How to Turn Your Passion into a Real Business

GSD Diaries with Angela Proffitt

Have you noticed how every day is full of surprises? Even though I live by my calendar, there is always something unexpected and new that happens! The universe brings us together in amazing ways. We’ve been focusing on lifelines lately (if you’ve listened to the past few episodes) and if you are a business owner, your brand story is a huge part of your lifeline.

Recently I traveled to the Atlanta market to shop for a client, and also I just love to go to see what's new! It’s hours of walking up and down stairs in multiple buildings with many many floors… and yes, you guessed it, I’m tracking ALL my steps along the way!

It wasn’t on my to do list for the day but I walked by this world art gallery with maps everywhere (I’m obsessed with traveling and seeing the world and learning geography because I’m SO not good at it.). I had to stop and go in!

I spent hours in there!

Ya know when you see something and you have that inspiration and you just have to stop and get it out! This was one of those moments!

I quickly started to lay things out on the floor and designed away with one of their team members. Then one of the owners came over to answers some questions.

When asking him about his story it’s the way he responded where I couldn't help myself…and asked “can I video you” (I’ve learned to ask, thank you to my sweet travel husband)!

There was an amazing brand story there and we recorded this podcast right on the spot! No mics (even though I had them in my bag, didn’t want to kill the vibe), I was so excited to hear how the company was founded and what they do, that we jumped right into conversation.

Let me introduce you to Ryan Martz of Fire & Pine. Grown from passion, this business’s mission is to provide meaningful home decor that gives memories a sense of place through their unique burning process that creates decorative wall maps, intricate U.S. patents and custom-designed wood artwork for customers in all 50 states and internationally.

I’m so excited for you to listen in to (watch) hear his story and I would highly recommend you watch so you can catch a glimpse of their creativity at work!

Main Topics:

*Taking a passion and turning it into a real business*How to lead with relationships*How to create a company culture that includes your team

Key Takeaways:

*Some of the best ideas and inventions come from last minute thinking*Creative ways to involve sustainability in your business*How to be productive as a creative

More About Our Guest:

When we started Fire and Pine in 2016, there were only a handful of us working out of a small part of a warehouse. Today, we are a team of 24 artisans working from a full-scale production facility in a small town in South Carolina. Our unique burning process creates decorative wall maps, intricate U.S. patents and custom-designed wood artwork for customers in all 50 states and internationally. We’ve grown rapidly, continually adding new products to the Fire and Pine brand and increasing production output.

None of this would be possible without a fantastic team of creative professionals who take pride in the art of woodworking. Thanks to the support of our local community — and you! — our team is continuously innovating. The fact that we get to have fun while we work is an added bonus.