We caught up with the brilliant and insightful Sybil Godwin a few weeks ago and have shared our conversation below.
Sybil, looking forward to hearing all of your stories today. Along with taking care of clients, taking care of our team is one of the most important things we can do as leaders. Looking back on your journey, did you have a boss that was really great? Maybe you can tell us about that boss and what made them a wonderful person to work for?
I have had three bosses, and they have all had amazing impacts on me, in different ways. My first boss was George Xillas in Atlanta. He ran The Madison Gallery, which was located in the Atlanta Decorative Arts Center. George had an incredible eye for design – as he had worked in the arts in Atlanta for years and years. I worked for George for three years. Through him, I not only learned art history first hand, but I also met some of the most celebrated interior designers of that time. My second boss was Anne Irwin. She was the owner and founder of Anne Irwin Fine Art in Atlanta. I worked for Anne for six years. Anne helped train my eye for good art. She loved California impressionism – and I soon did too. I worked for her until I moved back to Charlotte in 2013, when I began working at Shain Gallery – for my third boss, Gaby Shain. Gaby was a masterful saleswoman. I learned so much from her – and ultimately bought the gallery from her. She is still in my life today.
Awesome – so before we get into the rest of our questions, can you briefly introduce yourself to our readers.
I was born and raised in Charlotte, NC. I loved art for as long as I can remember – and I was always painting and drawing. My parents encouraged this – and also encouraged me love for art history – with lots of museum visits everywhere we went. I attended NCSU, where I studied English – but painted on the side to make extra money in college. I sold a lot of art back then. Once I graduated, I moved to Atlanta, and got my first gallery job at ADAC for The Madison Gallery. This gallery was a 19th and early 20th century gallery. The gallery bought most of the work through auctions houses in Europe. This was an amazing experience for me. I learned so much about art and art history – and I was able to use my English degree, as one of my main jobs was to research the artists and write biographies for them. After three years in ADAC, I moved Anne Irwin Fine Art. This gallery is still open to this day, and is a beautiful space in Atlanta. I worked here for six years, and became introduced to LIVING artists. After moving back to Charlotte in 2013, I began working at Shain Gallery, which I bought in 2017. The gallery continues to grow every year, and we represent artists from all over the country, as well as a few international artists.
Let’s move on to buying businesses – can you talk to us about your experience with business acquisitions?
I bought Shain Gallery in 2017. It was a crazy time, as I had just had a baby in March of that year. The sale of the gallery went through in August. The process was pretty seamless – as I had been working for Shain for years already. I knew all of the ins and the outs of the business. I was able to get a small business loan, and was off!
Any insights you can share with us about how you built up your social media presence?
We have worked very hard on our social media presence. Instagram has been most beneficial for the gallery. We grew our followers mostly during covid. We knew people were home on their phones, and we tried to take advantage of that. We began paying for ads – and we focused on certain states. We began selling a lot of work outside of North Carolina. We still do to this day.
Contact Info:
- Website: www.shaingallery.com
- Instagram: @shaingallery
- Facebook: Shain Gallery