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

Lynn, thanks for joining us, excited to have you contributing your stories and insights. Let’s kick things off with your mission – what is it and what’s the story behind why it’s your mission?

My husband, Lary, and I bought Grafica, kind of on a whim when he unexpectedly lost his job. When he started looking at businesses to buy and came across an art gallery/custom framing business I got excited about the idea of us working together in that business. So, I quit my job!
We both had significant jobs with nice income and benefits. And, then, by choice, we didn’t. We had saved well and had the opportunity to travel quite a bit. I knew, in leaving the Company I worked for, I could do consulting within the Company – . and that’s what got us through the first couple years.
When we traveled, we often bought art and had it framed when we got back home. I became very familiar with the cost of custom framing – and how much it enhanced our purchases.
When we sat down with a marketing team about taking over an existing business we spelled out a few things we wanted:
1. Work with architects, interior designers and design firms. Give them a discount or commission for brining their clients to us.
2. Consistently ask for referrals to the type of clients we desired.
3. Offer a nice discount on materials to artists – and ask them to referral us for framing.
4. If a client refers a new client to us, they each get $25.
5. We didn’t now what it would look like, but we wanted an educational element to our business.
6. Give exceptional personal service.
All of this has been working. We’ve had a quarterly e-newsletter since 2009. And we’ve had an event called 3rd Thursday Artful Conversation since 2012.

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

When we bought Grafica, it was an art gallery and custom framing business. My background is in recruiting and specifically recruiting through referrals. So, my first job was to start talking to the people I know, telling them about our business and asking for referrals to the kinds of people who we wanted to meet. That really helped jump start the commercial side for us.
My husband comes from an IT background. A couple years into our business he was approached about buying a fine art printing operation from a printer who was moving away for the area, This has been a fabulous addition. It plays to Lary’s strengths – his computer background (and ability to happily stare at a computer screen forever) and his love for art. He has a great sense of color and works with artists to produce accurate giclee prints ot their art.

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

We not only survived the COVID-19 pandemic, but thrived. We had to close for two months like everyone one else. During that time several small shops closed, some large shops changed their business model and were no longer giving discounts to designers and artists. Because of the relationships we’d already built, be benefited from those changes.

Once we could open, we had drive-up drop off and pick-up for printing and framing. People were welcome to come in if they wore a mask and observed the recommended guidelines.
The commercial business dried up for a while because people weren’t working in offices anymore; but the personal side went crazy! People were home with nowhere to go and money to spend from the government. Many people took advantage of this to finally frame art, family heirlooms, photos, things purchased on past vacations, etc. We had one of our best years in 2021.

During this time, also, artists were selling art online and having us print their giclees.

We’d love to hear about how you met your business partner.

I’m going to come at this from a different angle…..
How we met the owner of the business we bought. When Lary found an art gallery for sale and I upped and quit my job so I could do it with him, I called a good friend and said “Guess what I did today? I quit my job!” She, like everyone else was shocked. I’d been defined by my job and very good at it.

Abut an hour after I told her, she called me back and said, I hope it’s okay I told Dayle.” (Another friend.) Of course, it’s okay, I just wanted to tell you personally. Well, Dayle knew someone who owned a similar business and suggested we meet her – when she got back in town. Knowing she was out of town, we stopped by the business that weekend, and KNEW this was the business we wanted, not the one we were looking at. The location and the ambience were much more our style. We thought we’d see if she was interested when we got together. Well, she brought the idea up before we did once we got together. The rest is history.

It’s another story of getting referred to the kind of people you want to meet.

Contact Info:

• Website: https://www.graficafinearts.com
• Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/GraficaFineArt

Image Credits

We either took the photos or handed our phones to a friend to take them.