We were lucky to catch up with Kacie Stanford recently and have shared our conversation below.

Alright, Kacie thanks for taking the time to share your stories and insights with us today. Are you happier as a creative? Do you sometimes think about what it would be like to just have a regular job? Can you talk to us about how you think through these emotions?

Growing up, my parents were artists and on the weekends they would set up and sell at vendor shows and markets. I remember being 5 years old and sleeping under the display tables, bored out of my mind. I told them I would be getting a normal job when I grew up, but jokes on me–now I can’t imagine doing anything else!

There are always good days and bad days as an artist and as a business owner, basically everything falls on your shoulders. I often feel so pulled in so many directions; not only do I need to be artistic and creative and create an eye-catching extravagant new piece that someone will fall in love with, and ultimately buy, but I also have to know how to display this piece, create a collection to go with it, now I have to market it on a handful of social media platforms, all in new fun creative ways, interact with all the comments (good or bad) in order for it to reach a bigger audience. Now when someone walks in and wants to ask about it, now I have to be great at sales and telling a story and pray and hope and cross my fingers it WORKS so I can make that sale.
And if it does, all the stress, all the work, all the time and effort is completely worth it.

Some days people walk in my shop and are blown away, those are my people. The ones who recognize the uniqueness and the quirkiness. Other days people walk in and walk straight out or make rude comments. Those are not my people! BUT you learn to have a thicker skin and learn from those experiences. In all honestly, they often times motivate me more. Some days I continue on full of ambition and great ideas, other days I work simply out of spite of the haters!

There are times when I think it would be easier to have a ‘regular’ 9 to 5 job especially during our slower seasons, a regular paycheck and salary does sound pretty damn good…..but easier doesn’t equate to better.
I love working, I love creating, I love coming up with crazy ideas and running with them. I love learning and overcoming obstacles and I love being my own boss!
Like I said, there are good days and bad days, but I wouldn’t have it any other way.

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.

Growing up, my mom and I always would dream about owning a business together. Both of my parents were artists, but also had full time jobs so that meant spending many weekends at craft fairs. We were very fortunate that my mom was able to even work from home, so she was always there encouraging us to be creative….and to often times help with their craft projects for shows!

In 2006 my family and I moved to Rockport, Tx. I was a senior in high school, BUT SO OVER the whole teenage angst and partying, I had no desire to hang out with other teenagers, I wanted to be a business owner.
So, my parents took a huge chance on me.

My mom and I opened our first shop while I was still finishing my senior year online. It was named My Fair Mermaid.
It was a cute, beachy little boutique full of seashell art and kitschy coastal gifts. I however had my eye more on fashion.
I won’t name names, but at the time I had reached out to clothing lines that I admired and wanted to carry in the shop.
I was denied. I was told we were too new and essentially, not good enough.

So, I began creating myself. I started off with recycled hand painted cowboy boots and hand painted tshirts, a very grunge retro cowgirl aesthetic and it just grew from there.
“My Fair Mermaid” didn’t really fit as a label so I came up with the name Rowdy Maui and began using it ever since.

In 2007, we were moving our shop one door down to a larger building, and by that time “Rowdy Maui’ had just about taken over the entire shop.
So, we took the plunge and changed the entire name when we moved and it’s been Rowdy Maui ever since.

Now my mom has since retired and the shop has been solely run by myself and my boyfriend Rooster.
We make the majority of our items–paintings, handpainted denim, upcycled ‘rerocked’ flannels, tumblers, keychains, tshirts, koozies, hats, and now fudge–we make 90% of our items we carry. The remaining 10% is filled with different local artisans and vintage!

We’ve survived a major hurricane in 2017 (thanks Harvey) and made it through all of the shutdowns during 2020, through 4 miscarriages and health struggles, and all that life has thrown at me. At one point I crashed on the couch in my backroom for 6 months when I had nowhere else to go.
But I had Rowdy Maui.
Rowdy Maui is my solace, my happy place, it’s my baby.

Besides just the shop, we also have a second business Rocking Rooster’s Cockpit which provides event/entertainment services including dj services, karaoke, trivia, music bingo, naughty bingo, and other games we create and build ourselves. We also offer singing telegrams and voiceover work.
I also narrate erotic novels that are available on kindle and have even written a few my own! I also do content creation for other small businesses, and social media management. I love helping other small businesses find their place and thrive, helping set them apart from others in their field.

We’re a whirlwind mess of creativity that is always evolving! I love being given new challenges and ideas to explore and creating something totally unique and unexpected from them.
We pour all of ourselves into our work, into every little detail.
I am so proud of all we’ve built and continue to build today.
My business is 18 years old this year, and i started when I was 18 years old.
I’ve never not worked for myself. I don’t have a degree in anything. Everything I’ve learned has been total trial and error, never-ending research, and an attitude of “I can do that.”

The question I hear most is “do you ever sleep?”
Nah.

We’d love to hear the story of how you built up your social media audience?

Building an audience base on social media has been an interesting journey. I learned early on people seemed to respond more when I was open and honest versus just selling a product, so that’s what I started with and that’s what has continued to help me retain and grow my audience to what it is today. I have fans who have been around since the beginning, back to the early days of Facebook and even Myspace.
In fact, I made my first internet art sale through Myspace!

I use my social media presence to give my audience a glimpse into my life–the good, the bad, the ugly and the funny.
It helps my audience feel more connected with myself and also the art pieces and services we provide.
Also, life is too short to be boring.
Post the funny picture, show the mess.

My best advice to anyone starting out is to find your voice first–who you are, what message you are trying to portray, and what is your goal with social media and get ready to work!
Finding and retaining an audience on social media is a job in itself, and that’s not even including the time and energy it takes for the actual content creation! Don’t get discouraged if the audience doesn’t come right away, it can take time to find ‘your people’ but once you do—trust me, it will be worth it.
Just keep on keepin’ on!

For you, what’s the most rewarding aspect of being a creative?

When it comes to my art, and store, the most rewarding aspect to me is hearing when my customers connect with my pieces, that they ‘get’ it. Everyone loves to be appreciated, so when customers in and I can hear their excitement, it really makes me happy. I love being that ‘hidden gem’ that people remember through the years. “Remember that funky shop we used to go into as kids?” Being in business now for 18 years, I hear that more often. I see the children that used to come in on weekends now grown and starting their own lives, and now bringing in their own children, is just something else. I can’t even explain how that feels! Sure, it makes me feel old, but I love getting to be a part of their story too, just as much as they are a part of mine.

Contact Info:

• Website: https://www.rowdymaui.com
• Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/rowdymaui/
• Facebook: https://www.Facebook.com/rowdymaui
• Other: Tiktok: https://www.tiktok.com/@rowdymaui