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

Sean, appreciate you joining us today. We’d love to hear from you about what you think Corporate America gets wrong in your industry and why it matters.

What I see Corporate America getting wrong with my industry is that they don’t see the true value of how a well-placed ‘punchline’ can happily increase their ‘bottom-line”. This fact was brought to light when I was performing improv comedy with the legendary OxyMoronZ Improvisational Comedy Troupe in Scottsdale.

After some shows I was approached by a company that needed entertainment for an upcoming event. I was usually offered a couple hundred dollars to walk around a function as maybe a 6’ 2″ chicken or some character for a couple of hours. Not bad pay, however it was not funny, nor did it have any residual value for the company or its attendees. This was my ‘AH-HA’ moment and the beginning of many wonderful experiences and frustrations.

I soon realized after meeting with a few corporate potential clients that the mention of customizing comedy, humor & entertainment based on their message, brand and goal of a company was like speaking a foreign language. Their first question was always, “Will it be clean”. And so, educating these companies was my first step. I had to inform them that most of the humor will come from within the company because nothing is funnier than the truth. My job was to customize a program that used this humor as a powerful tool to increase their morale, brand and

So, after over 20 years of customizing humorous programs and teaching Improv Comedy for business workshops as well as a plethora of other fun events such as Arrest-A-Guests, I still have the same conversations with companies that comedy and humor are not bad words in Corporate Ameria. Yet, they are the opposite. They are great business assets.

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

I have been very fortunate to actually be doing what I have been doing since the fourth grade in Syracuse, New York. In those days I was honing my talents and skills by hosting talk shows in the library, selling cartoon sheep for 25 cents in the lunchroom, doing a stand-up routine in math class and bring home a stray dog or two every now and then. This pattern continued throughout high school when we moved from Syracuse to Tempe, AZ. And onto college when I became the editorial cartoonist for The State Press at Arizona State University while moonlighting as a stand-up comedian and eventually a key member of The OxymoronZ Improvisational Comedy Troupe.

I did finally graduate from Arizona State University and after a month of working for Enterprise Car Rental, I truly realized my purpose was sharing my talents, humor, drawing abilities, speaking skills and passion for people (and dogs & animals) with the world. And so, I created my Hoylarious Studios.

It has been a labor of love with the variety of projects and clients I work with which allows me to showcase my 3-4 talents depending on the task as hand. Everything I do is customized to meet the needs of my clients be it a painting of their pup, to organizing and hosting a corporate event to illustrating a cookbook for a client.

And what I am most proud of are all the connections I have made and the organizations I have been able to donate my talents to such as The Arc of Tempe, The Arizona Humane Society, United Way, Future for Kids, Liberty Wildlife and so many more.

Any advice for growing your clientele? What’s been most effective for you?

My best strategies for growing my clientele base have been word of mouth and face to face interactions. I am fortunate to have clients who are very happy with what I do and spread the word. I would say 90-97 % of my leads come from others.
Also, remembering a client’s dog name as well as meeting and greeting everyone involved in a event from the valet to the sound guy or gal will set the stage for more clients.

And my Pawsitivity Stickers. Yes. Stickers. Rather than business cards I give out my own customized stickers that spread joy and happiness which is like a little billboard of what I do for my clients.
I even mail them out as well.

For you, what’s the most rewarding aspect of being a creative?

Being an artist and creative is part of my being, both the process of creating and seeing the look and reactions on my clients is my truest passion.

Contact Info:

• Website: www.hoylarious.com
• Instagram: https://instagram.com/hoylariousstudios
• Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/hoylariousstudios