Alright – so today we’ve got the honor of introducing you to Kat Gentry. We think you’ll enjoy our conversation, we’ve shared it below.

Kat, thanks for joining us, excited to have you contributing your stories and insights. 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.

An acquaintance of mine asked if I could do a couple pet portraits for them. I always loved painting portraits of people so I was excited to do something different. It took me a couple weeks, but I got them done and shipped them out. Then another one of my friends asked for one of their pet. I started getting more and more commissions and it really grew from there. I started my own website in 2023, and I’ve now done over 100 commissions.

Kat, 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?

I’ve been drawing my entire life and in 2010, I moved up to Georgia and went to art school. I graduated from the Savannah College of Art and Design in 2015, and got my BFA in illustration. My main focus was portraits and I loved painting people. I’ve always been passionate about animals as well, and a huge dog lover. So painting pet portraits definitely made sense to me. What I’d want people to know about me is that I care a lot about making a beautiful finished product. I always want the client to be happy and create a lifetime memory for them.

We often hear about learning lessons – but just as important is unlearning lessons. Have you ever had to unlearn a lesson?

Out of all my commissions, I’ve only had one uncomfortable situation. I had a client that found me on Instagram and wanted a pet portrait. I went ahead and got started, and over the next week few weeks sent them updates on the painting.

But when it came time for payment, they turned out to be a scammer, trying to get me to pay them. I learned now to be very hesitant towards anyone who wants to use PayPal for payment.

They were sending me fake emails that looked like they were from PayPal. They expressed to me that I had to pay them first before I could receive my payment. Fortunately, I caught on to them before it was too late. I reported them on PayPal and Instagram, and blocked them.

Most of the time now, my clients are ones I’ve met in person or through mutual friends. Often times people will see my flyer and contact me. I’ve learned to be a little more careful and cautious in the future.

How about pivoting – can you share the story of a time you’ve had to pivot?

One of the most simple but helpful things I’ve done in my business is have my clients fill out a Google doc form.

Previously, I would have to email people back-and-forth lots of questions about the painting, their pet and what style they’d like. Now all they have to do is fill out a form and everything is taken care of.

It has saved me so much time and energy and has made my business so much easier.

Contact Info:

• Website: https://Petportraits.me
• Instagram: https://Instagram.com/katgentrypetportraits
• Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/katgentrypetportraits
• Other: If you want your pet painted! Fill out the form below

  https://docs.google.com/forms/d/e/1FAIpQLScycww0-sn5bAeOKOZBZPnolt_BPYz-rl7mRFz72M08HAl4mg/viewform