Today we’d like to introduce you to Paula MacLeod.
Alright, so thank you so much for sharing your story and insight with our readers. To kick things off, can you tell us a bit about how you got started?
I started as an instructor at Wine & Design in 2022. The job offered me flexibility with my schedule, which I needed due to helping with an ailing family member. Over the next couple of years, I learned all of our DIYs and specialty events like team buildings. After my family situation changed, I decided to stay on. In 2024, the previous owner decided to sell and asked if I was interested. My husband and I talked it over and decided to take the leap! I’ve learned SO much in the past couple of years and still love creating with our guests!
Alright, so let’s dig a little deeper into the story – has it been an easy path overall and if not, what were the challenges you’ve had to overcome?
There’s a huge learning curve to running a business. We worked with a business coach for about a year and she was instrumental in helping us understand how to cost out per seat prices for all of our offerings, how to set goals, and how to track our progress.
Thanks for sharing that. So, maybe next you can tell us a bit more about your work?
We offer unique elevated art experiences through our divisions: Art Buzz Kids (parties and camps), Team Building, Fundraising, mobile options, and our extensive DIY offerings. Our kids camps run through the summer and the theme changes each week. We offer themes ranging from art in nature to clay creations. Our DIY division grows each week as our creative partners add new designs to our stained glass offerings, glass blowing, hand knit chunky blankets, resin projects and even our themed trivia specialty events like R&B or pop culture.
For us at W&D Durham, we provide free face painting at community events for our local elementary PTAs and partner with our neighborhood businesses in school supply drives and other public events. Our bottom line goal is to provide a space for our community guests to create not only something they made themselves, but a place for them to make memories.
We’d love to hear about how you think about risk taking?
Setting up our stained glass program meant investing in equipment, tools, materials and training for our artists. We went into it slowly, so our start up cost wasn’t too much and we could build as we grew that program. It has been worth it and we continue to do well in stained glass.
We’ve also taken some risks in marketing and tried avenues that didn’t work at all. Some things we did that haven’t worked range from print ads and sponsoring social groups. Other than social media, we have found that getting out in the community to create awareness about where we are and what we do is very effective.
Pricing:
- Private parties: $40/person
- Kid’s parties: $32/person
- DIYs: $45 – $100
- Clay time: $25/person
- Watercolor workshops: $30/person
Contact Info:
- Website: https://www.wineanddesign.com/durham-nc/
- Instagram: wnddurham
- Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/wnddurhamnc
