We were lucky to catch up with Maddie McClintock recently and have shared our conversation below.

Maddie, appreciate you joining us today. What’s the backstory behind how you came up with the idea for your business?

My business was inspired by my undergrad senior year solo gallery art show in 2021. MADDHOUSE THE SHOW was an immersive interactive gallery that blurs the boundaries between the digital and physical world, reflecting the digital ‘zoom school’ environment it was created in. After graduating, getting great show feedback, and reflecting on my last job during covid, I realized I didn’t want to work for someone else my whole life. I wanted to be my own boss and run a business how I saw fit. I knew I had a unique, bold, colorful perspective to bring to the design scene. I felt there was a level of authenticity missing from mainstream home & apparel designs, that I knew I could step up and fill, along with visions of creating more immersive gallery and public spaces. With my background in architecture and art design, I have a passion for how public and intimate spaces make you feel, and believe art and creative design has the power to completely transform a space. So, with all of this in mind, I launched MADDHOUSE Style LLC in 2022, with my first products being 1 0f 1 apparel. MADDHOUSE has since launched a wallpaper line, more apparel, lots of art, home decor, and have created multiple public and residential murals. MADDHOUSE has turned into a creative company with no borders because we don’t let labels confine us. It’s a lifestyle about living life to its boldest, fullest, and most authentic. Everything in life is art when you live it MADDHOUSE Style.

Maddie, before we move on to more of these sorts of questions, can you take some time to bring our readers up to speed on you and what you do?

I have been an artist my whole life. When I went to college, I was educated as a designer in architectural studies, and ultimately finished college with a fine arts degree. My education in architecture unified with my passion for art & design made me very interested in curation of public and residential space and how these spaces make us feel. Knowing how drastically art, color, and shape can completely transform a space, I knew I had the power to create really unique, evoking spaces with my art. (What can I say! I’m a curator at heart.) So, I started MADDHOUSE Style LLC as a creative business selling products and offering creative design services. MADDHOUSE isn’t just a brand confined to a product though, it’s a lifestyle about living your fullest, boldest, most creatively authentic life, in every aspect. Everything in life is art when you live it MADDHOUSE Style. MADDHOUSE’s specialty is murals, custom design work, and home decor, such as wallpaper, handtufted rugs, and one of a kind art. MADDHOUSE has also expanded to apparel, so that your authenticity can go with you out the door. MADDHOUSE design services span from custom murals, interior design, logos, brand identity, apparel, and art. MADDHOUSE murals transport you into the magic of MADDHOUSE. I’ve always been inspired by dreamlands and immersive spaces that play with new realities. So, I create work to inspire wanderlust, introspection, confidence, and discovery. For example, my ‘Lovers of Wonderland’ mural is all 4 walls and a ceiling of a small residential powder room. When inside, you’re immersed in a playfully otherworldly forest to explore. My ‘Ode to Arkansas’ mural, a 3 walled mural in a community workspace print room, feels like you’re getting wrapped in your grandmother’s quilted blanket that holds endless love and memories. It was inspired by all the ways Arkansas feels like home, and it provides a calm, thoughtful place for people to reflect during their workday while they wait for the printer. I have worked with local businesses, residential clients, and music festivals to create these types of engaging large scale art. Along with creating a custom mural for your space, I am happy to help with the followup interior design to make the entire space flow cohesively with your custom art. Or I can create a custom art piece to fit in an existing space, help bring brand visions to life, or design your custom apparel. I also have prints, apparel, home decor, custom inquiry forms, and more on my website, www.maddhousestyle.com.

Let’s talk about resilience next – do you have a story you can share with us?

I once was working with a client to create a mural in their business. We had multiple meetings, design reviews, and I fully laid out invoice details. The client agreed to the price and design. So, I send the contract to them, and to protect my work from plagiarism, in the contract it stated, If Client denies/stops services before completion, Client will not continue to have work completed without Artist’s permission. The client called me, yelling, on the phone that they weren’t signing with that condition, demanding it to be removed, and threatening to drop the project. I asked if they were planning on using my designs without my permission, to which they said no. So, I said I didn’t see why there was a problem then & asked for an in person meeting with the client the next day, hoping to talk things out. When I arrived they were very shut off and direct, they said the project was off, that I was overcharging anyways, and creative work isn’t worth that much money. I realized he was gaslighting me and really just wanting to steal my original work to have someone else do it cheaper. Although at first, I was upset to lose the project, because I was genuinely excited to bring that project to life, I realized I can’t please everyone and not everyone sees the value of creativity. You’re also not going to get every project that you try for. And that’s okay! It temporarily made me feel undervalued, but eventually felt empowering to stand my ground, hold my boundary, and choose projects and clients that my business can be proud to stand by.

We often hear about learning lessons – but just as important is unlearning lessons. Have you ever had to unlearn a lesson?

I feel like I’m learning and unlearning things everyday! I would say the biggest unlearning for me was that Artists/Creatives/Women ‘can’t have’ a successful independently built business. Question of my capability is probably one of the biggest of negative reactions/conditioned ideas I’ve dealt with since my launch & growing up. But people can only speak from their own experience and a lot of people have only worked for others their whole life. New things are daunting, trust me I know. All I can do is keep proving them wrong. Connecting with and following other successful small businesses and creators has been the biggest source of support, inspiration, and visibility in my unlearning. It’s nice to have community, feel understood, and have support carrying out your dreams. I hope to build an encouraging creative ‘space’ (digital/physical) like that with the growth of my platform.

Contact Info:

• Website: https://maddhousestyle.com/
• Instagram: @maddhousestyle
• Facebook: MADDHOUSE Style LLC
• Other: TikTok: @maddhousestyle

Image Credits
MADDHOUSE Style LLC