We’re excited to introduce you to the always interesting and insightful Pepper Pyle. We hope you’ll enjoy our conversation with Pepper below.

Hi Pepper, thanks for joining us today. Can you tell us a bit about who your hero is and the influence they’ve had on you?

Ashton Loren Ryan. This woman is my inspiration.
From behind a camera, to in front of it, she’s the coolest gal I know. From her words to her heart, she is a true form, raw and real. I learn from her near or far, she pushed me to be better, go farther, get outside my comfort zone. Ashton is a woman of many hats, and I strive myself to wear many hats. I have met a lot of woman but non like her. The nonchalant attitude and her natural beauty are a few things that make her shine. Even when things are as bad as your house burning down and loosing everything, this woman STILL has an infectious smile. She has brighten my world, my pallet, and my mind in ways I can’t even explain. She is the most genuine human I have met in my lifetime.

Pepper, before we move on to more of these sorts of questions, can you take some time to bring our readers up to speed on you and what you do?

When I was 12 years old. I lived with my mom and my stepdad my two sisters and my little brother and Jacksonville, Florida. I learned that my dad was alive and out in the world unknown to me. My mother told me that my father had passed away when I was three. Once I found out he was alive I contacted him and met him when I was 12 as a result to that I was kicked out of the house . I moved into a house of love and a house full of ambition with a man and woman named Jack and Jean Love and I referred to them as my aunt and uncle, but they had no blood to me.. I did a lot of different things as a kid but one thing my uncle always pushed me to do was to paint instead of buying me things for my birthday, like clothes or diamonds, which happens to be my birthstone he would buy me paint brushes and canvases and paint.. what I started doing was finding things on the side of the road like Surfboards skateboards pieces of wood pieces of metal. Anything I can find on the side of the road. I would paint it and put it back out in the world.. one funny story is a friend of mine gave me a piece of cut off countertop from a job. He knew that I like to paint stuff like that so I took it painted it a month later I put it on Facebook and he was the first person to ask how much the piece was. I asked him if he knew what it was. He said no I said that’s the trash you gave me last month. So he basically tried to buy his own trash back. I started turning trash into cash and I’ve been doing this for about 15 years.. I was a vendor for many years and one day I decided to start my own art event. The first one I hosted 15 vendors. And this continued on for three years and eventually grew to 45 vendors.. I love bringing people together and connecting people. I love to bring, smiles to people’s face and money to people’s wallets.. I wouldn’t be where I am if it weren’t for my uncle Jack pushing me to use my talents as my income..
I was also in a band myself as a drummer, as well as traveling as an artist with another band doing live paintings, also taught Surf Camp for 10 years. I like doing a lot of different things and staying busy and putting another tool in my toolbox..

We’d love to hear the story of how you built up your social media audience?

I started small just as anyone else and every day I would be on my art page and I would like and comment on other people stuff. Because how do people find you? So you have to put yourself out there. I spent a lot of time doing this and building things slowly and I have built it organically I’ve never had to pay for it. I have always just used my knowledge and skill and word-of-mouth travels far.. when you truly care about something you put your time and energy into that thing. Only you have the ability to share what you’re passionate about.

We often hear about learning lessons – but just as important is unlearning lessons. Have you ever had to unlearn a lesson?

One thing I had to unlearn was how to sell my art. I thought I knew.. I thought I knew how to sell it and be good at it, but I quickly learned I was not that good at it. When people would approach my table, I would try to find something to complement them or to start a conversation and before I knew it, I would have talked them away. A friend suggested to sit back and let the art sell itself. So I tried that and it actually worked. I waited for someone to start conversation with me. I learned as people approached my table. I would just say things like hey how are you doing or let me know if you have any questions and then I would act busy. I also learned that having a tent over my stuff sold a lot more than not having a tent and I can’t really explain why because I don’t know.. I have learned one thing in this 15 years that when people want something they will get it and they don’t care how much it is.

Contact Info:

• Instagram: @pepartt
• Facebook: PepArtt
• Youtube: Pepper Pyle

Image Credits

Eric Jordon for both photos