Today we’d like to introduce you to Alicia Chong.
Hi Alicia, it’s an honor to have you on the platform. Thanks for taking the time to share your story with us – to start maybe you can share some of your backstories with our readers?
When I was growing up, my mom would spend the weekends driving me to art classes and participating in various art competitions in town. We also hit various art spots and exhibitions whenever we had one in town. The exposure has always helped me think of the world in different colors, and take an out-of-the-box approach in life. After graduating college with a psychology degree, I delved into the world of training and development for the past decade, primarily in the luxury industry, and have always been able to creatively incorporate art into my work. My artistic background has helped me while developing communication materials, building online learning platforms, and setting up an engaging training environment targeting all the different senses. When I moved to San Diego for my husband’s career, I knew I wanted to have the flexibility to care for my children and find a meaningful career. That’s when my friend who started Global Art in the Bay Area, spoke to me about the opportunity of owning a Global Art studio. After much deliberation and speaking with other franchise owners, I decided to take the plunge and merge my passion for art and working with kids!
Can you talk to us a bit about the challenges and lessons you’ve learned along the way? Looking back would you say it’s been easy or smooth in retrospect?
As a new entrepreneur in a brand-new city at that time, it was actually quite nerve-racking for me. I had to learn everything from scratch, but resources are readily available! My best go-to was the SCORE business mentoring chapter. I had to quickly learn all about marketing, financing, hiring, employee management, and customer service. It was a steep learning curve in a short span of time, in addition to learning the ropes of running the art franchise. One thing I’ve learned in business is to constantly pivot. When the pandemic hit, we had just turned 1 year old. I had to quickly switch to online learning, for which teaching art, especially with a creative approach, can be pretty daunting. That was a whole new learning curve with using technology to do virtual classes while keeping the content and learning engaging. We had to proactively take precautions during the pandemic to provide a safe yet conducive environment for our students.
Building a business in a local community is also about building bridges with the local parents, schools and even other business owners. Being new in the community also means building new relationships from scratch. So far, our business has thrived mainly from word-of-mouth, which is definitely priceless. We are so thankful for all the supportive families all around Rancho Peñasquitos and its surrounding cities.
Our biggest reward is when the kids declare that they’re not leaving the studio after classes or camp, and when they scribble the words “I love art”! This makes all our hard work and sacrifices worthwhile.
Appreciate you sharing that. What else should we know about what you do?
Global Art is a global art franchise worldwide and is present in 22 different countries such US, Canada, Australia, and Morocco. Its systematic approach to art progressively inspires kids to visualize and compose their own artwork subject, master the drawing composition, and perspective, and understand color harmony and selection, and usage of different mediums. At Global Art San Diego, we offer illustration-based art classes, which encourage kids to actively develop new concepts and weave their unique ideas into their artwork. It is more than just a drawing class; it is a creative space for innovators. Hence, you will find varying art pieces as each concept is the artist’s own. Students at our art center practice patience and perseverance, and gaining strong confidence with each finished artwork. Many of our students have also won art competitions at school or at a national level with their original art pieces, which is a great boost to their self-esteem too!
Our art camp and seasonal workshop are popular choices for kids who want to sample a variety of art projects. Our camps enable campers to try out canvas painting, G-clay (air dry clay) modeling, sewing, watercolor painting, and arts and craft creation. We have a high number of repeat campers who attend our art camp every year, and this year we have campers who have registered for 4 consecutive weeks of art camp, so we have to constantly push the boundaries of ideas. I would consider that the fun aspect of the job! There is never a dull moment.
And for the art lover in the family, we host birthday parties at our art studio. It is a great, stress-free event as we take care of the art activity and clean-up. All there is to prep is food, drinks, and the guest list! Plus, the birthday child and friends will have an artwork to commemorate that special day.
We’d love to hear what you think about risk-taking?
I once read this quote that “growth and comfort do not coexist” – Ginni Rometty, and this has stuck with me. This is indeed very true! I’ve lived in three different continents – Asia, Europe, and North America, and each relocation was exciting yet stressful. It was a huge risk-taking, having to leave your comfort zone to venture into a new city, make new friends and relearn new cultures. The life experiences, however, makes it absolutely worthwhile. The same thing goes when owning my very first business endeavor. Did I have sleepless nights? Of course! On hindsight, would I have done it? Absolutely yes. Without risk-taking, we would never know what we are capable of doing or achieving. And taking risks makes a life worth living!
Contact Info:
- Website: http://us.globalart.world/globalart-san-diego/
- Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/globalartsandiegopq/
- Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/globalartsandiegopq
- Yelp: https://www.yelp.com/biz/global-art-san-diego-pq-san-diego
Image Credits
Alicia Chong
