Alright – so today we’ve got the honor of introducing you to Morgan Groff. We think you’ll enjoy our conversation, we’ve shared it below.

Hi Morgan, thanks for joining us today. It’s always helpful to hear about times when someone’s had to take a risk – how did they think through the decision, why did they take the risk, and what ended up happening. We’d love to hear about a risk you’ve taken.

The biggest risk I’ve taken as a business owner is actually a fresh one. For the last two years, we’ve been working out of an 800 square foot studio. While it was the perfect fit for the business’s first home, it meant that at times we needed to turn down work because we simply didn’t have the room. We were often working on top of each other, moving projects around to make space for others, and sifting through piles of materials. Don’t get me wrong, I LOVE this space. It will be near to my heart forever as my business’s first home.

I started looking for larger spaces in early 2023. Turns out it’s harder than you’d think to find a decently-sized warehouse in the St. Paul area that’s not 20,000+ feet! Just a few months ago, we found a warehouse in the same complex as my current studio – literally walking distance. I toured it and fell in love immediately. It’s the perfect size, has beautiful natural light, and even includes a few offices. It was also, of course, a huge price increase.

It became a weeks-long mental battle. We needed the space, but it was a huge financial commitment. Like any business owner will tell you, any investment is filled with both excitement and terror. There are no guarantees and there’s always that “what if?” in the back of your mind.

We did eventually decide to sign the lease just a few days before submitting this. I can’t tell you how it’s turned out quite yet (I’ll check back in a year!), but I can tell you that already I feel so positive about where the business is headed. We’ll have space to build mascots for every business and sports team in Minnesota!

Awesome – so before we get into the rest of our questions, can you briefly introduce yourself to our readers.

Absolutely! I’m Morgan, owner of The Project Place. We build mascots, puppets, and props for local businesses, sports teams, and theaters. We’ve worked with famous locals like the U of M’s Goldy and Mudonna for the Saints, Hippo of Hippo Pockets, and BRIXy of BRIX Real Estate. I’ve been in the creative arts my whole life. A LOT of that work involved theaters, so costuming was becoming very natural to me. I started working at another mascot company in 2017, but that eventually closed amid the pandemic. Suddenly there was this huge gap in the market for mascots, and I ended up being pretty good at building them. The Project Place actually started as a membership-based sewing studio, but quickly turned into a mascot creation studio. Work started coming in quickly and it sort of snowballed from there!
I think The Project Place stands out for a few reasons. First and foremost, there are just simply not many mascot studios in the midwest. We also really focus on the relationships we build with our clients. We want them to know that we’re here for them from inquiry to design to long after our project together is finished. Our team is now built of really, really skilled people. We all have experience in varying and equally important areas, which means our combined skill set leads to really good products.

Do you think there is something that non-creatives might struggle to understand about your journey as a creative? Maybe you can shed some light?

Things take time for a reason! Too often, people criticize artists for not being cheap enough or quick enough. I think people who are not in the creative field simply don’t understand how much time, R&D, trial and error, and labor goes into even the smallest projects. It’s something that’s difficult to understand if you haven’t done it yourself.

In your view, what can society to do to best support artists, creatives and a thriving creative ecosystem?

This isn’t going to be very original, but…pay them! All throughout time the idea of “The Artist” has been a highly debated topic. Many people believe that the creative fields shouldn’t be considered as anything other than a hobby. A lot of people look at the spaces in which we work, the projects that we take interest in, or the eclectic work that we do and think, “that must be so fun!” And most of the time they’re right! It is fun. It is also a lot of work using skills that took years to learn, much like any other profession. Artists and creatives deserve to be paid for their work just the same as a teacher, truck driver, nurse, and everything in between. Without art and creatives, we wouldn’t have movies, music, museums, clothing, decor, and so much more.

Contact Info:

• Website: theprojectplacemn.com
• Instagram: @theprojectplacemn
• Facebook: The Project Place
• Other: TikTok: @theprojectplacemn