Life & Work with Cathy and Melissa Richardson of Dripping Springs

Today we’d like to introduce you to Cathy and Melissa Richardson.

Cathy and Melissa, we appreciate you taking the time to share your story with us today. Where does your story begin?
Hi Cathy and Melissa, it’s an honor to have you on the platform. Thanks for taking the time to share your story with us – to start maybe you can share some of your backstory with our readers?

Cathy: Hello! Thank you for having us! It all started in conversations on our daily mom daughter walks. Melissa was 8 years old and she wanted to create and sell bottle cap necklaces at our local ice cream shop in Steiner Ranch. I was thrilled my daughter loved art, she was curious about what I did professionally (graphic design and illustration) and Melissa naturally had the gift of creative curiosity to share her ideas and dreams with me! This was the start of our mom/daughter “creative hobby” relationship! As Melissa grew, her art and entrepreneur interests evolved, as well as my love for teaching the local kids art camp each summer, which became a fun collaboration. We both found passion for sharing our love for creating art, communicating creativity with the community and making hand-made projects with others – TOGETHER. This was “my momma dream” come true; finding this very special connection with my daughter at such a young age.

We started dreaming up product lines, printing on melamine plates, creating stationery and stickers to sell to friends and family, which evolved into local craft shows and markets. It was such a wonderful experience watching my kiddo learn, practice and get very good at talking to others about our story and finding her confidence in talking about her art. This “hobby” and our creative connection was turning into a business before my eyes!

By the time Melis was in 7th grade, her compassionate personality and creative drive to lift others up became something super special to see evolve. We came up with the name “CiMi Shine”, pronounced “See Me Shine” as we wanted our customers to say this outloud and feel positive and good about themselves and others. Honestly, if you say, “See me Shine” out loud … 3 times – please, tell me how you feel?…. you will have a smile on your face by the 3rd time you say it. Designing our logo together evolved and flowed… like a God thing, as so the name…. a sunshine, a big smile in Mel’s favorite colors. Ci-Mi is for Cathy and Melissa and the “i”s started out as curly loops from a combination of our handwriting.

As our story evolves, in 2016, Rob, my husband and I decided to move our family to Dripping Springs Texas. This was Melissa’s 8th grade year which was a blessing for our family, but did not come easy to our 3 children, 15, 14 and 11 1/2 years old at the time. That said Melissa and I had our dreams for CiMi Shine keeping us hopeful and positive in our big life change. After getting a little more settled, in 2017, CiMi Shine had a small full time retail space in the sweetest little shop in downtown “Dripping” called Lonestar Gifts next to the town coffee shop. Melissa learned so much about the responsibility of taking care of a consistent booth, managing inventory, creating new products, resale and marketing practices all with being a normal teenager, with school, club soccer travel and family commitments. It was thrilling to both of us to experience the success of selling our products in our very special small town community of Dripping Springs. To this day, we are so grateful for the support of our schools, families and locally run businesses in town, friends in Steiner Ranch and my local clients in the surrounding Austin area. Unfortunately during Covid 19, Lonestar gifts closed their doors, which meant new creative challenges to showcase our products. CiMishine.com, our online presence to the world was born.

Time together during Melissa’s high school years, especially during our travels for club soccer and time spent together in the car are memories I will cherish forever. The talks, the walks and the time drawing in sketchbooks or creating product designs on the computer together was magical for me as a mom. Looking back, it was crucial for the growth of our little hobby grown business. Cimi Shine evolved into a sustaining online shop, a pop-up Holiday venue at the Hill Country Galleria and we are so thrilled each year to have a booth at Christmas on Mercer in Dripping Springs for the past 4 years.

As Melissa’s art and style has evolved, so has she; as an incredible young lady. She now has her OWN line of apparel, books she has published and has created murals in her high school. She for sure talks her walk and on the open road she graciously is leading that walk!

CiMi Shine for me, as mom first (always) and as an artist, my personal goal was to promote and support honest and open creativity and confidence in Melissa. Opening her eyes to entrepreneurship, being brave to create and to stay curious, and to finding creative solutions to give and share with others while finding her own personal style has always been my mission for CiMi… Well, turns out our blessed journey and sweet Melissa have been MY biggest teachers and inspiration for my growth as a creative being.

And so we begin this fall in very new life experiences, exciting changes for CiMiShine, and uncharted territory. Melissa is going to SCAD! Savannah College of Art and Design. I could not be more proud and excited for Melissa to attend, learn, inspire others and find her own personal passions in the world of art, creative communication and design.

Melissa: Gosh, My mom really said it all! Our walks have definitely been a highlight of our creative process, but where I believe our story truly begins is in the relationship we share. My mom is consistent- about quality, about “pleases and thank you’s”, about being who we are regardless of circumstance. Ever since I was young mom would ingrain these principles into the minds of my brothers and I – feeding the creativity and igniting inspiration in me to find my own passion which just so happened to be design- like mother like daughter 😉 She would teach these amazing art camps while I was in elementary school and I would always participate until I was old enough to be her assistant- Lord knows I loved being the assistant, for it felt so professional! She was consistent in teaching about entrepreneurship and as an eager little gal, I jumped on the opportunity to create my heart’s content and sell right beside her at craft shows and events. I remember every holiday season she would participate in events at local churches, venues, etc. and she was such an inspiration. In full honesty, I’ve always strived to be like my mom- there are people who claim their mom is the best in the world, but my mom is put simply the best, for she taught me to be the person I am today- confident, creative, and colorful inside and out- the foundation of CiMiShine. In 7th grade, on our 6-mile walk down Quinlan Park road in Steiner Ranch, CiMishine was born. C. for Cathy and M. for Melissa doubling as the ‘seeing-you shine’ concept, it just worked. Definitely an upgrade from “assistant”- we were now business partners and have been ever since!

We all face challenges, but looking back would you describe it as a relatively smooth road?
Cathy: I will say it has been a FUN road. I think that has been something really important to teach ALL of my kids. That a “passion” starts with curiosity and love starts to grow. As a kid, creativity truly should be FUN and a magical outlet. That said, learning how to listen, to stay patient, going the extra mile to teach and keeping a balance of all of it with 3 active children have its challenges. The extra several hours in addition to my own business/design career, mother, involved community member and marriage…. Any “business” takes effort, hard work of going the extra mile, and an openness to roll with change, struggle with managing realistic expectations and look challenges straight in the eye.

As a creative business woman all of this is a mindset and has to be a given, but to teach this “craft/knowledge” to a teenager was at times super scary, and I was terrified to fail her or to lose her interest. As with teenagers, many of us know they are up and down, and on a personal rollercoaster of emotions daily. We made it through, so far pretty awesome.

How do you inspire a kid to dream, build confidence and get them to talk about all of it, but at the same time keep them grounded with realistic budgets, expectations and timelines? This has not always been easy with Mel and I. BUT this is where communication; talking about and listening to each other’s perspectives, has been a learning experience for both of us.

Building soul and character in my baby girl, Melis, sharing creative purpose with other children and bringing joy to our clients are values so deeply important to me. I am sure of it, that all of Melissa’s drive and passion are God given. I am hopefully just a proud and caring “vessel” to help her get where she is supposed to go and inspire others with her gifts.

Melissa: Haha! I wouldn’t call them challenges so much as learning curves. There were plenty of learning curves- from overcoming communication obstacles, learning about budgeting and delegating tasks, learning when to admit one of us was wrong, and the purity of listening to each other’s critiques. She is my mom first and foremost, and overcoming many of these curves has created a bond between us that no matter where we go, what we do, we can trust each other through and through ;).

Can you tell our readers more about what you do and what you think sets you apart from others?
Cathy: Both my decorative art/creative background and Melissa’s illustrative style and eye brings CiMi Shine to life. We both have different styles, work in different color palettes and mediums which have been fun to showcase TOGETHER in our products. Both are strongly connected to a shared mission that shares joy and optimism with our customer and consumer markets.

We specialize in “positivity”. That is what Mel would say 🙂 We create products that share Texas and small-town pride, team spirit and custom designs like our ATX platters, Dripping Pillows, faith-based cards, custom car magnets and gosh just special gifts that create joy and hopefully positive buzz and communication. We are both very much supportive of “girl power”, women in business and promote local businesses and products made in Texas and in the USA.We are always “flowing and growing” and excited to add designs and products that inspire positive creativity in everyone. A Happy Vibe Tribe Thrives!

Melissa: We are definitely a brand that specializes in positivity! As for what we do, we create. We are artists at heart and even from a young age, I was taught to proudly define myself as an artist because in truth we are all artists in some form or fashion creating our masterpieces. Our masterpieces in CiMishine happened to be in the form of cohesive whimsical illustrations done by both my mom and I. It has been very experimental, for we have printed graphic designed products, but we also experiment in hand made construction. From hand done notebooks to dozens of tea towels it has truly been a community affair as good friends and family have come together to help us sew beautiful pieces! CiMishine is so much more than a brand- then a collection of products- it’s a community of love, of friends, of joy, of positivity.

Can you tell us more about what you were like growing up?
Cathy: Growing up I always loved art and have been decoratively doodling for years and years. Cathy B. Design is my design studio and have been in business for over 20 something years. My experience in the children’s market and entertainment studios has been a wonderful combination to my first and most important job as “mom”. The culture I have been working with for over 25 years at the Walt Disney Company has taught and inspired me that FUN ART, and designing for happiness as an artist, is a healthy, magical and successful way to create art. I love the out of doors and value the sunshine and creative vibe in ATX. One of my favorite things to do is still going on walks with my Melis…. and we STILL enjoy dreaming of things to create, places to go and ideas to build on! I love and live by this quote: ANYTHING IS POSSIBLE. ~ Melissa Richardson

Melissa: This is a funny question, as I’m still in the midst of growing up! I’m 18 years young and boy do I still have so much of life to live! My youth has been spent running around with a soccer ball at my feet, a paint brush in one hand and gratefully- a laptop in the other. Learning Illustrator from the greatest teacher ever aka mom, since elementary school is definitely a highlight! I believe it is also imperative to mention my dad- My mom and dad are always teaching about gratitude, about appreciating who we are as a family and what we have physically. He is the finance guy- he always makes sure we are okay and when my mom and I start dreamin’ too big for our financial britches, he takes our ideas and makes them realistic to pursue. We truly are a team! Along with morals, I have grown up on Chocolate chip cookies. Life is like a chocolate chip cookie just as running a business is; Every single cookie is different, and within each of those cookies are a million different bites you can take- I’ve spent my childhood taking bites out of so many different cookies- experiences- and CiMiShine has been an experience that I am honored to say I have shared with my mom. We all grow up with fear of the unknown, that we are going to fail, that we are going to fall, and I’m not going to say I’ve overcome this fear for I still think about it from time to time, but what I have learned is to look toward the sunshine- toward the concept that no matter where we are in life, no matter what we do there is a world before us- one where anything is possible- where everyday is a new day waiting for a masterpiece to be created. 18 years of crafting alongside my mom in a house where creativity is treated as a fundamental principle and art closets with an ‘s’ have been unlocked for as long as I can remember. I’m so grateful for my childhood- for my roots that have given me the courage to fail, to succeed, and to experiment in business and in life alongside my best friend. I love my mom more than anything, for from car rides to soccer games 6 hours away to hours of art shows, selling products, to long walks down Quinlan Park – now we walk in Dripping Spring Ranch Park, life is full, life is not perfect, but life, like a cookie, like art, is beautiful!

Pricing: all budgets $4 sticker and $ UP: custom handbags/sneakers/dishware

• Melamine Dishware
• home decor
• stationery and prints
• lifestyle fashion products
• Personalization/custom products

Contact Info:

• Email: cimishine1@gmail.com
• Website: CiMiShine.com
• Instagram: @cimishine
• Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/cimishine
• Other: cathybdesign.com

Image Credits
photography and website: Aimee Jones. Insta @aimeekatherineshop