The Local Artist's Blueprint: Turning Creative Dreams into Business Reality

Send us a text

Have you ever wondered what would happen if you trusted your wildest creative ideas and actually built a business around them? 

On this special anniversary episode, I'm celebrating one year since the ribbon-cutting ceremony of Brewtifully and reflecting on the incredible journey of transforming an unconventional vision into a thriving creative space. When people ask how I developed this business model, they're often surprised to learn I literally made it up from scratch – no franchise, no template, just a clear vision of what I wanted to create for my community.

The path hasn't been without challenges. Transitioning from full-time employment to entrepreneurship brought sleepless nights wondering if bills would get paid or if my ideas would resonate. Yet the fulfillment of building something authentically mine has been worth every moment of uncertainty. What began as a desire to support local artists and provide a creative haven has exceeded expectations – we're now booked with artists through 2026 and halfway through 2027, attracting creators from across the region.

I share the pivotal role mentors played in refining my vision without dampening it, particularly through our local SCORE chapter. Their expertise helped transform my ideas into a viable business plan while encouraging me to maintain the uniqueness that makes Brutally Made special. This episode offers honest insights about embracing imperfection, taking daily steps toward your dreams, and the power of authenticity over perfection.

Whether you're harboring creative aspirations or simply need inspiration to trust your instincts, this anniversary reflection might be the gentle push you need. Your dreams don't require perfection – they just require you to begin. What creative vision are you ready to bring into the world?

Support the show

Catch the doodles on YouTube

My socials:
Sign up for my monthly newsletter
Portfolio website: Brewtifully.com
Instagram: /Brewtifully
Facebook: /brewtifully
TikTok: GettingSmallwithGrandma
LinkedIn: Tracy Dawn Brewer

Episode Transcript

Speaker 1 (00:09):
Hello everyone.
Welcome back to Brutally MadeTracy here.
I am very excited to be backwith you.
Thanks for all the love on thelast episode with my husband.
It turned out to be a wonderfulshow.
It was our largest group thatwe had ever attend an artist

(00:30):
reception and he was thrilledand it was really cool to get to
talk to him on the podcast andshare that with you.
So thank you for tuning in andthank you for watching and
sharing and listening.
So that was really cool.
Today is officially one yearthat we had our ribbon cutting

(00:53):
ceremony, so September 12th isthe one year ribbon cutting
ceremony.
I cannot believe it has been ayear already.
It has flown by.
You know, the best laid plans.
You just, you know, dive in andliterally that's what I did
starting this business.
I wanted to do this full time,so I was working full time in.

(01:16):
That transition was a lot, alot of work and you know, in
June of this year got to retirefrom that job and just dive in
headfirst and make this happen,and that's what I'm continuing
to do and it is just really adream come true.
I had to trust myself and trustmy instincts and some things

(01:42):
work, some things don't,instincts, and you know some
things work, some things don't.
You know, health things come upand you, you know, try to plan
for everything and the thingsthat you don't plan for you, you
know, take those challenges onhead on and just building this
business and making it exactly.
What I want is I can't evenexplain how fulfilling it is and

(02:07):
I absolutely love just tryingsomething new in the shop and
seeing how people respond andjust having the ability to
create it all on my own, out ofmy head, is something beyond I
ever imagined, making me sohappy.

(02:28):
And I really, really, reallyhope that that gives you a
little bit of gumption to trymaking your own dreams come true
.
And you know I'm not sittinghere telling you it's easy,
because it is not.
It is a, you know, dailystruggle and worry, a weekly, a

(02:49):
monthly.
I'm always, you know, concerned.
You know, am I going to be ableto pay my bills?
Am I going to be able tosurvive off this?
Am I making people happy or amI going to get, you know,
someone upset because maybesomething that they made they
didn't like?
And I just take it one day at atime and you have to do that
and I don't regret it.

(03:11):
I just cannot believe it's beena year already and the
reception that I continue toreceive from the people in the
community is still so positive.
I feel like I'm doing somethingreally good to give people
space to, you know, explore andfind their creative voice and a

(03:32):
place to, you know, hang out anda place to shop and a place to
support other artists and justall the things that I ever was
looking for for myself.
I wanted to make it happen here,and I get questioned a lot how
did I come up with this businessmodel?
How did I come up with theconcept for this?
I literally made it up.

(03:53):
I really just wanted to dosomething artistically and I
originally thought I was goingto need to do something that was
going to be more, I guess,national, like a national
license or national, you know,contract, I don't know.

(04:14):
I thought that that was goingto be the key for me to be able
to be creative on a full-timebasis, and I will always credit
my wonderful friend MargotTantel with Tantel Studios for
coming up with the mastermindthat she did, being part of that
and then telling me to leaninto local.

(04:36):
And I got Just attached to thatthought, thinking, well,
there's a lot of really coollocal things here and I've been
trying to be recognized locallyas an artist and participate in
things, so why don't I justcreate my own space?
And that's what I did and Ireally, really feel like it was

(05:01):
a push in the right direction.
It was a push in the rightdirection and it gave me the
confidence to believe in theideas that I had, even though
they weren't proven.
I mean, this isn't somethingthat you find like off the shelf
or franchise or anything likethat.
It is literally made up in myhead by I like shopping local, I
want to support local artists,I want to have a wall where they

(05:24):
can change it out every month.
I want to be able to celebratepeople, I want a space for kids,
I want a space for adults.
I want to have it in a locationthat has easy parking, that has
accessibility.
I mean I can just give you thelaundry list of the outline that
when I was creating a businessplan with our local score

(05:46):
chapter to get their kind offeedback from some of the
wonderful, like Mike Johnson.
He is a phenomenal mentor andhe has been through multiple
corporations in higher positionsfrom VPs and such, and met with
him many times talking about myidea, and never once did he

(06:11):
balk at what I was doing, notonce did he say this would never
work.
He was thoroughly just blownaway by as much detail as I
could provide and was just sosupportive.
So when you're looking to dosomething, talking to people
that have that expertise is huge.

(06:32):
And finding them locally, youknow.
Start with your chamber ofcommerce.
Look in your area.
If you have a score chapter,they're all over the country.
Find people that you trust,that you want to talk to about

(06:54):
your idea.
But be very vigilant aboutkeeping your idea alive.
You don't have to have somebodytell you that it's not a good
one.
Just make it work.
Figure out a way.
If you've got that intuitionthat it is something that you
love and you really want to makeit happen, don't wait, make it
happen, do it.
I just one year has flown by sofast, I just cannot believe it

(07:16):
and we just have so much to lookforward to.
I'm completely booked withartists for 2026.
I am completely booked withartists for 2026.
I am completely booked withartists halfway through 2027 for
the gallery.
That's phenomenal and I'm just,and they're from all over.

(07:37):
I've got people coming fromCleveland area, salem, it's not
just Stark County, so it's youknow word is getting out and
that makes me so happy.
Everybody's been so differentand everybody's work has been
just so unique and it's a spotwhere people can walk in like
I've never seen anything likethis before and it's I just love

(07:59):
celebrating that.
So, you know, diversify thoseideas, make that multi-layered,
give people different reasons tocome in to whatever you're
doing, bringing them into whatyou love.
And don't be afraid.
Don't fear that sense of it'snot going to work.

(08:19):
Trust what you have in yourheart and you will find a way to
get it out there in the world.
And yeah, that is like mybiggest takeaway from the last
year.
I'm telling you it has not beeneasy, it has been a challenge,
and I do have a very supportivehusband and I'm very blessed

(08:41):
about having him trusteverything that I'm trying to do
and I'm not doing thingsperfectly at all I try to just
do them correctly or as best asmy ability and seek out help
when I need it, and that's allyou can do.
And just one step at a time,one day at a time and one idea

(09:06):
at a time, and not all of themare going to click, and that's
okay, it's totally okay.
But try, you just have to try.
And so, as an artist whostarted a business, a small
business, and has, you know,just so many big ideas and so
many dreams, I just want toencourage you to go for all of

(09:29):
those in any creative pursuit.
You know, it could be a coffeeshop, it could be a store.
Maybe you want to do freelancework.
Just explore it.
There's so many avenues outthere that you can, you know,
let people know that that's whatyou do.
Share what you do.
Don't be afraid to share whatyou do, and making it happen is

(09:54):
something that should be likedaily.
It doesn't have to be perfect.
You don't have to have, youknow, perfect hair.
I mean, look at me.
You don't have to be cameraready all the time.
Be authentic, be yourself, bewho is relatable to other people
.
That's what's most important,that's what's going to resonate,

(10:16):
that's what's going to get youto where you want to be is
because somebody wants to feellike they have a connection with
you.
And you do not have to doperfect art, you don't have to
do perfect coffee.
You don't have to create,perfect anything.
You know, just be yourself andoffer that hand or help or

(10:39):
whatever it is in whatever youwant to do, and make it
authentic, make it yours andshare it with the world, because
the world needs more of you.
We all need one another to beourselves and we have to start,
you know, accepting one anotherwholeheartedly.
And but, yeah, I just, I cannotbelieve it's been one year and

(11:00):
I just wanted to hop on andshare that and celebrate that
and thank everybody for theirsupport.
I can't believe all thelisteners that I have all over
the world.
I hope it encourages you to.
You know, ignore any of thenegativity that's happening in
the world right now, and not tothe point where it's.

(11:21):
You know, there's a lot ofreally sad things happening.
I'm just saying, don't let itstop you from achieving your
dreams, because now's the besttime you have to try.
There's nothing else stoppingyou other than yourself, and
that's the truth and I just Iwant to celebrate you for that.
But but yeah, just, I can'twait to share more of the things

(11:43):
that I'm doing.
Yesterday I got to do the 9-11Memorial Climb at our McKinley
Monument and I just, you know,wasn't like a scheduled thing.
I just went there and took mywatercolors and paints and I did
one round of the steps.
It was 108 steps all the wayand then if you did 12 of those

(12:05):
around the entire path, thatwould have been the flight of
the World Trade Center.
And the firemen were there andthe police and the community,
and it was just beautiful.
It was so inspiring.
So I did my one round and thenwent to, were there and the
police and the community, and itwas just beautiful.
It was so inspiring.
So I did my one round and thenwent to the bottom of the
monument and then painted livefrom what was happening.
And I was contacted later onthat night by someone who wanted

(12:29):
to buy the painting which blewme away.
I mean, this is not a perfectpainting by any stretch of the
imagination.
I just was doing it from myheart, in a moment in time,
watching everything happen, andit just made me just so humbled
and honored that someone youknow felt, resonated that
feeling that I felt and wantedit and I just yeah, it's just

(12:51):
incredible, just sharing yourstory and sharing what you love
and you know, just, it reallywas just to be part of it in a
different way than, and I nevergot to go.
I've always wanted to go andI'd always worked full time.
So now it was the day that Igot to go and it was a gorgeous
day and friends were there andit was just beautiful and I just
felt just so humbled to be partof that beautiful and I just

(13:17):
felt just so humbled to be partof that and just doing things
like that off the cuff in yourcommunity just explore, you know
, try, try everything, just justtry.
So well, I am very excited.
I will not have an episode nextweek unless I get to record it
with my grands.
So that may happen.
It may be a little rough audio,but we did one before, so we'll

(13:42):
see.
We'll see how it goes for theweek, but I am very excited to
be here with you today andcelebrate one year grand opening
and I hope you have a brutallate May day and weekend and do
something that you love today.
So take care.
Bye.