We recently connected with Shelley Cleveland and have shared our conversation below.

Hi Shelley, thanks for joining us today. What was it like going from idea to execution? Can you share some of the backstory and some of the major steps or milestones?

My husband is the artist for Art of the Spirit by night. By day, he has his “real job” as a graphic designer as well. One day, they needed to test a new machine. Rick offered a piece of his art for the sample. They wanted it print on something porous so they grabbed a tile and printed the design. The result was breathtaking! We decided there might be a market for our artwork printed on ceramic tile. We started with friends and family but soon had others asking for our art. We joined a small local show and sold out! Art of the spirit was born.
We hit a glitch when my husbands work wanted a piece of the pie we were not willing to give. So, in one day, I secured a new printing facility and we took off. We decided if this was going to work, we needed it to be a business, not a side hustle. So, I quit my job doing Speech Therapy and dug in. I got a business license, sacrificed my crafting space to create a work room, opened a business bank account, and hit the internet looking for shows!
Nobody tells you how much work a small business can be! Once we booked some shows, it occurred to us we needed tables, displays, backdrops, tablecloths…and that was just for shows. We needed shelves for inventory, a way to track our sales, a way to make those sales, and so much more.
We decided to start small and local. We set aside 20% from every show for booth enhancement. We also set aside 20% for upcoming show fees. 13 years in, we still do this! We do many of the same shows from year to year and people want to see what is new, not just what they bought last year. So, we moved with decor changes and moved from tile to a beautiful birch wood. Less breakage, easier to hang, and went with the current trend of black and white home decorating.
We evolved f rom our religious themed artwork only to wildlife, holiday, nature, western, and gift themes. We slowly added prints, coasters, stickers, journals, ornaments, cards, and more.
We decided, as we got older, it would be nice to stay home more often as I am currently on the road about 140 days a year at events. Our products are very unique so we don’t have a problem getting into events. But, we decided to try the wholesale end of things.
I worked up an introduction page, sample pages, and a packet to take to small gift shops, book stores, and souvenir shops in towns where I was a vendor. We soon had around 40 shops carrying our products and are slowly cutting back our show schedule.
Vendor life is not for the faint of heart! It is hard work, even on the off season. I am a scheduler, planner, driver, delivery girl, inventory master, web page organizer, buyer, seller, and all things in between. I set up my booth alone and it is a massive booth at this point. It takes about 7 hours to set up alone.
We took the risk and it paid off. We are still a work in progress and are evolving all the time. But that is what businesses do!

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?

If you have walls, you need us! We are Art of the Spirit, original artwork printed on wood, deluxe prints, cards, journals, ornaments, and so much more! We want our customers to feel like family! Every piece of art has a story and when we share them, even the painful ones, it makes our customers feel like their art continues to speak to them.
We have people at almost every show stare at a piece and stand with tears running down their faces. Our art is that impactful. Whether it is sharing a piece done when our 3 time cancer surviving daughter wanted a piece done to have in the hospital with her, the death of our grandson which produced the most stirring Santa drawing in our collection, or the simple meaning of why there are always 4 animals in our nature designs…there is always a story to share.
We have worked hard to make Art of the Spirit a legitimate brand, one we are certainly proud of.

How do you keep your team’s morale high?

So, my business is literally a 2 man show, my husband and myself. BUT, I feel the vendor community becomes a big family. Some of my best friends in this world are those I have met doing shows. We have started renting Airbnbs together, we eat at the same time every show day so we can enjoy each others company, and we have even started traveling together. One thing which shocked me, was how many vendors set up and leave without talking to another soul. Many have booths I know were thrown together and I also know I have advice for how to make the flow better. I am also a busy body who thinks there is enough room in the world for everyone to succeed,
To that end, I go out of my w ay to meet my neighboring vendors, share product knowledge when asked, and have become someone many at shows will approach for help because they have seen me give advice to others. I have watched a young vendor make a few tweaks in her booth and increase her daily sales total by $500.
At shows, I make sure I am aware of those around me. We make funny videos during show time and everyone joins in now!
We have a soundtrack at one of our big shows where, everytime “Sweet Caroline” come on, it becomes a competition on every aisle to see who can get the most customers to join in om “So good, so good, so good” It is the little things that bond people together and I work hard on those little things.

Can you share a story from your journey that illustrates your resilience?

My child was diagnosed with cancer at the age of 14…and again at 16…and again at 19. Both my parents were dying of cancer and my brother was just starting cancer treatment, all at the same time. That is not the tricky part. At the time, I was the humor columnist for our regions weekly newspaper. Every week, I had to make people laugh while caring for 3 of the 4 members of my family fighting cancer.
Life wasn’t very funny. At least it didn’t feel funny. I was exhausted from my job, our side hustle just becoming a business, and my writing gig.
Then, I stopped feeling sorry for myself and saw how much going on I was either going to have to find joy within the journey or it was going to destroy me. It was funny when a woman asked my daughter what color she used to achieve her beautiful red hair and she whipped her wig off right there in the store to read the tag. It was funny when my dad conned a neighbor into taking him to the DMV after I left for work the day I confiscated his license because he couldn’t drive safely anymore.
My writing became better, my shoulders weighed less, and I knew I was going to make it. My parents both passed from their cancers but my daughter and brother are still here. I tell them they were too ornery, God didn’t want either of them back!

Contact Info:

• Website: artofthespirit1.com
• Instagram: LDSartofthespiritutah
• Facebook: ldsartofthespirit
• Twitter: artofthespirit2

Image Credits
No photo credits other than myself.