We were lucky to catch up with Brandon L. recently and have shared our conversation below.

Brandon, thanks for joining us, excited to have you contributing your stories and insights. Almost all entrepreneurs have had to decide whether to start now or later? There are always pros and cons for waiting and so we’d love to hear what you think about your decision in retrospect. If you could go back in time, would you have started your business sooner, later or at the exact time you started?

If I could go back in time to when I started my business, I wouldn’t change when I set it up. Creating a business of my own had always been a dream, but it wasn’t until I was laid off from my mortgage job in early 2022 that I decided to take real steps to make that dream a reality.

Originally I started with a guerrilla ad posting business called Black Cat Ads back in 2020, but it quickly morphed into something else entirely once my neighbor gave me his old large format Epson printer. It didn’t take long for Black Cat Ads to turn into Always Lucky Studio, and the business pivoted towards fine art reproduction, banners, stickers, and vinyl decals by 2022.

I was comfortable at my mortgage job, and if I hadn’t been let go when I was, who knows if Always Lucky Studio would be where it is today. In a strange way, I’m thankful!

Brandon, 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?

As an artist myself, I have a background in fine art, graphic design, and screen printing. I was fortunate to be able to work as the assistant to an established contemporary artist for a number of years before setting off on my own, having fine tuned old skills and learned new ones. A lot of my experience as a private and former corporate artist is incorporated in my business today.

I started Always Lucky Studio with the intention of helping creators and visual artists bring their dreams to fruition. What sets Always Lucky Studio apart from other print shops is our mobile gallery walls, which have become extremely popular since their introduction into our services. Whether you’re looking for a temporary exhibit for a pop-up event, merchandise display, media backdrop, or live art set up, there are so many possibilities with mobile gallery walls. Your imagination is the only limit!

For as long as I can remember, I’ve always known that I’m lucky. From being laid off at the right time or offering products and services that people were eager to use, it was clear that good fortune was often on my side, hence how the name Always Lucky Studio came to be!

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

We find that showcasing our client’s works on our social media platforms and attending their events is a great way to maintain our client and brand loyalty.

Our artistic clients, with permission, love it when we post their giclee prints on our social media. It makes it easy for them to share their work with their followers and promote their artwork for purchase. Showing a glimpse into the production process is uncommon nowadays. Whether it is due to trade secrets or the distractions on the phone, it really means a lot to followers and admirers to see the production methods of their favorite artist. Art is work! By showcasing our clients’ work, digitally or at a tradeshow, it tells them that we support them and want to see them grow.

While some of our clients are artists, others are businesses and don’t have artwork that can be easily posted online. Therefore, we do our best to show up to their event. Whether it is a wall rental or a vinyl installation, we always have a fun time when attending.

Do you have any insights you can share related to maintaining high team morale?

My advice to those managing a team is to be concise with your directions, print off visual aids when necessary, and share a meal to help build the team bond.

To further elaborate on being concise with your directions, a method I will share is to use sticky notes listing all of the project tasks. I would then categorize them and allow my team to choose which ones they would like to complete. It is a great way of giving members freedom of choice while moving the operation forward in one direction.

When it comes to visuals aids, I suggest to use them when language is a barrier or when explaining a complex buildout. Visual aids, when designed well, get everyone on the same page, all the way down to the fine details.

Lastly, sharing a meal is a great way to relax and form bonds after a long day of work. For us, most taco stands will suffice, but as long as it is good food and a mental/physical break from the work, then that is what maintains high morale.

Contact Info:

• Website: https://alwaysluckystudio.com/
• Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/alwaysluckystudio/
• Yelp: https://www.yelp.com/biz/always-lucky-studio-los-angeles

Image Credits
All photo files are written as such: “Client Name – Photo Owner.jpg”. All photos are Always Lucky Studio (ALS) photos.