We caught up with the brilliant and insightful Lillian Puleo a few weeks ago and have shared our conversation below.

Hi Lillian, thanks for joining us today. It’s always helpful to hear about times when someone’s had to take a risk – how did they think through the decision, why did they take the risk, and what ended up happening. We’d love to hear about a risk you’ve taken.

I took a huge risk buying Board & Brush Marietta- East Cobb. I had never owned a business, much less managed people before. I was a stay at home mom that took a leap of faith! Shortly after the purchase agreement went through, Covid hit and the whole world shut down and I freaked out just a little bit! However, with the amazing support of our community and customers, we’re still here over 3 years later!

As always, we appreciate you sharing your insights and we’ve got a few more questions for you, but before we get to all of that can you take a minute to introduce yourself and give our readers some of your back background and context?

As stated before, I was a stay at home mom. I started working for the previous owner as a part-time assistant. She’s decided she wanted to sell and asked me if I wanted to buy and here we are! I own and operate the business myself, along with a few amazing employees and my husband that does all my building.
If you’ve never been in our studio before, it’s more than just a craft night. It’s a girls night! A date night! A team building event! And you don’t have to have any creative knowledge or experience. Another fun thing is that everyone can make a different project and we have over 800 projects to pick from.

We walk you through, step by step, how to create an amazing project for your home! While creating your personalized DIY project, you will gain the experience of distressing the wood, sanding, assembling your boards, and choosing the stain and paint options exactly to your personal preference to match the décor of your home or to give as a gift. We have wonderful instructors and assistants that are on hand to lead you through every step, so whether you’re a master craftsman or DIY novice, you’ll create a wood sign that you will be proud to hang in your home for years to come.

What do you find most rewarding about being a creative?

The most rewarding part of owned a DIY creative arts studio is showing people that they can do it! I have so many customers that are so shocked and excited with their end results. They can’t believe THEY made that and are so impressed with themselves and that always makes my heart smile big!

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

When we first opened, we had a vision of opening our doors to big crowds, but being that it was Covid, that couldn’t happen. Even before we opened our doors, we had to find creative ideas to keep the business running and pay rent. We were making cornhole sets like crazy for our customers! Cornhole definitely isn’t our first line of business, but it worked and people loved it!     

Contact Info:

• Website: https://bit.ly/bb-marietta-eastcobb
• Instagram: https://instagram.com/boardandbrushmariettaeastcobb?igshid=MzRlODBiNWFlZA==
• Facebook: https://m.facebook.com/boardandbrushmariettaga/?ref=page_internal&mt_nav=0