Boston Friends Create Multicultural Masterpiece

This transcript was generated from the episode audio and may contain minor errors.

Today's side hustle school story is all about two friends who create a multicultural masterpiece in Boston, launching a for-profit art space. This business was formed out of a need for more diverse and inclusive spaces that feature art for recreation. Now what is art for recreation? Well, there are these things called paint parties. If you're not familiar with paint parties, well, I guess that's what I'm going to tell you about here in the episode. I think we featured one a

long time ago, I'll have to look it up, that was all about cannabis and painting. So you kind of come together and get high and do some painting, which, you know, sounds awesome to me except for the part about painting because I'm not so good at painting myself. But a lot of people out there are really into this thing of gathering together to create art. Now, along the way, as part of the episode, you'll get a lesson in how to turn a liability or possible weakness into a selling point, as well as how they adapt or adjust from that point. And then in addition, something about how instead of trying to validate an idea, like if you've got a new idea, how do you validate that idea? How do you know that there's demand? We talked about that in different episodes, but it

can be kind of a tricky thing, like you don't always know. But the alternative is to look for an idea that's already validated, effectively saving yourself a big step. So in this case, the two people I'll tell you about kind of knew that this was a thing. They knew that if they could figure out some variables, there would be demand for it. So it was all about how do I figure out those logistics? How do I make it happen? And as I said, how to adjust to complications that arise

along the way. So Boston friends create multicultural masterpiece coming right up. Victoria Downs and Tanika Johnson are two friends living in Boston. Although they both work full-time jobs, they've also dabbled in money-making ventures in the past. Victoria had a successful hustle selling shea butter and Tanika sold custom jewelry and cupcakes. While creating and building

is in their DNA, a few years ago, they both found themselves back working full-time jobs as trainers in the public health field. The jobs were fulfilling, but sites like the Level One Trauma Center where Victoria worked were not necessarily the best environment for artistic flourishing. So they looked outside their work to get their creative fix. And for both of them, they found enjoyment in art. Around this time, the paint party scene was just starting to take off. If you're not familiar with the paint party and give you the quick brushstrokes,

these gatherings typically take place in an art studio or similar space and are run in groups. Over the course of a couple of hours, an art instructor shows everyone how to create a masterpiece of their own. This is usually done while enjoying some good wine and a cheese platter. That's what makes it a paint party. It's easy to see why the business model was popular.

The parties were just a lot of fun and people loved them. Victoria and Tanika were no exception. But they realized there was a multicultural spin lacking in the Boston paint party scene. Boston is a truly diverse city with people of many races, ethnicities, and backgrounds. Victoria and Tanika designed a concept that was similar to other paint parties where the artworks the group created would reflect the diverse array of people in their city.

With that, the easel was set and the paint party started. The two friends would begin their own version of the concept in honor of the spirit they wanted to convey. They call it sauna with friends. Sauna being the Swahili word for art. They set aside $4,000 of their own money to get things going. With the funds in place, they put down the first dash of

colored paint on their new hustle. The beauty of following a proven business model is that the work of validation has already been done. In other words, they knew what they had to do, they just had to go and do it. The main task was to find a studio space to run the parties. For that, they looked around the city, eventually settling on a nice studio on the outskirts of town, away from the hubbub, but within their price range. Next, they had to find an instructor.

Through their network in Boston, they hired someone with previous experience. A clearer picture was for me. Now it was time to sell the class. For that, they turned to their personal networks. Easiest way to do that was by using Facebook. It worked, and their first

customers were Victoria's sister and mother-in-law. She texted Tanika and they did a virtual high-five to celebrate. They kept chipping away at the sales, and one by one, they sold their way to a full studio. Three months from the initial idea, it was time to unveil their work of art. Unfortunately, that's when they ran into a big problem. You see, paint parties and wine typically

go hand in hand. But to serve wine in Boston, you need a license, and Victoria and Tanika didn't have one. They thought it would be simple enough, but it turned out the area in which they'd rented the studio was already maxed out of licenses. Apparently, there was a cap, but they didn't know that before signing police. In true Hustler spirit, the show must go on, so they simply ran the paint party as an alcohol-free event. And who knows, it may or may not have actually produced

better art. The two women had been excited about the space at first, but they realized it wasn't a long-term solution. It seemed that the location was actually too far from the city center, and the lack of alcohol license was proving a deterrent to their target market. They were determined to make things work, so they shifted to a slightly different model. They decided to partner up with local restaurants by hosting parties at their premises. The benefits were

threefold. First, it removed the need for large overheads like a rental space. Second, it enabled them to piggyback off the restaurant's reputation to attract customers. And third, it allowed them to remove much of the stress and instead focus on bringing a unique, artistic, and truly multicultural experience to their customers. The strategy has been a big success. It's allowed Sana with Friends

to grow into a profitable side hustle over the past two years. And in the past 12 months, the business has generated $25,000, and that's only while operating it part-time. It's not enough to quit their jobs and go all-in, but that's not the goal, at least for now. The best part for Victoria and Tanika is the actual parties. They don't feel at all like work. At these parties,

they get to paint, connect, and network with their local community. These two artistic friends are living proof that with a simple idea, handsome perseverance, willingness to adapt, a side hustle can become a work of art. Awesome. Congratulations to Victoria and Tanika. Sounds like an awesome project. I always love seeing projects that focus on bringing people together to do something in

particular, some kind of shared activity or experience. And a painting party, of course, is a great example of that. I also looked up that example of a previous episode we had. It was episode 510, "Bring your own cannabis to this 420 friendly painting class." So a little bit different there. One class, you couldn't have wine. The other one was like, "Come and bring your

marijuana and get high." But I also wanted to say about this episode, I'm really glad that they were able to take another look at their model and change it up and do something a little bit different by partnering with restaurants, restaurants in different spaces, et cetera. I think the wrong thing to do would be to keep trying to make that initial space work. Clearly it had some limitations and so they were unafraid to say, "What else can we do? How can we take our idea but be willing to adapt it or transform it in some way?" So if you're in the Boston area, go and check it out. Sauna with Friends, of course, we're going to link it up on the show notes page and check out their website and so much more. Those show notes are at sidehustleschool.com/824.

Episode 824. We are well into April and I'm excited about all that is to come. Do come back tomorrow. Be sure you're subscribed. Tell your friends.

Once again, my name is Chris Guillebeau. This is Side Hustle School. From the Onward Project.