Daily Inspiration: Meet Joshua Pugh

Today we’d like to introduce you to Joshua Pugh.

Joshua, we appreciate you taking the time to share your story with us today. Where does your story begin?
Our building is a historic structure with the only mural in Randleman on one side featuring the Founders of Randleman and an image of Deep River which is one of the iconic scenes in Randleman. It was the original Lion’s Club building from 1938-1960’s and has been several businesses after that. We have been here since 2015 and we did extensive remodeling for 1.5 years. We removed drop ceilings, chipped up old square tiles, painted, redid some of the electrical systems, and updated the kitchen and four bathrooms. We did a ribbon cutting on July 30th, 2017.

We started as just a Photography Studio & Custom Frame shop. Over the past 4 years, we curated local art and we now have 25 local artisans and vendors that make a variety of goods and gifts. We sell home decor, candles, and soaps, pottery, wood products, photography, acrylic & oil paintings, as well as other seasonal gifts. Everything that we sell is handcrafted by our local artists. We are centrally located in North Carolina so we attract customers from all over the Triad.

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?
Being an artist is never an easy profession, however, in today’s world with social media we think it’s the best way to expose our work and let people know all the talent that is in this area. We are surrounded by artists in places like Seagrove, High Point, Greensboro, as well as rural areas that are rich in southern culture.

During the pandemic, we were closed until Phase 1. Under the first phase, we were allowed to open full-time and 10% capacity. We wore masks, as well as sanitized all surfaces daily. We are an established business, so we had faithful customers that shopped with us the entire time. We also explored digital platforms to sell our inventory as well, such as doing Facebook lives while people shopped virtually. We then would meet them to do curbside pickup. Since the end of Phase 3, we have been open full capacity while wearing masks. Both of us have received the vaccine and will continue to operate safely in this new environment.

Alright, so let’s switch gears a bit and talk business. What should we know about your work?
There is a photography studio upstairs where Josh takes family portraits, kid’s portraits, business headshots, and commercial product photography. Josh also does wedding and event photography as well as photo restorations. Josh graduated from Randolph Community College in 2013 and opened his first studio in 2014. Since then we have moved to the building we are in now in 2015 and have been here ever since.

We also do Custom Framing which is done by Beth Rush. Beth owns a gift shop called Uniquely Yours where she sold local art and gifts and did custom framing for over 30 years. In 2017, Josh and Beth decided to merge their businesses and create a space where they could each do the thing they love and collaborate on the Art Gallery & Gifts. We started out with just one artist, and now we have over 25 artists. We continue to select local artists to sell their work while keeping our products non-competitive.

We constantly change our inventory to coincide with the seasons and newest trends. One of the things we are infamous for is our Gnomes. They are made by the dozens by the only one artist, who is Beth’s sister, Linda. She spends countless hours making these and they fly off the shelves. You will have to come into the shop to see all the rest of the stuff that we are famous for!

If you had to, what characteristic of yours would you give the most credit to?
We rely heavily on our support from local people. Family, friends, and word of mouth in this small community. We have developed relationships with most of the other local businesses as well in a common goal for all of us to succeed. We also are a part of the Randleman Chamber of Commerce, which promotes all local commerce.

Each of us also has decades of experience in our craft and that is very important to maintain our consistent quality in our work. Making sure our customers are happy is also a critical piece of the puzzle. No business stays in business with unhappy customers. We know what our customers want, and we do our best to give them exactly that.

Pricing:

• Family Photography $150-$350
• Custom Framing $100 & up
• Gnomes $16.95-$24.95
• Wedding Photography $1800 & up
• Photo Restorations $50

Contact Info:

• Email: josh@studio601photography.com
• Website: www.studio601photography.com
• Instagram: instagram.com/studio601photography
• Facebook: Facebook.com/studio601nc
• Twitter: instagram.com/myuniquelyyours
• Youtube: Facebook.com/myuniquelyyours
• Other: myuniquelyyours@gmail.com

Image Credits
Studio 601 Photography