We opened (and when I say "we" I mean "I") October 5th 2010 on the night of the Eagle Rock music festival. The response was so positive and welcoming. I was so pleased that I chose the right neighborhood for my first business. One that would appreciate an art studio which promoted process and experiential activities. I thought to myself "I am going to have open studio every day and at least 3 people are going to stop by to make things with there kids". Along with the open studio, my goal was 20 kids in my classes. I was offering 6 so I thought that was a fair number. Reality set in pretty quick. I had 11 students my first fall session. Yes, 11 and maybe two people a week coming in for open studio not per day. I love those families who started off with me and entrusted their children to me. Most of those families are still taking classes and the Purple Twig would not have survived with out them.
This was one of my first art classes "Little Architects". We started out by building roller coasters and amusements parks, talking about structure and foundations for building.
So 11 kids was not going to get me through two months of rent. I decided to start doing workshops on the weekends so that families could get acquainted with the shop. I figured if families knew what we did then they might sign up for the next session. Well that was my first good idea as to growing the business. It completely helped supplement me through.
