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

Hi Keshet , thanks for joining us today. We’d love for you to start by sharing your thoughts about the pros and cons of family businesses.

My father owned his own business when I was growing up. He took a risk and moved our family to the Central Coast of California from the San Fernando Valley. We bought a 5 acre property with an existing photography studio and business on it. He had never owned a business before and took over someone’s reputation based business and made it his own. My father worked with generations of families and would go from wedding photos to baby photos to Senior portraits. My sister and I worked for him growing up, helping with the County fairs, and we learned pride in our work, customer service, team work, and so much more.

As a business owner myself now, I see how valuable it was to have these values instilled in me from a young age. Growing up I learned how to work hard, build meaningful relationships with my customers and be a kind a gentle leader.

I am so grateful to my father for modeling being a risk taker and business owner. I would not be who I am today without seeing him create his passions into a successful career in photography.

I’ve brought my own children into my business. My daughter and son have both helped me work as Camp counselors, to children aged 5-12 yrs old, help market and promote my business, lead group projects, assist in teaching the children, lead games and prepare for big projects. They have learned so much over the years, from what its like to start a business and be an entrepreneur to good customer service, time management skills, how to give back to your community.

My long term goal has always been to have a family business where we get to be together and have a passion for what we are bringing to the community. I think it’s so important to pass on life skills and share your God given talents to your children. I feel so grateful that I get to model a healthy and productive way to raise a family here on the Central Coast.

I will say with a family business it’s sometimes hard to turn off the business side. Your family may not want to hear your exciting ideas 24/7. They may not be as excited as you are.

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

Hello! My name is Keshet Lavoux which is also the name of my Children’s Art Studio. I grew up making crafts with my Mom and Grandmother. I loved the idea of making something every day with my hands and I’ve been doing arts and crafts my whole life. Before I started my art studio, I graduated from Cal Poly University with a Bachelor’s degree in Child Development and Psychology. After college I moved into recruiting in the software and financial industries. After getting married to my husband, also an entrepreneur, we started a family and I stopped working to part-time homeschool my children with a Classical Education.

Fast forward, we have teenagers now, and a few years ago I started working with children doing a few afterschool classes. I love researching new ideas, new supplies to try out and seeing the children enjoy the experience. This really spurred my creativity and drive to have a business, and after several mentors and business classes, I started hosting pop up Art classes from my home and garage. And last summer, I finally open my own studio in Atascadero.

Today, from my studio I offer summer camps, after school classes, family paint nights, birthday parties and private events. I also work with the Paso Robles school district and several other schools for afterschool art. We welcome children and adults who want to explore their creativity and try new things. It’s a happy place where my hope is that families have a great experience, in a fun environment, making arts and crafts.

I am most proud of going for it and starting a business for our community. It takes so much grit and follow up by showing up every day! I hope I can inspire this next generation of entrepreneurs to go after their dreams.

Any fun sales or marketing stories?

This past year I tried so many different marketing strategies, from advertising to networking to handing out flyers at fairs. I was everywhere!! We are always wearing many hats as entrepreneurs. One story I want to share is about our experience with the Christmas Market at Santa Margarita Ranch.

I had heard of this up and coming local Christmas Market at Santa Margarita Ranch. And since I love the holiday season, and Hallmark Christmas movies, I wanted to be a part of this. After speaking with the organizers, who are lovely people, we ended up with an ornament decorating and painting booth. And the lovely people who run the Christmas Market put us in a great location, and did such a great job of promoting the event, that we ended up very busy and brought alot of holiday cheer to alot of families. We did 2 additional nights which turned out to be equally successful and a year later we are planning on having a booth open every day of the Christmas Market this coming holiday. We were so delighted to have this opportunity.

How do you keep in touch with clients and foster brand loyalty?

The community I primarily serve are Moms, kids and families looking for a creative outlet. I also work with school Principals and administrators to put together art classes too.

My main connection with my community is by spending time with them at an event. It’s intentional and special to do art with someone. And if someone, or a family, has missed an event I will often send the pictures to show them the fun art projects we worked on. They will usually write back that they hope to attend the next one.

My social media posts are the best way for me to stay connected with my community. My posts reflect my creative style and the fun experiences that kids and families have at my classes and events. I also send alot of emails and text messages reminding Moms and families of upcoming events. And since everyone is so busy, everyone is always grateful for the reminders to sign up to something that’s fun and creative.

Contact Info:

• Website: https://Www.keshetlavoux.com
• Instagram: Keshet_laboux_kids_art_studio
• Facebook: Keshet Lavoux Pop Up Arts and Craftinh
• Linkedin: Keshetlavoux