We recently connected with Kaila Romei and have shared our conversation below.

Kaila , 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.

Without taking a risk, I would have never gotten to where I am today. The very first risk I took that impacted my art career positively was moving to California at the age of 19. From there I went to UC Davis to obtain an undergraduate degree in veterinary medicine, and then took another risk to completely reject vet school and pivot to pursue a Masters in Art History, Theory and Criticism. During that time I started an art business doing custom art works and hosting paint and sip parties. My goal was to completely envelope my life in the art world. I then took ANOTHER risk to pursue a career in the arts as an accountant for major galleries and leave my extremely comfortable job doing arts and crafts with senior citizens. The key here is that you can never truly be happy and grow without taking risks! Of course it is uncomfortable, extremely uncomfortable, and at times very difficult, but in the long run it is fulfilling and will make you into the best version of yourself!

Kaila , 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 Kaila Romei and I created a business called Made By Romei. I am a curator of special events related to painting and sipping, as well as art education for students and adults! I started out as a custom artist after deciding to call it quits after getting a degree in Pre-Veterinary Medicine and right before applying to vet school. At that point in life I had never fully felt like I was living in my passion. Like many others, I was scared to pursue a career in the arts, because you always hear, “you will be a starving artist”, but there are so many different areas that you can pursue with or without a degree in art! Once I found that out, I applied to sell at every show I could so that people could see my art, began reaching out to businesses to offer my services and really began putting myself out there in the art world. The services I currently provide are creating custom works of art, such as painting on hats, shoes, canvases, bags, anything you can imagine and also curating one of a kind, virtual and in-person paint and sip parties. Since I have a background in event planning, I figured I could combine it with my love of art and created amazing experiences for people of all ages! I promote self care and relaxation through these events, helping people to unwind after a busy week at work or simply tap into their inner child. I have recently gotten into art education as well, sharing my story and letting the public know of the many ways you can get into the art world and the tools you need.

I am most proud of the evolution my business has taken and the amount of lives I am able to touch with my events and art work.

Any resources you can share with us that might be helpful to other creatives?

I honestly wish I knew how many creative positions you could work that would still be able to fuel your side hustle. Adults in the early 2000’s scared children out of pushing creative passions as they thought they wouldn’t make any money. It was very harmful for our futures, because if I would have had the proper tools and encouragement I wouldn’t have went to school to try to be a veterinarian. I could have went for the arts, but everything in due time. What I have done with that is created a program where I teach students 30 creative positions, breakdown exactly what they look like and how you can achieve them in terms of schooling or working your way up in a museum or gallery. There is something out there for everyone, you just have to find it! There are websites like ArtJobs to help people start their creative journeys and now many galleries also post open positions right on their website!

Have you ever had to pivot?

As I mentioned earlier, once I graduated from the University of California, Davis with my degree in Pre-Veterinary Medicine, I was feeling completely unfulfilled. I took a year off to redo and complete some classes, as when I was at Davis my GPA suffered A LOT. It was a red flagged that I ignored. I loved animals, but in order to pursue vet school your heart had to be 100% in it, and mine wasn’t. I tried to push it to the back of my mind and I found one school I could apply to, the University of Illinois. Seeing as my GPA was too low to apply to any of the other schools, I asked myself was I really going to make it? I took some time away from applying a began driving Lyft. It allowed me to think on my drives and really focus. Then one day I told myself I would start a business. I took $20, went and bought a few hats from the DTLA Fashion District and some paint and began painting on hats and selling them. EVERYONE wanted a hat and I began to slowly forget about Vet School. I then went to my parents and told them I was going to apply to get my Masters in Art History at Azusa Pacific University instead. They were very perplexed by my sudden switch, although it was not so sudden for me, and they came around eventually. I was finally doing what I loved to do. What I was made to do. I even quit my job in sales to work at a senior citizen living facility as their full time Activity Coordinator. I simply would show up and make sure they did stimulating crafts. Then I started doing paint and sips with them and they loved it! I began shifting my business toward doing paint and sips and even went on to apply for a job at an art accounting company, which allows me to work directly with museums and galleries around the country. The lesson here is pivot your life to where some or all aspects are something you enjoy, and I promise it will make it worth it.  

Contact Info:

• Website: https://www.madebyromei.com
• Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/_romei_/?hl=en
• Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/madebyromei

Image Credits
ShotByChuck Photo & Video