We were lucky to catch up with Maria McDowell recently and have shared our conversation below.

Maria, appreciate you joining us today. Looking back on your career, have you ever worked with a great leader or boss? We’d love to hear about the experience and what you think made them such a great leader.

It has taken me my entire life to find a boss like Myott Williams of Myott Studio, Inc. in West Midtown and Artifacts Framers in Grant Park. He has been the go-to large format picture framer for Atlanta’s top design firms, artists, museums, galleries, residents, restaurants and government entities for the last 48 years, a milestone he reached October 1st of this year! The stunning artwork that comes in every day is breathtaking and the pressure can be as well. One tiny mistake can cost thousands and being in tune with Myott and our team is essential. For me to get the chance to be his right hand has been such a joy. After instantly hitting it off, we found our personalities worked well together and now we aren’t too bad at reading each other’s minds after almost 3 years! Our business is a constant whirlwind of moving parts and precision timing, and lots of math, often with 30+ projects going on at once. My talents are fully utilized here after working in the art and design industry for years. He has framed art for many celebrities during his career, most notably being Elton John’s personal framer for decades but his best attribute is how understanding and personable he is with our clients. I can’t tell you how many older clients beg Myott never to retire. I’ve only worked one-on-one with all male bosses since my first professional job as a photographer’s assistant and nearly all were highly unprofessional, antagonistic and lecherous to the point of being criminal so to have a man that is the complete opposite as well as a terrific mentor is a breath of much needed fresh air now that I’m older and wiser. It’s enough to restore your faith in humanity. Every day is so unique and challenging and I love going to work every morning where I get to open crates containing the best surprises like a rare Basquiat, work by the astounding Bill Traylor, newer work from painter America Martin or an ancient suit of armor from the Ming Dynasty. It never gets old!

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?

I got into this field quite by accident or fate. After graduating from UF in 2000 with a B.S. in Journalism, I had to be flexible enough to see the fading light of photojournalism, my specialty, and learn to go with the flow while constantly adjusting my sails. From this, I became fluent in managing personalities, multiple objectives and understanding my “subject”. Turns out, I’m naturally good with making others feel comfortable which is a skill I honed while working for Florida newspapers and publications. From working at Myott Studio and Artifacts Framers, which puts me in front of high net-worth individuals daily, I’ve really leaned on my past experience as a past museum director and gallery and event space owner at Underground Atlanta. My love of the renowned artists and photographers of our time has always been a part of my life since I was a pre-teen. I minored in Art History so that tucked away knowledge has come back to help me a lot!

Have you ever had to pivot?

This job has been a total pivot for me! I never would have thought I’d get the chance to work with people like Vern Yip from HGTV, noteworthy galleries in NYC, owners of some of the most prestigious design firms in Atlanta or curators from the Victoria and Albert Museum in London. But, that’s actually shown me how mutable I am. Since abandoning photojournalism in 2002, I’ve worked in software sales and consulting, taught 2nd and 6th grade, directed a photography museum, co-owned and managed a financial planning firm, directed a non-profit focused on helping domestic violence victims, was the operations manager for a custom home builder and ran my own gallery which involved finding musical talent and new artists every week. I am grateful for the winding road my career has taken because it forced me to develop a wide range of skills that are extremely rare to find in one person these days. If you can organize well, you can go far in life. I have dabbled a bit here and there as an artist and writer so this has also been enlightening and helpful.

What’s worked well for you in terms of a source for new clients?

Myott built his business entirely through word of mouth in 1977, never once paying for advertising. He has the old school methods down pat so I have been introducing new tech to him along the way. I have managed many social media accounts for companies in the past, so I was exited to get my hands on Myott’s social media and begin to attract younger clients who didn’t realize he was right in their backyard! However, in our world of over-saturation, I have to admit that he may have known the solution all along: steady, dependable, high-quality work along with making clients feel welcome and unique makes the hard work of building a solid reputation that much easier.

Contact Info:

• Instagram: @myottstudioandartifactsframing
• Facebook: Myott Studio

Image Credits

All Maria McDowell