We were lucky to catch up with Dary Dega recently and have shared our conversation below.
Dary, looking forward to hearing all of your stories today. We’d love to have you retell us the story behind how you came up with the idea for your business, I think our audience would really enjoy hearing the backstory.
10 years ago, I immigrated to the USA to join my husband and decided to start life from scratch in another country. I left a good and successful job, many years of career and education, and followed the voice of my heart, ending up in a small city in central Texas after the rich cultural capital of Russia – Moscow. I knew it wouldn’t be easy. But I didn’t think it would be so hard. What still complicated things was the lack of knowledge of the English language, a very young daughter, and cultural shock. We tried different options for a long time to find a job for me, but as a medical scientist with extensive experience as a leader in another country, this was impossible in our small city. To combat feelings of depression, I started drawing again, as this has always been my constant hobby. I realized that in our town, there is no professional, high-quality art studio or gallery where I could continue to create art and enjoy drawing for myself and my growing daughter. Some day, a friend advised me to open my own studio and gallery when she saw how I help everyone in paint and sip local franchise art studios. It was a completely crazy idea. I spoke English with heavy accent. I just had a second child who was only five months old and knew absolutely nothing about business and marketing in the USA. Still, my constant desire to make something impossible possible pushed me into this madness of opening an art business in a small city in Texas, where sports and barbecue always came first. I really wanted to help the city and community, children and adults, see the work of artists worldwide. I wanted to allow residents to receive high-quality arts education and help local
artists promote their talent. My idea came true very quickly. Degallery opened doors to the first students and art exhibitions in March 2016, and over 8 years, we have been developing and have become the best gallery and studio in our county. But my dreams grew and became magnified every year. Now, we help artists and talented children not only in Texas but throughout the world. Our children’s and adult competitions and professional art exhibitions are attended by participants from more than 65 countries around the world, and we continue increasing the number of programs and helping the development of art across the globe. So, my unusual and crazy idea became my international art business, bringing joy to people worldwide. Apparently, my heart as a doctor and my soul as an artist demand to constantly help people be happy and healthy! And art is the best cure for any problem.
Dary, 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?
For most children born in Russia, a country with a deep, versatile history and tradition in the arts, art is an important part of their childhood. For me, it was no different. Like most Russian children, I was raised attending museums and concert halls and going to ballet and classical music concerts. I may have fallen even deeper in love with the arts at an early age, thanks to traveling extensively throughout Europe as a child with my father, a renowned scientist, and the rest of my family. I continuously learned more about the fine arts and their beginnings at every turn. That early passion remained fervent for me forever, even during and after my medical school, graduate school, a Ph.D. program in neuroscience, and medical career life.
Following the move to Texas, my lifelong love of art inspired me to launch a unique gallery in my new home in Central Texas. A dream of mine is to build a space that would allow every artist of every age, at every talent level, to express themselves. That dream has finally come true.
For experienced artists, DEGALLERY provides the opportunity to showcase his or her talents through exhibitions, concerts, and presentations. For artists looking to turn their passion into a skill, small, intimate art classes, and workshops are offered for artists of ALL ages and levels. Drawing upon my experience with some of the best art teachers in the world, in some of the top art schools in the world, and in collaborating with the best National and international artists for workshops and exhibitions, DEGALLERY is unmatched.
How’d you build such a strong reputation within your market?
3. Art business in Texas is one of the most challenging types of business. No one believed my business would last more than 2-3 years. What helped me achieve this was that I never tried to make money from clients and partners. Initially, my goal and business philosophy was to help. I did not listen to the advice of marketing companies about raising prices for services; I did not follow the advice of advertisers and other business owners. I followed my intuition, worked seven days a week, and followed the desires and needs of the market. I lost income but very quickly earned a good reputation, and business advertising increased due to word of mouth, which increased my profit a lot. Many businesses receiving large profits from clients must spend all this profit on high-quality advertising; my business works on the principle of good in return for good. And it works to perfection.
Where do you think you get most of your clients from?
I give out many free certificates for art classes and often hold free public events in the gallery – this is my main trump card for attracting clients. I do not regret my time and money for each visitor; it always comes back like a boomerang.
Contact Info:
- Website: www.degallery.us
- Instagram: degallery.us
- Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/degallery.us
- Twitter: @DEGALLERYTX