I’m so proud to have this opportunity to tell my brand ambassador story, because like so many others, it has changed my life.
In 2016, I was a stay at home mom to 3 young boys, painting furniture in my garage. It had started as a hobby, and word of mouth was growing my customer base. I was lurking in all of the painting forums trying to soak up all the knowledge I could.
A customer suggested I come up with a business name and put myself on social media, so I did just that.
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After about a year on my page, I had organically grown a following of about 5k on Facebook and was starting to share my photos in larger groups. I wasn’t loyal to any paint brand and was trying them all. Each had things I liked and didn’t, but none were perfect.
A paint retailer, who was following my page messaged and suggested I try a certain paint, so I placed my first order. I still remember…Palmetto and Copper Glaze.
I posted my first piece on social media and not long after, they contacted me! The message asked if I’d be interested in partnering on a new program, “Brand Ambassador” they’d call it. I hesitated…believe it or not.
I reached out to other more established painters for advice. This partnership meant I’d be working alongside a brand, I needed to trust it was a smart direction to go with my fledgling business.
I had no idea at the time what a turning point that decision would be for me. I signed that contract, and the Brand Ambassador program was born.
At the time, we had no idea what the Brand Ambassador program would look like. There wasn’t anything else out there to compare it to.
Most artists were holding their techniques close, asking colors was taboo, information was sparse and hard to find in the furniture painting world, aside from a handful who were writing blogs or doing videos. I started out posting photos that included full product details and painting Live on Facebook with other painters and retailers… Basically, anyone who would paint with me!
We slowly added the most talented artists to their team, who shared their passion for blowing this world wide open and grew it to a team of 12 Brand Ambassadors. Each brings a different strength to the team.
We all maintain a Facebook page, Instagram page, Pinterest following, a blog, our own websites, and YouTube channels and are always looking for the next cutting-edge platform…Tik Tok, here we come!
Tik tok’in
We now have a calendar chocked full of knowledgeable experts, teaching the range of uses for this extensive line of products in daily live videos and social media posts. Being a Brand Ambassador means being a product expert.
It took me months to accumulate the entire line, then months to use it all. Our job is to make all the mistakes and figure out all the details, so users don’t have to. We are here to put together paint ensembles that inspire you on how to use all these products together. We are an all-inclusive, social media marketing team.
I consider myself very lucky to have grown up in a Brand Ambassador program. While learning how to represent a paint company, I learned how to be a better painter, how to share without reservation, to be confident in teaching my successes and failures.
I have since left the brand ambassador program after learning all the things that can go wrong with a brand when they grow too big too fast and priorities change to not valuing your people, Hear the full story here. I’ll always be grateful for the experience and sad for the outcome. Moving on has been the healthiest choice and opened up even more doors and more relationships within the paint industry. My advice to new Painters would be, stay true to yourself and your ethics and don’t put all your eggs in one basket, the paint world has far too much to offer
I’m enjoying exploring new products and techniques. Learning to paint with a variety of products only strengthens my ability and knowledge. The work is truer and better quality as a result
My techniques and staging have come a million miles from where they were. Let’s face it… the early ones make me cringe! I will be forever grateful for the opportunity and trust put in this unknown. It’s comical to think back and ask “what if I had said no??”
An early piece
So my story is also the story of the Brand Ambassador program. Together we have opened up this world and through teaching and have brought furniture painting within reach of everyone.
It’s been an ideal alliance, people, and products I can genuinely stand behind. I’m extremely proud of how far this program and the painting world have come in these past few years. Every new paint user is a testament to our successes and leaves us all asking “what’s next??”
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