Alright – so today we’ve got the honor of introducing you to Tessa Ercoli. We think you’ll enjoy our conversation, we’ve shared it below.

Hi Tessa, thanks for joining us today. We believe kindness is contagious and so we’d love for you to share with us and our audience about the kindest thing anyone has ever done for you?

Since starting my business earlier this year, I have encountered so much generosity and kindness from fellow business owners, artists and friends. When you are first building a business, it can feel like all you do all day is ask people for favors, advice and time. I’ve sent so many emails and DM’s asking for coffee meetings or phone calls. And honestly, many go unanswered. But thankfully a few people say yes too.

When I was first conceptualizing Docent, I reached out to a handful of well known artists in my area. I wanted to get their thoughts on the idea, learn more about their pain points and how I could build something that would truly be a welcome and helpful addition to the industry. Only one artist got back to me. That one initial conversation was so meaningful because it gave me the confidence I needed to start (which is always the hardest part). Since then, I’ve been on the receiving end of a lot of generosity, but here are a few other moments that I’m particularly grateful for: While building out the site, a friend offered to QA for me and literally went through every single page of the site looking for errors or inconsistencies. I can only imagine that took hours of her time. More recently, I’ve had friends offer to host a holiday event for Docent. Having someone open their own home to help build your business just fills me with gratitude!

Starting a business can be really vulnerable, so even the smallest gestures mean a lot. I can’t wait to pay it forward.

Tessa, love having you share your insights with us. Before we ask you more questions, maybe you can take a moment to introduce yourself to our readers who might have missed our earlier conversations?

Hi, I’m Tessa, the founder & CEO of Docent, an e-commerce platform that democratizes how we buy and sell art. I’m originally from Washington DC but recently relocated to Charleston, SC. I’ve spent over a decade working in marketing for start ups and technology driven brands – I just love the fast-moving, nimble culture of these types of environments. But, in 2021, like a lot of people, I was laid off from my job and faced with the haunting question of “what’s next?”.

Around this time I had also started to put more thought (and money) into buying original art for my home. But, art has always been a big part of my life. My grandpa was a professional artist and I give him a lot of credit for fostering my love of art early on. Throughout college I took as many art history and studio art classes that my “business major” schedule would allow, but I hadn’t realized just how exclusionary the art world can be until I started to buy art myself. No one wants to live with white walls, but the average person doesn’t feel empowered to build an art collection because of the intimidation factor that exists in many traditional galleries, and the assumption that all “good” art is prohibitively expensive.

I realized there was a huge opportunity for improving how people discover and purchase art, while also providing real support and technology resources to emerging artists. Using my art industry “outsider” status to my advantage, I created a new model that redefines the art buying and selling experience online. Because I don’t have the overhead that typical brick and mortar businesses do, I’m able to pay artists substantially higher commission rates. So, when you buy a piece of art on Docent you’re actually helping an artist thrive and make a living from their art.

We’d love to hear your thoughts about selling platforms like Amazon/Etsy vs selling on your own site.

I sell directly through my site, shopdocent.com. This was a fairly simple choice to make because I knew I wanted to maintain control of my inventory and brand. Also, secondary sites like Amazon and Etsy have a lot of fine print and I’m very lazy when it comes to reading that sort of thing.

I’d love to benefit from the built-in audience and marketing power that comes along with using an existing platform, but ultimately it feels simpler and safer to do it on my own.

Where do you think you get most of your clients from?

For better or worse: social media. Social media feels like such a rat race to me, but for now, it’s a necessary evil. When it comes to content creation, I’ve found that showing my face creates more personal engagement with followers. Ultimately I want to use social media as an educational tool – helping new clients build confidence around their personal art style and aesthetic preferences.

Contact Info:

• Website: shopdocent.com
• Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/shopdocent/
• Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/shopdocent
• Linkedin: https://www.linkedin.com/in/tessamiddour/
• Other: https://www.tiktok.com/@shopdocent

Image Credits
Mary Benson Kristin Shearer Docent Sarah Alexander Schools Helen Wilde Nicole Russell-Schlesinger