Hi, I am Julia Szabo,
a Crafty Gal from the Corporate World
You know how to Teach, I know how to bring clarity to your Marketing.
Whether you are just opened your Art Studio or have been teaching for years,
my mission for you is simple:
to bridge the gap between being a Teacher to becoming a confident Business Owner and building Success along the way.
I started crafting in a small village in Transylvania (Romania) with my first Teacher: my Grandmother. She taught me how to make woven rugs from old clothes and leftover fabric. We worked long hours during the week, and then on Saturdays, we went to the market to sell the rugs. That is where I learned the joy of creating by hand and the basics of Sales and Marketing. Many years later, I still use that foundation.
I bring a fresh, outside perspective to you as a Marketing Professional, Student, and Parent. The Marketing basics and the Customer decision-making process is the same across industries. I have 20+ years of knowledge from business schooling and a successful career. I was the Marketing Director for Renault and helped them expand into the Eastern European Market. I also worked for high tech startups in the USA where I was instrumental in getting investor funding. Lately, I have been involved with marketing and leasing office buildings in California to companies like Google and Facebook.
I also bring the Student perspective to your Art Teaching Business from taking numerous Mosaics and Jewelry classes, so I understand what brings Students through your door. I also enrolled my 2 kids in many classes, so I know what Parents are looking for when choosing an activity. Here are my projects.
I am probably not too different from You.
Picture I am probably not too different from You. I had a Teacher who shaped my life, and you most likely had one too. And right now, there is a little boy or girl who’s life you are shaping with your creativity and knowledge, that goes way beyond the art lessons. There is also an Adult who is thinking fondly of you every time he/she comes up with a creative idea that leads to success.
I can help you keep being the Teacher to many-many more Students and positively shape their lives. The best way to achieve that is with a thriving Business, where you can hire more Teachers and a team for the tasks you don't want to do, so you can focus on what you do best: make a positive impact.
You know how to Teach, but you did not go to School to learn how to run a successful Business. Nor do you have the time to go back to school. I am here to take that burden away and guide you through actionable, bite-size Marketing steps to build a thriving Business.
Because I don’t own a Teaching Business, I don’t have preconceived notions on how things should work, so I can help you look in from outside, as a Student, Parent, and Marketing Processional and help you build a Successful Art Teaching Business.
Julia's craft projects
:Creating jewelry, making mosaics or up-cycling clothes is a cool outlet from my everyday routine. I’ve always loved to craft: as a child I made many of my clothes and created lots of handmade presents.
As a practical person I create mainly functional pieces:
- Need a new plant? I glue mosaics to a flower pot for decoration
- Bought a new outfit? I assemble a new jewelry set to accessorize
- Have a boring t-shirt? I crochet a pretty trim as embellishment
- A Holiday is coming? I make a fairy garden to make it more festive
My Inspiration
Inspiration can be anything that “speaks to me”. A cool jacket with interesting fabric or a new building with geometrical lines and shiny windows. My clean and colorful designs are drawn from those.
The exception are my fairy gardens where emotions dictate the outcome: I go back to my childhood and recreate a piece of my grandmother’s garden or the spirit of the Holiday.
Behind the Scenes
For Jewelry and Up-cycling I usually have a pretty good outline of colors and material but it is fluid until I sit down to create.
Fairy Gardens just create themselves piece by piece.
But Mosaics are tougher. Once the glue dries there is not much one can change. So having a pretty good idea is not enough. I need to pull out paper and colored pencil, and sketch different versions before each project. My design is often guided by what I have available as substrate (material to be glued) and no... breaking a plate from the cabinet to add variety is not a good solution -- although it has happened before.
Mosaics
To this day, most my Mosaic projects are trial and error. Sometimes it can be discouraging as things seldom go as planned: colors don't match or pieces slips off and get glued in the wrong places.
Sometimes the most planned and thought out pieces become, well...blah. And the ones that systematically go "off script" become favorites. Got to love the creative process! And live with the result.
Mosaics
My jewelry making consists of constructing existing bits of chains, pendants and knickknacks collected at shopping sprees and garage sales. I usually think about the design for a few days then assemble them in less than an hour. Easy-peasy!
Fairy Gardens
I love Fairy Gardens and it is a great family project with the kids. We usually start together and when they get bored I don't wait for the next time. I keep going and finish them by myself. When I look at them, they take me back to worry-free childhood. So cool!
Up-Cycle
I recently started up-cycling boring t-shirts with crochet trims. I attach them to the bottom, front and neckline for embellishment and personal touch. It is done while waiting in between my kids' activities.
My Model: Izabelle
Anything looks good on Izabelle. So it was was a logical choice to ask her to model. And she happily agreed...an achievement to get that from a teenager!
My Helpers: Dorian and Attila, the Cat
Dorian is always eager to help. Attila, the cat is also around to check out what is going on. But they both get bored quickly and become passive observers.