Alright – so today we’ve got the honor of introducing you to Dante Rowley. We think you’ll enjoy our conversation, we’ve shared it below.
Dante, thanks for joining us, excited to have you contributing your stories and insights. 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.
When I graduated college I really had no idea what the next step was. I was just an art student working at a call center in Fresno basically withering away when a friend of mine called me to tell me he had a room that opened up in San Diego. Of course I jumped at the chance to live in San Diego so I quit my job, packed all my stuff up and drove a U Haul down with all my stuff and moved into a house right on the beach in Pacific Beach. The thing is that I didn’t have a job lined up. I had some money saved up but definitely not enough to live in PB for an extended period of time. I took some odd jobs like being a legal aid, video game tester and working at a gallery all to help pay the bills. During that time my friend who I was a legal aid for asked if I wanted to invest the small amount of money I had into a real estate company. The market had just crashed and his law firm was handling a bunch of foreclosures and we saw the opportunity to maybe take advantage of the situation. I ended up getting bought out of the company a year or two later and used that money to open my passion project, Rosewood. Rosewood was at first an art gallery that eventually became of shoe store right in the heart of East Village by Petco Park. I ran that business for 10 years until I sold it just recently. I know have my dream job at the Museum of Contemporary Art San Diego creating the products and doing the collabs I always wanted to. It all started with taking the risk to move to a new city, then taking the risk with an investment and then another risk with opening my own business. I went for broke each time but it got me to where I wanted to be.
Great, appreciate you sharing that with us. Before we ask you to share more of your insights, can you take a moment to introduce yourself and how you got to where you are today to our readers?
My name is Dante Rowley and I’m best known for being the founder of Rosewood. I am now over at the Museum of Contemporary Art handling the retail and product development and also doing some freelance photography and advising. I always wanted to be a part of the art world but it’s really hard to get your foot in the door. No one returns your emails. It’s hard to get a solo show. It’s a lot of work. When I opened Rosewood it was meant to be an art gallery. I would bring in well known younger artists to have shows and then I would gradually introduce my own work between shows to kind of validate myself. Rosewood ended up taking off but it became less and less about the art and more about fashion and hype. The benefit of this was that I learned more about business. I was getting a crash course that couldn’t be taught at any school. I learned how to make connections and how to do all the designing and creative aspects in house. When I was in college I was a painter but after my business grew I became an accountant, manager and creative director. I was able to use that experience to be able to do more freelance work that I enjoyed as well as a position at the MCASD. My portfolio grew and the notoriety that Rosewood received made it so I could do what I always wanted to do. Art.
Have you ever had to pivot?
I just did the biggest pivot of my life. I just sold my business and took a position at the Museum of Contemporary Art San Diego. I went from all the pressure and stress being on my shoulders to basically being stress free. It was just a relief. I am all about happiness and the business was not bringing me any joy so I decided it was my time to leave. I might be the happiest I’ve ever been in a long time because of it.
What else should we know about how you took your side hustle and scaled it up into what it is today?
I’ve had a few side hustles and they have all turned into careers. When I was like 12 I used to collect shoes and trading cards and do art. The shoe collection grew and by the time I was in high school I started selling them out the back of my car. That eventually became Rosewood. My art is what has taken me to the job I have today and the collecting of trading cards might turn into my next business. I am a huge card collector and have a giant collection. To conduct a proof on concept I am going to try and make $300 per day from selling cards. That would be around $100k per year. If that happens then it might be a good business model. Who knows though? All side hustles can be careers if you really enjoy it enough.
Contact Info:
- Website: www. DanteRowley.com
- Instagram: @DanteRowley
- Twitter: @DanteRowley
Image Credits
Dante Rowley