We were lucky to catch up with Liezel Rubin recently and have shared our conversation below.

Hi Liezel , thanks for joining us today. Going back to the beginning – how did you come up with the idea in the first place?

I am an artist of all types. Whether it be music, fine art, photography, performance art, graphic design, video producing/editing, or many other forms of art… it’s what feeds me and fills me.

When the pandemic hit and production in the world stopped or greatly slowed down for many of us, I was left with the gift of time…. so it was here that my PuppetGram journey really began to move forward. As a photographer and graphic designer I had the tools to create my vision from inside my head – passing through my fingertips onto my computer screen – to you…

I had always enjoyed puppet throughout my life. Having worked as a professional clown for many years in my youth, I always enjoyed entertaining. More recently, I was performing on stage at Dark Harbor in the circus sideshow and did some comedy routines with a puppet. So when the pandemic hit, I found my relationship with puppets take on a whole new level, came up with the idea of PuppetGram and began making puppet videos.

I felt like this was going to be my artistic masterpiece since there was no website out there that was doing what I had thought of. I was off to the races to begin creating my arsenal of puppets and materials to fulfill my concept and bring it to fruition.

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

I originally started out as a graphic designer in 1998 working for company that specialized in Political Campaigns. I still continue to work for clients doing direct mail political campaign work but my portfolio is not only in the political arena. I have worked with hundreds of clients doing magazine layout, designing ads, brochures, postcards, booklets, business cards, letterheads, logos, flyers, pamphlets, identity packages, websites, music videos, photography, and so much more. www.graphXperts.com

I am proud of all the work I do. I love to create artwork for clients and have them feel great about the experience as well as the product. I am especially proud of my PuppetGram website as it was my biggest art concept to reality project I have done and most involved. 5 years from start to finish. www.Puppet-Gram.com

I recently did a Life Action Puppet Birthday Party for a 3 year old and now find myself open to having more positive experiences like the one I had. It was such an amazing time to be able to have the puppets interact with the kids. Ironically, the puppets are about the same size as the kids so Puppet Hugs and High Fives was a Huge Hit and the kids were so enthralled and happy. It really made the birthday party that much more special and special is what we at PuppetGram are all about.

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

The road has not always been smooth. In life, we all face challenges… but its how we get through it that counts. I face thing straight on and when I encounter an obstacle, sometimesI need to reevaluate the situation and look at it from other perspectives to find the best passage to the other side. I am grateful to have family support to offer wisdom. I try and live in the ebb and flow of life. Sure many challenges came up but that was not my focus… my focus was to publish and that I did.

The elements for my website including web pages, puppet videos, puppet profiles, verbiage, background images and videos, illustrations etc… became so massive that I found myself at a sudden standstill when my computer no longer had any room left on the hard drive. That was not going to stop me as I was determined to resolve my situation to move forward with my project. After moving all my work to 2 separate back up hard drives, I now was faced with removing and backing up the video catalog of all my edited movies. Once that was complete, I was once again back in business with almost 100 gigs of space. I think this illustrates how much work was involved in the creating of PuppetGram.

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

Life is all about ebb and flow and pivoting when necessary to get to where we want to go. My pivot was actually coming up with this concept and making it a reality.

When Covid hit, there was not much if any work as a graphic designer as everything came to a screeching halt in my industry and many other industries for that matter. That being said, I found myself with a lot of extra free time and with no work to fill my schedule, I decided that creating another business was a good pivot to opening myself up to alternative work to what I was doing previously. I had the creative skills as a graphic designer and photographer to create all the elements to bring this idea to reality. I had other friends that were also puppeteers that loved the idea and wanted to be involved in my project. I wanted to create something I loved to do, that was creative and that would make people smile…

I taught myself video editing and began making educational puppet videos, puppet profiles and puppet telegrams. I loved hearing how a simple puppet telegram could change someones day and put a small on their face. I loved hearing that a parent will play their personal puppet video over and over for their child at the child’s request. I love being able to do something that both entertains and brings joy.

Contact Info:

• Website: https://www.puppet-gram.com
• Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/puppet.gram/
• Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/profile.php?id=100064164726471
• Youtube: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=FZtiNYmtMTo&list=PLNlPg6Z5G3XQSzcKiQmBjU4SKp7j56j87

Image Credits

Liezel Rubin