Interested in starting your own entrepreneurial journey in arts but unsure what to expect? Then read up on our interview with Heather C. Lou, Owner of hclou ART, located in St. Paul, MN, USA.
What's your business, and who are your customers?
I create queerly unique art in Saint Paul, Minnesota. I make interdisciplinary pieces that include watercolor, graphic design, acrylic, block printing, and prose for queer and trans-Black, Indigenous, Mixed, and People of Color. As an educator, I provide learning experiences and workshops that integrate art, intergenerational healing, and diversity/equity/inclusion.
Tell us about yourself
I am an angry Gemini earth dragon, multiracial, Asian, queer, cisgender and gender expansive, disabled, survivor/surviving, anxious, and depressed womxn of color artist and educator based in St. Paul, MN, which is the hxstorically occupied land of the Dakota peoples.
I am from the Torrance/Gardena, California area, the home of the Kizh people. I spent my childhood with my Taishanese grandmother eating persimmons and learning about community through food, storytelling, and a good game of mahjong with the aunties. As a post-structuralist and futurist scholar-practitioner, I have focused on arts-based research and assessment, critical mixed raced studies, womxn of color feminism, first amendment rights, and dismantling white supremacy within institutional practices. I've worked at a multitude of institutions and in a variety of functional areas- with the goal of centering and empowering the people with the most marginalized and minoritized experiences.
I'm available for art commissions, facilitation and learning experiences, strategic planning, leadership development, assessment, and evaluation, as well as organizational development support. My more recent work focuses on Asian and Black solidarity and coalition-building movements, dismantling anti-Blackness within Asian communities, addressing hxstorical trauma and continued violence against Asian womxn/femmes/elders/youth throughout the COVID pandemic and beyond, and utilizing art as a method of continued intergenerational healing for queer and trans-Black, Indigenous, People of Color.
In my spare time, I love birdwatching, snuggling Loon (my cattle dog), hiking for self-care, playing my ukulele, roller skating, cooking, and causing good trouble.
What's your biggest accomplishment as a business owner?
My biggest accomplishment is pursuing my business full-time in 2023. This will include art, tattooing, creative design, and educational consultations.
What's one of the hardest things that comes with being a business owner?
Sometimes I still question if I'm "good enough" to pursue art. Developing a supportive network that helps combat "imposter syndrome" is critical to the success of my business.
What are the top tips you'd give to anyone looking to start, run and grow a business today?
- Build a peer mentor and mentorship network.
- Ask for support when you need it.
- Failing isn't the end of the world. Learning from the mishaps and mistakes makes your work more impactful and interesting. Embrace it.
Where can people find you and your business?
Website: https://www.hclouart.com/
Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/hclouart/
Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/hclou/
LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/heatherclou/
If you like what you've read here and have your own story as a solo or small business entrepreneur that you'd like to share, then please answer these interview questions. We'd love to feature your journey on these pages.
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