We recently connected with DeeDee Hunt and have shared our conversation below.

DeeDee , thanks for joining us, excited to have you contributing your stories and insights. What’s the backstory behind how you came up with the idea for your business?

Ever since I was a little girl, I talked about my future business. It would be called the CoZone: A comfort zone for the energetic spirit and curious soul, I told anybody who would listen. It would be an art gallery for creatives to gather and socialize, network and collaborate on projects, inspire one another and show their work. As I got older, the idea evolved, and when I graduated from college with a BA in Industrial Design and an emphasis in Graphic Design, I set out to make this big dream a reality.

I quickly realized it was going to be very expensive, and I devised a plan with no real timeline. I would just move in the direction of my dream and let it unfold naturally. So I started a graphic design business that would serve wine bars, art galleries, and restaurants. I figured if I served people doing what I wanted to do, maybe, I would find my future business partner or a path leading me to my dream.

I launched my graphic design business with an art show launch party. The turnout and response were amazing, so I made it an annual tradition and called it ARTasting. An annual art show and community event that would highlight my client’s businesses’ food and wine, offering tastings and featuring local art, food, and music.

I spent the next ten years serving clients and learning about business while steadily sharpening my branding, marketing, design, and event planning skills. I was drawn to brick-and-mortar businesses and enjoyed helping my clients with storefront sign design and interior design for their storefront businesses. One client, in particular, had the cutest little storefront in my neighborhood that I helped design. During that project, I would share my ideas about the space and tell my client what I would do with it if it were mine. Eventually, he grew out of the space, and when he was getting ready to leave, he asked me if I wanted it. I had less than a week to decide. I was thrilled and jumped on the idea, scary as it was. Overnight my dream was happening.

It was finally my chance to design my own storefront and branding for my dream business. When it came time to give the business a name, CoZone no longer felt relevant. It felt very 90’s. The name I came up with, HUNT & GATHER, proved to be the perfect name for the space. People are drawn to the name and seem to love it. It also incorporates my last name Hunt.

One month after getting the keys to the space, I opened with an informal ribbon-cutting ceremony and soft opening and invited family, friends, clients, and the community to join me. People loved the idea of an art gallery event space, and I started collaborating with local artists and makers to put on fun art and food-related events and art shows. For ten years prior, I hosted my annual art show, ARTasting, and now I get to do it four times a year on a smaller, more manageable scale. We host four seasonal art shows and invite the local community of artists to get involved.

Although the pandemic put a wrench in things, we continue to host art shows. We have now moved into hosting business workshops and renting out the space to creative entrepreneurs for pop-ups, workshops, meetings, and studio space for content creation and podcasting. HUNT & GATHER will be celebrating five years in March 2023, and I couldn’t be more proud of where the business is today.

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

I’m a branding + marketing graphic designer and inspirational business coach. I cater to art, food, and wellness entrepreneurs who struggle with consistency and focus regarding steady growth in their businesses. I help them simplify their marketing by coaching them to clarify their message and offerings and work with them to implement and automate seasonal, repeatable marketing.

I focus on my local community and have an art gallery design studio called HUNT & GATHER located in the Sunset District of San Francisco. We host seasonal art shows featuring local artists and designers. My clients use the space as a pop-up shop and host art shows and workshops. They also use the space as a content studio for photoshoots, filming, and recording podcasts and for client and team meetings in person and via zoom.

HUNT & GATHER is a dream that was planted when I was a young child and that I have been cultivating my whole life. I knew this was what I wanted to do, and as soon as I graduated college, I started working toward my goal by taking business planning classes and workshops. I worked as a freelance graphic designer and started a branding and marketing design business serving creative business owners who were running businesses similar to the business I would like to own someday. Eventually, my dream became a reality, and I am so happy and grateful to have two creative businesses.

What makes me unique is that I have developed various technical and artistic skills over the years. I have a lot of experience in print and web design, as well as event planning. I also have a physical space that benefits my clients because they can use it to conduct business, host events such as pop-ups, workshops, and gatherings, or be featured in community art shows. I’m all about cultivating and building community, and I love that I have a space that has become a hub for my clients to connect to other creative entrepreneurs as well as to connect to the local community.

Can you tell us about a time you’ve had to pivot?

My Art Gallery Event Space was just a baby when the pandemic hit. We were in our 2nd year and just getting into the swing of things when we, along with every other brick-and-mortar business, had to shut down. As time in a new pandemic reality moved along, the business model at HUNT & GATHER evolved. We started renting out the space to local business owners who needed a place away from home to conduct business. They used the space to “go live” on social media, zoom with clients, and for photo and video shoots for content creation.

We were fortunate enough to receive PPP money to keep us afloat, and we applied for grants. When we were awarded a grant requiring us to use the money to improve the space, we decided to build a podcast studio and lounge in the loft. As pandemic regulations loosened and people started coming out again, we began to open our doors more often, and now the space is bustling with creative energy. We used to host fun events, but now we are focusing our efforts on the artists and makers who are using the space to conduct business and build their brands. Our business model has shifted. We now offer coaching and mentoring for creative entrepreneurs who want to be a part of a community of like-minded people on a similar creative path. We are offering business coaching, along with branding and marketing strategy and design services and a space to connect to the local community.

Without the struggle of the pandemic happening early on in the business we would have continued in a different direction. We changed course, and now the work we are doing feels so much more important. We are helping others survive and thrive in a very challenging industry at a very difficult time in history. We want to continue to help creative entrepreneurs find success faster than we did by avoiding common pitfalls and working within a supportive community to eliminate isolation and promote synergetic collaborations. I’m so proud of the community we are building at HUNT & GATHER, and without the struggle of the pandemic, I’m not sure the community would be this united.

What’s been the most effective strategy for growing your clientele?

My most effective strategy for building my clientele has been consistency. Every season we host an art show which builds our client list (artists who show at HUNT & GATHER) and builds our customer base (those who come to the art shows and buy the art). We structure everything around the seasons, which allows us to correct course from season to season, making changes if something isn’t working from one season to the next.

Our Summer Art Show called Sunset Pride is all about inclusivity, and we allow anyone who wants to get involved in the show, which also grows our following and clientele significantly because everyone in the show promotes the event and invites their friends and family. Each season our clientele grows organically.

Contact Info:

• Website: https://huntandgathersf.com/
• Instagram: @huntandgathersf