Rising Stars: Meet Cassidy Spence of Garner

Today we’d like to introduce you to Cassidy Spence.

Cassidy, we appreciate you taking the time to share your story with us today. Where does your story begin?
Hi, I’m Cassidy, the digital pet portrait artist behind CassidyMade. Created in July of 2020, CassidyMade began with a dream manifested years ago, a little leap of faith, a lot of luck. For a while, I honestly believed my business was created out of pure luck. It wasn’t until recently when I stumbled upon some of my old journals, that I realized I manifested this life years ago, but never thought it could be my reality.

I have loved both animals and art for as long as I can remember. Through college I worked as a Vet Assistant, which was my dream job at the time. I truly enjoyed it, until I didn’t anymore. After 5+ years in the field, I ultimately left it entirely in 2018 when decisions I thought were leading me in the right direction, led me to working in a very toxic work environment. I remember using my lunch breaks to search through countless job listing websites trying to find any way out. When I left, I didn’t have a plan, only hope that my savings would last me until I could figure things out (shoutout to my very supportive partner throughout all of this). I tried blogging, transcribing, property preservation jobs with a family member and nothing really stuck. One day I randomly signed up on a dog sitting website that I came across, not thinking much would come of it. But to my surprise some amazing people took a chance on me and thus I began to dog walk and dog sit local pups in my area, and then grew to surrounding areas.

I quickly fell in love with it, but I knew I wanted to do more. I also wanted to find a way to thank all of these people who trusted me with their pets. When Covid happened, and most of my clientele began to work from home, it gave me a lot of free time (which I initially spent immersed in video games.) Somewhere in those first few months I got the idea to try to make vinyl decals and sell them. After getting the supplies, and creating a couple vinyl designs, I learned that I could make stickers with my new cutting machine too. One of my first sticker creations was a group of basic shapes arranged together to vaguely look like a dog, using my mouse on my desktop computer. One thing (and many failed attempts) led to another, and I tried my hand at digitally drawing a clients pup with my touchscreen laptop and stylus. They loved the pet portrait! and even asked if I could make stickers of it.

I was still figuring things out as I went but I was up for the challenge and became determined to make it happen. After some researching, a lot of trial and error, a whole lot of frustration, I finally succeeded in making stickers of the dogs portrait. They shared them on Instagram and to my complete shock, some other people reached out to me asking for portraits of their pups, and it’s been an exciting journey ever since!

I’m sure you wouldn’t say it’s been obstacle free, but so far would you say the journey have been a fairly smooth road?
Let’s just say I quickly learned that being a small business owner isn’t always easy.

I’m actively working toward being a full time artist, and the two main obstacles for me throughout this journey have been the mental hurdles that I’ve had to overcome, in order to progress to where I’d like to be, and time management/work/life balance.

But, with all that said, each day I wake up excited to have the opportunity to be able to draw peoples furry family members.

I’ve been so lucky to have found an amazing community of pet parents and pet lovers alike from so many different parts of the world, many of whom are now friends, and have been so supportive of me and my business.

I’m also fortunate to have had an amazing mentor, local artist, and now good friend (@petpaintingsbynicole) reach out to me in the beginning stages of my business and share knowledge and insight that helped make the process a bit smoother.

Can you tell our readers more about what you do and what you think sets you apart from others?
I specialize in Custom Digital Pet Portraits, based off of customer submitted reference photos, which can then be printed, made into stickers, added to tote bags and more!

I offer different styles of pet portraits from detailed, to minimal detail, to line art and custom ear drawings, to name a few.
I’m constantly experimenting with new items at CassidyMade, but pet portraits will remain my primary focus and specialization. (Most items I add allow for customization with the digital pet portraits!)

I’m really proud of my business in general and as a whole. It’s an ongoing work in progress, but it’s grown and adapted so much in the span of a year. And I’ve continued to show up for myself each day and that’s a feat in itself.

I feel like what sets me apart is my connection and genuine care for customers. I enjoy connecting with people and learning their stories as well as their pets stories. I also want to do what I can to add a little positivity to the world, and make a safe space online that people can come to. And I truly want my customers to receive a piece of art they love and will do whatever I can to produce that.

We’d be interested to hear your thoughts on luck and what role, if any, you feel it’s played for you?
I think luck plays a big role in most things, but not to minimize the amount of work that’s put into them. I personally believe I am very lucky to life the life I live, and to have been given this opportunity to live one of my wildest dreams.
The situations that occurred that could be deemed “bad luck” helped redirect my path to where I am now, and otherwise I may have not viewed this as an option.

I think both attribute to the ebb and flow of business, and life for that matter.
But I believe things happen for a reason, and it all can be a learning opportunity if you let it be.

Pricing:

• Custom Digital Pet Portrait – starting at $70
• Custom Pet Ear Outline – starting at $10
• Custom Minimalist Portrait – starting at $25
• Custom Tote Bags – starting at $15

Contact Info:

• Email: [email protected]
• Website: www.cassidymadeco.com
• Instagram: www.instagram.com/cassidymadeco
• Facebook: www.facebook.com/cassidymadeco

Image Credits
@malakai_the_dobie (tattoo photo) @makena.doodle (Doodle next to print) @spicey_pumpkin (tote picture)