We’re excited to introduce you to the always interesting and insightful Greg RAy. We hope you’ll enjoy our conversation with Greg below.

Greg, looking forward to hearing all of your stories today. Let’s start with the story of your mission. What should we know?

Hutto Texas is the only city in the country with Hippos as a mascot. We are known as Hippo Nation. When we first moved to Hutto we noticed hundreds of Hippo statues in peoples yards and business’s. We wanted to represent our city, but did not want a huge hippo in our yard. I went online and found a small flat hippo mold to make my own concrete hippo stepping stone. I made a few and put them in the flowerbeds. My wife took some pictures and posted them on social media. We immediately received feedback asking if we were selling them. We started selling them, but it was real sporadic. I purchased another style mold and started painting the statues. And we started getting many customers. And that is when we started Set in Stone Statuary. Since then we 3D print all our own models and custom make all our own molds. We have sold and painted over a 1000 concrete hippos since we began.

Greg, 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 a Laser Engineer for 25 years in the semiconductor field. This has only been a hobby for about 6 years but it is quickly turning into a productive business. Since we started I bought several 3D printers to custom make all my models. When making a casting I can see what could be improved on and make adjustments to the model and remake the mold. I am constantly asked to make custom hippos whether it be Harry Potter themed, sports team themed, or a business brand. While casting the hippos takes up most of my free time (this is a side job), I am expanding out to other cities and working with them to come out with their own custom statues to help the citizens represent and be proud of their hometown. I am most proud of my painting style. I have perfected a technique that is realistic and life like. I am a perfectionist so all our my hippos go out as close to perfect as I can make them.

We’d really appreciate if you could talk to us about how you figured out the manufacturing process.

I do manufacture my products. Our family moved to a small town in Texas in 2016. Driving around we saw that the town mascot was a hippo and they were EVERYWHERE. Our children said no to putting a large hippo in our front yard and so I had to look for something smaller to support the town. I had no idea how to do any of the things I know how to do now. I spent a lot of time doing research on Google, Facebook, YouTube etc. I have made a lot of mistakes and had to throw away a lot of materials along the way. But making small changes and asking people in the business how to make the products better, got me to the point I am at now.

We’d love to hear about how you keep in touch with clients.

Most of my clients are on Social Media. We make Facebook and Instagram posts as well as a few TikToks. Our town is small so we also go to town events and set up tables with our products. Word of mouth in this small town also has a huge impact. We often run specials and give our returning customers a friends and family discount. All of our hippos are one of a kind models that you can’t find anywhere else. My painting skills are also in high demand because I paint in a more natural, real life base paint. Add in that I can customize in just about any way and you get a lot of customers who buy regularly. Hippos are a way of life here and citizens want hippos of all shapes and sizes to represent Hippo Nation.

Contact Info:

• Website: setinstonestatuary.com
• Instagram: setinstonestatuary
• Facebook: setinstonestatuary
• Other: tiktok: setinstone512

Image Credits
Dragon Photo: Once Upon a Storybook Studio