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| Kate is the lovely lady in the middle. Thanks to Sarah Brown Photography for the photo! |
I always think about rolling my eyes whenever people ask me
what I do. It typically goes something like this… “Oh, so you’re KidzArt! I see
your ads everywhere. So you guys, like, paint with kids, right?”
My first response is a deep breath. Then I answer their
question with, “No, actually KidzArt is teaching art education programming to
little, itty, bitty finger painters all the way through Senior Citizen
programming. We teach at area schools after school’s out, in special needs
classes during the day, and a few schools that no longer have art programming
available. We teach in the studios a wide variety of classes for a wide variety
of ages and abilities, including all of our grown-up classes. We work very
closely with a large number of non-profit organizations teaching classes and
having drop-in times for just their groups. We attend and help manage several
family friendly festivals and fairs all over Northern Michigan. We assist with
area education and art programs with collaboration groups and advisory
meetings. Not to mention the business side of things. So when it comes down to
it, teaching kids to paint is just a small portion of what I get to do every
day.”
When I go through all the list of places we have
programming, groups I’ve been affiliated with, boards I’ve spoken to; people
tend to stare at me with their eyes wide and jaws dropped. In my typical
fashion, I chuckle and say, “Yeah, I’m pretty tired just telling you what my
weekly calendar looks like.”
Being a business owner is hard, exhausting, and many times
downright frustrating. The marketing, networking, advertising, finding amazing
staff, educating the community; it’s darn near impossible to keep up the pace I
find myself in every week.
That’s why I enjoy attending the TCYP events when I can.
It’s an opportunity for me to put work, kids, and the many loads of laundry all
on the back burner. My husband, who is a PGA Professional at the Traverse City
Golf and Country Club, and I don’t get to spend very much time together during
the spring, summer, and early fall. So when we have the opportunity to attend a
wine tasting at an area vineyard or get tickets to see a local production with
a group of like minded professionals who are actually our age, we love it! It’s
so much fun to meet new people and compare notes on what our kids are into. We
can chat about our businesses or simply about what we’re being served to eat.
I love that I get to wear tie-dyed T-shirts and sneakers to
work every day if I want to. But it’s also nice to get dressed up, go to a new
place, and talk with people who are out there working their tails off just as
hard as I am. I love to take a deep breath while looking over an amazing
vineyard by the water and hold my husband’s hand to remember why we live in
such a glorious place.
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