We’re excited to introduce you to the always interesting and insightful Kelli Munkel. We hope you’ll enjoy our conversation with Kelli below.

Hi Kelli , thanks for joining us today. Can you talk to us about a project that’s meant a lot to you?

Fortunately for us, majority of our projects are meaningful as most of what we do is custom order. Whether it be a map of that epic vacation or a portrait of a first home, we know that every custom project coming in holds a special memory to our clients. Recently I had a moment with a client that meant very much to me. One of our standard items that we sell is an wooden ornament of the state of Georgia with a heart cut out of the center. Once these items are cut, there is always a ton on hearts sitting in the “trash” bin but I just can’t seem to throw them away! I always gather them up and place them in a bowl to give away at markets and festivals. At the last festival I did, a lady came up and asked me if she could take a few hearts this time. She is a flight attendent and she told me that she has taken some hearts from me before. She carries them with her on the plane when she works and when she sees a person that is having a rough day, she will give them a heart. To know that there are little wooden Curb Happy hearts flying all over this world, lifting people up and hopefully making them smile, just warms my heart tremendously. Something that is meant to be “trash” is actually adding a little happy to someone each day!

Awesome – so before we get into the rest of our questions, can you briefly introduce yourself to our readers.

I have always loved being creative and have always considered myself an artist. Navigating that passion as an adult has not always been easy. In college, I was led to pick a path in Commercial Interior Design which allowed me to remain creative throughout my earlier career. Once I got married and began to start a family, working outside of the home 40+ hours a week was no longer suitable for our family dynamic and we knew I needed to make a change. Staying home after such a long time with a successful career was hard but being a mom was my number one job at the moment. It took some years of planning, but opening up Curb Happy was a way for me to remain at home, yet allow me to be creative again and contribute income to our household. My husband and I love to travel and started years ago purchasing artwork every where we go. We just loved the idea of our house being filled with all of the places that are special to us! It was on one of our trips that we came across the idea to make maps out of wood. We purchased our laser and got to work on programming, with help from friends, so that we had the ability to easily pull maps from anywhere in the world. We wanted clients to be able to give us a specific address of that specific place that held a great memory in their heart.
We launched Curb Happy to the public in the Fall of 2020 at Evimero Marketplace (a local artisan market.) It was a hit!
Our business quickly grew and we began expanding our items beyond maps to include ornaments, house portraits, pet portraits, jewelry and custom signs. We began signing up for as many artisan markets as we could as well as meeting with our local retail stores to get the word out. Our favorite medium is still wood but we can certainly incorporate other mediums such as paint, acrylic resin as well as canvas upon request.
Curb Happy thrives on the creativity of others as well. We absolutely love custom projects and love when clients come to us saying, “I have an idea!” Being able to execute these projects and seeing them come to life is so warming to us to know that people will have their house filled with our pieces that hold such special memory to them!

Let’s talk about resilience next – do you have a story you can share with us?

I, like many women, struggled with infertility. I lost our twin girls, Avery and Grace, at 6 months pregnant and then had a miscarriage later that year at 13 weeks. The following year our son was born with spina bifida. We were in complete shock and I felt weary with the path that was laid out before us. As our family grew even more, I knew that I needed to trust God more than ever. I am a very visual person and I vividly remember sitting in the hospital receiving our son’s diagnosis from the neurosurgeon. All I could see in my mind was 2 paths before me. One path was filled with bitterness and sadness and the other was filled with hope. I chose hope. Choosing hope every time, in every circumstance, every day has led me to such freedom in life. That freedom has allowed the clarity for me to be creative. Picking up a pen, pencil or paint brush has been healing for me. Being creative daily is such a great outlet for my mental health and has inspired me to turn my passion into a career. I can confidently say, I love my job and the happiness it brings me and my clients each day.

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

The most rewarding aspect of being an artist is being able to bring ideas to life for others. With the majority of our business being custom, it is so special to me seeing the ideas of others created to be a tangible item. An item that they will hang in their home to hold such a special memory of their favorite person or place. Or an item that they may give as a gift and bless others.

Contact Info:

• Website: www.curbhappy.com
• Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/curbhappy
• Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/curbhappy
• Linkedin: https://www.linkedin.com/in/kelli-munkel-b60ab41/

Image Credits
Family picture credit to Niki Murphy with https://www.nikimurphyphotography.com/ *All other pictures have been taken by me