Today we’d like to introduce you to Sara and Topher Mack.
Hi Sara and Topher, so excited to have you on the platform. So before we get into questions about your work-life, maybe you can bring our readers up to speed on your story and how you got to where you are today?
Hello, and thank you for having us! Our journey started together back in 2014. We were both attending the Milwaukee Institute of Art and Design and while we didn’t know it at the time, we both chose to go on a study abroad to Thailand and Cambodia. During that time we were paired as roommates, which is how we met and was the start of our relationship. As we traveled around Southeast Asia together, our relationship deepened and we both knew there was something special there. After returning home, we decided to stay roommates and have been roommates ever since. After graduating and working jobs that weren’t in the Arts, we decided to move and felt that Austin was a good fit for us. Not only do we have family here, but it also has a great art scene. At first we tried to find jobs in our respective creative fields, but with no luck finding good, creative jobs, we decided to take the risk and started our business, Artist Couple.
In those beginning years of building our business, we were moving from apartment to apartment and eventually we got tired of the rising rates and constantly having to pack and unpack. This is when we decided to cut loose from expensive apartment leases all together and bought an RV, which we aptly named the “aRtV”. Moving into a RV with a growing business was a tough transition, but allowed us to better balance our passion for travel and art. In 2018, we had a magical, fairytale wedding and in 2019, we found a piece of land that we fell in love with. Just before the pandemic, we started clearing and preparing to build our dream studio and forever home. We are now (hopefully, haha!) at the end of the building process and are very excited to have more space for creative projects! Our story is still young and we have so many exciting dreams and goals for the years to come!
I’m sure you wouldn’t say it’s been obstacle free, but so far would you say the journey has been a fairly smooth road?
I think we can all agree that starting a successful small business is never an easy feat, especially one in the Arts field and the first couple of years were definitely challenging. Learning the legal side of owning a business, how to do taxes and getting our name out there in a city where we barely knew anyone was hard (especially for two introverts). Our biggest struggle by far was choosing a “niche”. We both have always loved a challenge, trying new styles and techniques or changing the scale or medium we work in is exciting. We simply don’t like doing the same thing over and over and didn’t want to corner ourselves into being known for only one style or medium.
This allowed us to explore multiple options for how we wanted to build our brand and has given us the flexibility to have multiple creative outlets and services. However, we’d also have to say that doing it this way was probably why we struggled so much in the beginning. We’ve had our fine art in galleries, sold work at festivals, tried our hand at face painting, social media managing, content creating, remodeling, refinishing, portrait photography, custom framing, documentary photography, art installing, and teaching art lessons just to name a few. With so many avenues, we found it impossible to market ourselves and even now after over five years in business, we can still find it challenging at times since we continue to offer multiple services. That being said, over the years we’ve gained a lot of experience and we have been able to refine our brand to be able to successfully pursue multiple passions.
Thanks – so what else should our readers know about your work and what you’re currently focused on?
Our main services include murals, specialty painting/accent walls, and real estate photography. Every one of our projects are custom-tailored to each client’s vision and space. It doesn’t matter if it’s a kid’s bedroom mural, Venetian plaster accent wall or a real estate video; we pride ourselves in connecting with our customers and creating something that is original and unique just for them and making their vision come to life.
Along with these main areas of focus, we also offer a photo booth rental, event and live art, commissioned artwork along with our own fine art and have two new Etsy shops we hope to grow after we move into our new studio. Our One-Stop-Frame-Shop on Etsy is where we give antique and vintage frames a new life, and our SMACK Arts Etsy shop is our outlet to share and sell more experimental, comical and playful artworks.
Where we are in life is often partly because of others. Who/what else deserves credit for how your story turned out?
We have to give credit to our parents. Not only are they our biggest cheerleaders and fans, but their support has been hugely motivational and inspiring. We also have to give credit to each other. We wouldn’t be where we are today without supporting each other and working as a team. We know we have each other’s backs inside the art studio and out.
Contact Info:
- Email: artistcouplellc@gmail.com
- Website: https://www.artistcouple.com/
- Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/artistcouplellc
- Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/artistcouple/
- Other: https://g.co/kgs/AfCqRF
Image Credits
Artist Couple LLC. and GermanProFoto
