Interested in starting your own entrepreneurial journey in arts and photography but unsure what to expect? Then read up on our interview with Bethany Salisbury, CEO of Pet Portraits by Bethany, located in Matthews, NC.

What's your business, and who are your customers?

Pet Portrait painting. I'm also a fine artist and work in multiple disciplines. I made a career painting pets for customers all over the world in acrylic paint on canvas through mainly online sales. My customers are people that love pets or people who love people who love pets (and want the perfect gift). The people who buy my other art are interested in the themes I work with including mental health and the importance of animal symbols in the human narrative.

Tell us about yourself

I received a BFA in 2009 in illustration and graphic design and worked in the industry for a few years but was always painting animals. I started painting my own pets then did some work for others who asked until I realized I could start selling them. People love their pets (like me!) and want to celebrate them through original art. For nearly a decade the excitement in a person's message when they saw their pet celebrated in color, or the heartfelt bittersweet tears of an individual receiving a memorial portrait for a pet who passed motivated me to keep going. I have since gone back to school for my MFA and have put pet portraits on hiatus, but the themes of animals remain in my work and the difference a piece of art can make by creating dialogue on mental health is just as important to me.

What's your biggest accomplishment as a business owner?

Painting nearly 3,000 pets in 8 years (cats, dogs, horses, pigs, ferrets, and birds to name a few)!

What's one of the hardest things that come with being a business owner?

Managing your time. You really have to be disciplined with yourself because no one else will hold you accountable.

What are the top tips you'd give to anyone looking to start, run and grow a business today?

Create a strong web and social media presence, treat every customer like they are special, manage and plan your time well.

Anything else you'd like to share?

I will likely restart painting pets on a more limited basis after I get my masters, but in the meantime, you can still look at some happy pet paintings on my website or view some more recent non-pet-related work at bethanysalisbury.com.

Where can people find you and your business?

https://petportraitsbybethany.com/index.html

https://www.linkedin.com/in/bethanysalisbury

https://www.instagram.com/bethanysalisburyart/

https://www.facebook.com/PetPortraitsbyBethany/

If you like what you've read here and have your own story as a solopreneur that you'd like to share, then email community@subkit.com; we'd love to feature your journey on these pages.

Feel inspired to start, run or grow your own subscription business? Check out subkit.com and learn how you can turn "one day" into day one.