We’re excited to introduce you to the always interesting and insightful Alicia Puig. We hope you’ll enjoy our conversation with Alicia below.
Alicia, thanks for joining us, excited to have you contributing your stories and insights. Are you able to earn a full-time living from your creative work? If so, can you walk us through your journey and how you made it happen?
I’m often asked how I balance being a curator, business owner, author, etc and it stems from the fact that at the beginning of my career, I simply didn’t have any other choice but to work multiple jobs to make ends meet. I was hustling working at galleries, writing for blogs, leading museum tours, assisting in artist studios, and taking on whatever other odd jobs or part-time gigs in the arts I could find. It was not easy, but I learned many valuable skills along the way. Now, I’m fortunate that I don’t need all of the jobs that I do to earn an income, I get to do them by choice.
Alicia, love having you share your insights with us. Before we ask you more questions, maybe you can take a moment to introduce yourself to our readers who might have missed our earlier conversations?
I’m a curator and the co-founder and CEO of PxP Contemporary gallery. I started working in the arts as a teenager at summer camps and landed my first gallery internship at 19. Things kept progressing from there and over the next ten years, I took on various roles at museums, non-profits, galleries, art fairs, magazines, and an auction house to gain further experience in the industry.
I never thought I’d become an entrepreneur, but I saw the need for a platform to support the work of emerging artists and my business partner nudged me to move forward with the idea. That was back in early 2019 and the gallery has now been in business for almost five years. It’s incredibly tough to run a gallery so making it this far is an accomplishment I’m proud of. I believe the caliber of our roster of artists truly sets us apart. I’ve selected artists from around the globe who are incredibly talented and who have a clear dedication to their craft. At the same time, we always keep new buyers in mind, only focusing on price points under five thousand and sharing advice about how to build an art collection.
In addition to running the gallery, I’m also a 2x author. My most recent book, co-written with Ekaterina Popova, is The Creative Business Handbook. It is a comprehensive guide for creative leaders on how to launch a business from A-Z. We cover everything from honing in on your ‘million-dollar idea’ to growing and scaling. We also wrote a bestselling business book for visual artists called The Complete Smartist Guide.
What’s a lesson you had to unlearn and what’s the backstory?
That if you simply work hard, people will notice and recognize you for your efforts. Wrong. I worked at a gallery in Amsterdam for a year and was one of three women who had a similar role. We all worked 2-3 days per week, primarily managing sales and handling administrative duties. When I joined the team, I was also tasked with moving the gallery to a brand-new e-commerce platform, which I did in addition to the same work expected of the other two employees. I made regular sales and stayed on top of my tasks, and yet wondered why I wasn’t being given additional shifts. Finally, I asked the gallery owner and she said “you didn’t ask for them and the others did.” It’s not always about your work ethic or if you’re the most qualified. I learned a very important lesson that day that has stayed with me since then: you must always be your own biggest advocate (and don’t expect anyone else to be it for you). From then on, I began proactively asking for what I wanted in my career and it has made a world of difference.
Can you tell us about a time you’ve had to pivot?
I’ve moved four times during my professional career, three of which were international. Establishing your home again while simultaneously starting a brand-new job is never easy and doing it across borders seems to make it 10x more difficult. This is typically a time period that involves a lot of making mistakes and learning from them, and you can either let the stress get to you or accept the changes with as much grace as you can muster. That said, it pushed me to become a better networker in that I was forced to forge connections in my new city while I also worked to maintain important relationships where I lived previously. Additionally, It was not easy, but I learned many valuable skills and built my reputation along the way. The combination of knowledge and experience allowed me to grow in my career and gave me the confidence to ask for higher salaries in subsequent roles. Being adaptable always comes in handy in business. You never know what being an entrepreneur will throw at you!
Contact Info:
- Website: https://www.pxpcontemporary.com/
- Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/pxpcontemporary/
- Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/pxpcontemporary
- Linkedin: https://www.linkedin.com/in/alicia-puig-78296577/
- Other: TikTok: https://www.tiktok.com/@pxpcontemporary
Image Credits
For the 5 images representing my business: -the one with me in the pink dress is credited to Reed Photography -the other four images are credited to Emily Grace Photography