Today we’d like to introduce you to Sylvia Helfond
Hi Sylvia, we’re thrilled to have a chance to learn your story today. So, before we get into specifics, maybe you can briefly walk us through how you got to where you are today?
I am a native Austinite. A little over 10 years ago, I began making handmade cards from home for fun. I viewed many YouTube videos to learn new techniques and about the various supplies. Approximately 6 years ago, I started making cards for the coworkers in the office for birthdays and celebrations. This led to selling them to friends and family.
We moved from nearby, Bastrop to where we currently live in Hutto, Texas in 2021. When we moved here, my hope was to connect with the local artist community and make art full time in some fashion though I was not clear how it would happen. I was fortunate to meet multiple female small business owners who shared their knowledge, and experiences encouraging me to sell my handmade cards in their shops.
With the support of my husband, I took 2023 to research how to form a business, where to open, how to fund it, and make a plan. I also participated in my first handmade markets in both Taylor and Hutto but when I wanted to start holding classes I realized quickly, I did not want to carry the supplies back and forth. The studio just seemed the logical solution to allow me to make the art I wanted to make, share my love of creativity and art of all types and give the community a place to gather.
Fortunately, the financing lined up as we hoped to self-fund the studio. In late 2023 we found the space that would become the art studio and opened in April 2024.
I’m sure it wasn’t obstacle-free, but would you say the journey has been fairly smooth so far?
The road was not smooth but was definitely made smoother by the information provided by the other small business owners who had recently started their businesses.
The information to start a business is technically available (much of it online if you know what you are looking for) but it was like drinking from a fire hydrant and overwhelming to know where to start. From how to set up an LLC without paying hundreds for someone to do it for you to learning about sales taxes and franchise taxes.
Learning about how to finish out a space, the expense, negotiating a quote and ensuring I did not get overcharged.
Can you tell our readers more about what you do and what you think sets you apart from others?
The largest part of my professional career involved administrative work until 2008 when I began studying to become an Occupational Therapy Assistant. This was one of my favorite times in my professional life.
After graduating in 2010 I worked primarily with the geriatric population to rehabilitate from acute or chronic illness in skilled nursing facilities then later in the home health capacity. This led me to find a position in the local public transportation organization in Austin, Texas. I was a Travel Trainer, where I trained seniors and persons with disabilities to learn how to utilize public transportation. This position allowed me to use the OTA skills to tailor the instructions to plan routes, signal stops, and ask for assistance, to each individual. I was most proud of the riders who gained confidence to take a bus route to their community centers, work and the independence they gained from our time together.
Though I am no longer a therapist in the same capacity, I still believe I specialize in giving individuals the tools to see their strengths when I may not have seen it in themselves in order to try something new and different.
Is there something surprising that you feel even people who know you might not know about?
When I was much younger, I participated in a card competition where the selected would have their cards printed. Years ago, we found a copy of the card. Art, for many years was absent from my daily life until I began again making cards.
Pricing:
- Daily Entry fee: $10 plus tax
- Monthly memberships starting at $79 plus tax
- Classes and workshops (vary) – see website
Contact Info:
- Website: https://www.cumberlandroadart.com
- Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/cumberlandroadartstudio/
- Youtube: https://www.youtube.com/@cumberlandroadart4287
