameras, curtains, and ordered the vinyl for the windows plus all the additional branding, marketing, and pre-sales had begun. This entire time I was juggling 17 things while being on a rollercoaster and attempting to not drop any of them. If you are thinking of starting something for the first time in a physical location, here are some kind words, and unsolicited advice, be prepared for the unexpected as best as you can. Also, be prepared to sleep very little while you adjust to the new workload on top of everything else you already have going on. These are the things nobody explained before I embarked on this journey and the things I had to learn the hard way.
The vision is coming together, and we are hosting open houses every Thursday from 5 pm-7 pm. Until we no longer hosted open houses. Beautiful isn’t it? The hard part is the back end after seeing it all come together. The space is ready, ok.. now what? We need business! and lots of it. Not only do we have to recover the original investment, we now have to test the waters and see what works and what doesn’t. Open houses were working for a bit until they didn’t and I began to see how much time I spent in the space and nobody would show up. So I switched over to appointment only and that has worked out a lot better. By this time, we sold some pre-sales and got an influx of money to help us continue to invest and pay the bills. Still navigating where to store things, how to organize the space, develop a “default look” when it wasn’t in use and have hundreds of conversations with the local community members, non-profits, regular everyday people, family, social media, and still heavy marketing and advertisement plays. Looking back at it now, none of this was easy at all. It was all new experiences on top of new problems to solve that I had never solved before.
And now space is now open and available! Cheers! What a journey it’s been. Since we opened we have hosted so many different types of events and rentals. We’ve done charity work with our toy donation drive for families in crisis centers across Baltimore, hosted pop-up shops helping promote local small businesses, worked with non-profits in Baltimore and Dundalk. Hosted paint nites, casting calls, and a ton of photoshoots, along with baby and bridal showers, wedding receptions, birthday parties and so much more! All of these events and rentals have taught me a lot, not only about the rental business itself but also about people and our local community. It hasn’t all been peaches and cream and some events had me really doubting why I even began this in the first place, but for the most part, it’s been an overall great experience and I’ve met some wonderful folks. To date, we have over 35 five-star reviews for our dedication to the customer, our customer service, our amenities, and our special care and attention to keeping the space clean.
Freshly paved and free on-site parking. We are located in the middle unit between Big Apple Pizza and Studio 51. We have 30 Parking spaces on location on a fresh and newly paved parking lot. I manually keep the parking lot as clean as possible using a leaf blower several times a week. With this amount of free parking space, our guests are able to arrive, park, and walk right in, providing ease of use, accessibility, and a seamless experience.
It all comes full circle. Do what you love. Caroline and Kait painted the windows the display a positive message to our location community inspiring people to not only continue to do, but to do what they love. A nice addition to the space that hopefully puts a smile on the faces of ongoing traffic.
