We caught up with the brilliant and insightful Carla Bisong a few weeks ago and have shared our conversation below.
Carla, appreciate you joining us today. What do you think matters most in terms of achieving success?
In order to be successful, you must embrace the following characteristics: – Willingness to keep learning and have honest reflections from mistakes – Surround yourself with others equally wanting to be successful – Invest in yourself professionally and personally – Avoid negativity – Be willing to dream big and have faith you accomplish your goals
Carla, 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?
Hello Everyone, My name is Carla Bisong. The only black woman owned Commercial Art Gallery in Houston Texas. The gallery was founded in 2013 with nothing more than a dream and passion for the arts. Born in Detroit Michigan and raised in Katy Texas in the 80s. I followed the traditional path of going to school, studying finance and marketing while working full time at Merrill Lynch. As I approached my 30th birthday, I realized there was something missing. I checked all the boxes of getting a degree and working in a fortune 500 company with a great salary and benefits, but I didn’t love my career. I didn’t see myself continuing to work in that environment until retirement. I decided to do the research and look for a commercial space to have a gallery. I understand the business of retail and knew if I opened an art gallery, and keep my day job until the business was sustainable. After a few years of growing the business and working full-time, I made the life changing choice to leave the corporate world and become a full time Gallerist. I am most proud of educating new art collectors and artists. I love being able to provide a platform for art lovers and artists to connect.
If you have multiple revenue streams in your business, would you mind opening up about what those streams are and how they fit together?
The art gallery is also a venue rental located in Downtown Houston. We’ve had the privilege of hosting weddings, charity fundraisers, corporate receptions, product launches, book signings, lectures and so much more. I love meeting people who’ve never been in an art gallery before and didn’t understand the dynamics behind supporting living artists and having their work in your home or office. I have countless visitors who purchased their first original work of art from our gallery. I feel such gratitude seeing guests have their wedding at the gallery and return to buy their first work of art for their new home together.
We’d love to hear a story of resilience from your journey.
In 2017 we flooded in Hurricane Harvey and in 2020 like everyone else in the world, we shut down due to the global pandemic. I didn’t know what the future would bring. Many galleries had to close their doors and I feel extremely grateful we have persevered. We had virtual exhibitions and art collectors wanted to add art to their homes since they were spending more time at home. Our community needed months to recover and feel comfortable spending money on art and having private events. We continue to be careful during these times of Covid and practice public safety.
Contact Info:
- Website: BisongGallery.com
- Instagram: @bisongart
- Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/BisongArtGallery/
- Linkedin: https://www.linkedin.com/in/carla-bisong-5594a354
- Youtube: https://www.youtube.com/channel/UCcbEnfFgdsq3txhBT5EXd-A
- Yelp: https://www.yelp.com/biz/bisong-art-gallery-houston
Image Credits
Logo provided by Bisong Art Gallery Photos of Carla Bisong taken by Quy Tran