Magnificent Inspiration: The Entrepreneurial Spirit With Adam Hughes

By Well-Sewn Staff

They say that if you do that which you love, you will never work a day in your life. Too many of us are hemmed into jobs that make ends meet and little else. Surely, they may offer a general sense of fulfillment in the most basic sense, but often times what we wind up doing with our lives by middle age can look much different than what we had planned out in your youthful years. To be certain, there is nothing wrong with making a living and providing for one’s needs, and the needs of family; far from it. But would it not be nice to have the kind of career where one’s purpose and one’s passion intersect in that splendid marriage of exceptionalism?

For one friend of Well-Sewn, that passion and purpose are being channeled into an entrepreneurial endeavor that seeks to capture the awe-inspiring wonder of art with the drive to put inspiration into the customers he seeks to reach. Adam Hughes, 46, always enjoyed art and the creativity behind it. A sociable person by nature that puts family first above all else in his life, he sought to take a hobby of his and build it into something more than a pastime. The result has been a rich and rewarding experience for both he and his wife, the co-founders of The Thread and Paint Shop in Gastonia, North Carolina.

“My wife does the sowing, and I do the painting,” Adam expressed to us during an interview with Well-Sewn. “Initially, it was just a hobby of ours; my wife has done some paintings and enjoyed it. We motivate each other through compliments and used that reinforcement to forge a new business. It was not our intention to start a business at first, but the public response was so good. I first got into painting as a hobby, but everyone wants to make money off of their hobby, and everyone I showed my work to received it well, my coworkers and family and friends. I wanted to see what the general public thought, and it seemed well-received there as well. I went with the fact that friends, family and the general public seemed to appreciate what I did as motivation to try making a go of it.”

For Adam, the process of making art was both a simple and complex one, stemming from the use of spray paints to achieve the desired effects. “The first time I did spray paint art was in April of 2021. I was watching YouTube with videos were randomly cycling through and I saw a video that started up and it was spray paint artists on there showing how to do black and white paintings. My wife had spray paint for another project and I just decided to go and buy the materials that the painter had used. I did my first one and it turned out relatively good without any prior painting experience, and I just went on from there. It fascinated me with how fast the process was. I have always been interested in art depicting space, planets and nebulae. What attracted me to spray paint art is the ease of it; with a little practice and knowledge you can make impressive art pieces relatively fast.”

Establishing a business in 2023 is no easy feat, given the economic challenges facing many parts of the world and the general attrition rate that new businesses already face as a general rule. Those difficulties however are just part of the experience for Adam and his wife Lesa. “We are just beginning to make our mark, but we plan to take our company further. Initially I sold to family and friends, but I was told about an event in a local town about selling crafts without needing a license, and my work was well received there. It motivated me to try more things – we’ve done several festivals now, and off of those festivals we have decided to take things further. This coming year we have twelve events signed up, whereas last year we did only two. We have also started an online shop through Etsy and are working our way through that.”

“Obviously I want to sell my own work, but experiencing other people doing it as well, especially people doing it as well as I am; I would like to help people on an individual basis to make these paintings. Seeing the look on people’s faces when they see their painting turn out close to my own despite my experience level is a thrill. I want to inspire people to help others, that’s my main goal right now. Hopefully open people’s minds to new possibilities for themselves.”

The push to help people, be it to improve their lives or to inspire them marks the essence of what we here at Well-Sewn seek to do. We seek to take concepts and push them to the next level, allowing people to live their lives to the fullest without breaking the bank. Cost effectiveness is as important to a new business as anything, something Adam recommends being careful of when starting your own hobby-turned-business. “Do not spend a lot of money on unnecessary things, that would be my biggest piece of advice. For my business, it does not take a lot of paint or materials, so I can keep it relatively cheap. If you find something that works for you, practice that. You can do this hobby, my painting style for relatively cheap. Do not overreach, and if you do start to have people interested in what you are work on, do not overextend what you can do. Keep it in your wheelhouse of ability and stay within that.”

“For my business, I want to grow in the types of art that I can do, like moving from fantasy space to different forums like landscapes, being able to grow what I can specifically paint and add elements to it, especially to tailor it to the festivals I attend and knowing the audience while I am there. Knowing your audience and talking to people and finding their interests through conversation is a big part of success. What I am going towards more is helping people do this as a hobby for themselves. Talk to people, make conversation, but pay attention to what is said and what area they lean towards, what aspects they themselves find interesting and go towards that.”

“With spray paint art there is not much too complex, but I am always looking for ways to make it more complex and faster at the same time. I like to use the black paint in the background and paint over it to add depth. I like stencil usage for planets; I use certain paints at certain times in order to get a different effect; certain consistencies of paints do better with certain effects. I like to get the desired effects I shoot for. With my business you can use a lot of things like scrap paper, very cheap plates, plastic cups; pretty much everything I use I can get from the Dollar Store, except for the paint itself. If someone wanted to get started to see if they like it, they could get started for under $30 initially (that price would go up with the more paints you buy).”

Business expenditures being what they are, a lot of people may fear taking the plunge of starting their own entrepreneurial endeavor because of the cost, and the fear of low income, a fact that Adam recognizes. “Generally, do not plan on making a lot of money to begin with, because no how much the public compliments you, people are always more willing to compliment than to spend money easily. The discussion turns more reluctant when money comes into play. Take your hobby and put your passion into it first and foremost. People will catch onto your passion more than they will a price tag.”

At the same time however, the challenge of a business can sometimes be the reward in and of itself, despite the setbacks. For Adam, a recent outing to his local mall afforded him to get an up-close look at how his artwork and business could help people. “I have found that a lot of people are receptive to the idea. Initially a lot of the time the response I get from people when asked about painting is “I would just make a mess” or “it’s too difficult”, but when I explain the process and that it is something they could do, the response is positive and they generally want to be able to do it themselves. The instant gratification really hits them hard, a very positive response after their first painting. I recently helped a man at the mall to make a painting for the first time, and he could not look away from it; he just could not stop looking at it. That sense of awe in his own work, I hope it inspired him in his own ability to paint and in other things in life. You just have to try.”

“The average person does not see themselves as a painter, and when they see someone make something like my paintings it catches their attention. It catches them off guard more than they initially assume it would learning the tricks to the trade. Like a magician in a performance, they do not know how the trick works until they are explained to them.”

For Adam, having the ability to motivate people is the essence of entrepreneurial spirit in his eyes. The push to serve people is one thing; the ability to help people is another. “I want my business to be an inspiration to them that, whatever they set their minds to, they can do it. I want you to buy my painting if you want, but I want it to make you feel inspired. Give it a try, do not doubt yourself, and for the most part you will see that you can do what you set your mind to.”

Doing what you set your mind to; now that’s living life Well-Sewn.