We caught up with the brilliant and insightful Kelly Harris Smith a few weeks ago and have shared our conversation below.

Kelly, thanks for taking the time to share your stories with us today 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.

As a kid, I had creative tendencies, but most of my extra time was focused on sports. I went to college as “undecided,” played on the Division 1 soccer team, but was always attracted to arts and design. This interest led me to explore my options and I majored and graduated in architecture. I worked as a designer in an architecture office for a few years before starting a small textile and accessory business. This led me to co-found a sustainable textile company, and then to furniture design and the world of interior design. This circuitous route gave me an informal education, and I can honestly say I didn’t hear the term “industrial design” until I was several years out of school. If I had known about the many different possibilities in the design world in my youth, I may have chosen a different school or taken another path. But then I wouldn’t be here!

From the beginning, my vision for Minni has been to make arts education accessible to my former self and others who may have lesser access to art and design education. Part of this vision was to open multiple locations around Boston and ultimately expand into other communities, offering art and design programming to young children.

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.

Hi! I’m Kelly, I’m the founder and creative director at Minni. Minni was established to teach kids great design by professional artists, designers and educators. What makes us different is that we have kids, and wanted to teach our kids the beauty of art and design – without getting paint and pencil all over our own walls.

So, we made Minni! Minni is a space and a method. It’s where children ages 18 months to 12 years can have an inspirational place to celebrate their open-ended, natural approach to invention, and supportive, trained educators to guide their technique and processes.

Our programs are designed by experienced art educators and early childhood development specialists with a deep belief in process and thoughtful play. Our students are empowered to effectively communicate and explore their unique ideas through regular vocabulary, collaboration and structured class discussions. We steer clear of plastics and consciously create with natural and recycled materials. Off-site, we partner with educational institutions and resource groups to give broader accessibility to Minni’s creative classes. We also offer pay-what-you-can community drop-ins, and workshops for all ages, including adults!

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

I have found that the best way to grow our clientele is through word of mouth, as well as building a community and engaging them through events and parties where clients can invite their friends and organically introduce others to Minni. Email marketing also plays a large role in sharing current news or happenings with our ever growing community.

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

In the fall of 2019, I was meeting with developers and looking at spaces for our second location. At the time, nothing felt like the right fit, which was timely, as a few months later the onset of Covid-19 abruptly halted our operations. We closed our physical studio twice for a total of 8 months and pivoted to online classes and developed a creative curriculum-in-a-box that we delivered by mail (and by hand on occasion). I did what I could to stay positive and afloat during that time of widespread uncertainty. Through the support of our amazing community, and the resilience of our team, Minni survived, and even with the uncertainty of an ongoing pandemic, we’ve begun to thrive again! In summer 2022, we opened our second location in Beacon Hill neighborhood of Boston.

Contact Info:

• Website: minni.space
• Instagram: minni.space