The Hustle
Years in Tampa Bay
Raised in St. Petersburg
Hustle (job)
Sunshine Mini Murals
What do you do?
I preserve the beautiful, meaningful and powerful murals around the world and allow the artists, their fans, and the public to own and preserve along with us, one of their own.
Why do you do it?
For years, the Shine Mural Festival has been a huge inspiration for my work. With all of the talented artists and the murals that they create, there was a need to preserve the brilliance and dedication to their craft.
What was your Catalyst? (How did you get started?)
I worked for the Walt Disney Company as a digital artist for years. Disney taught us how to be creative beyond what we do day to day, and gave us the opportunity to collaborate with many other artists and designers. While there, my mentor encouraged me to think outside of digital art. So I combined my love of miniature art and reflected back on my creative collaborations from Disney. From there, this idea came to be.
What’s a common misconception or unknown aspect of what you do?
I created my first mini mural of my own artwork as a sample of what this could become. I literally went door to door with my mini mural in tow to the St. Pete Store in DTSP, and on my first visit, Chad Mize walks in and gives me his business card and the rest is history. I have since collaborated with mural artists all over the world, in just a short couple of months, and have been featured at the Morean Arts Center.
What’s the most challenging part of your Hustle?
All of the miniature work is meticulously handcrafted and – depending on the piece – is created in context with the actual mural in that city.
What’s the most valuable piece of business advice/insight that’s helped you?
I grew up with a Dad and three brothers, all who were my biggest inspirations in the fact that they all taught me that I could build things myself with the highest quality, instead of paying others to do it for me.
