Check Out Sophia Winter’s Story

Today we’d like to introduce you to Sophia Winter.

Hi Sophia, please kick things off for us with an introduction to yourself and your story.
My professional path has been anything but predictable. I studied Arts Management and Marketing in my undergraduate degree at the College of Charleston, hoping to move to NYC to pursue a career in Creative Direction within the editorial industry.

Upon graduating early from college, I moved to NYC with one of my close friends and no job. After a month of interviewing, I accepted a role in the fashion and modeling industry as an executive assistant to the CEO of the company. I was introduced to an entirely new world that I had only briefly dipped into when I interned for a designer during New York Fashion Week my sophomore year of college.

After realizing that the industry wouldn’t provide the long-term and sustainable professional future I was looking for, I left my role and returned to Charleston, SC to wait out the pandemic lockdown.

At the time, when I arrived in Charleston, I was unaware that I wouldn’t be returning to NYC to continue interviewing for new roles. Rather, I began a journey aimed towards building a career as a health and wellness professional. I spent a few years as a health and life coach, while simultaneously building out an art consultancy with a friend.

In 2020, The Artizan Studios was born and we operated as a boutique art consultancy and online gallery. As most businesses do, we continued to evolve and came to a point where a pivot was needed. My business partner had a separate art business that was booming and required her full attention.

We agreed that I would continue to run the business and onboard another friend, Alex Swilley, in her place. This transition provided a unique opportunity to reevaluate the future of the business and explore how we could infuse our natural gifts and learned skills into an expanded concept.

Alex brought a amazing perspective to the business and after months of planning and brainstorming, we decided to grow the mission of the business and expand our services. This brings us to the present day. Now, we find ourselves extending our definition of art to encompass the art of gathering while still providing creative services to creative businesses and beyond.

As we embark on this new direction, we feel it is important to continue honoring the name “Artizan.” We remain steadfast in approaching all that we do with a curated, handmade, and intentional touch and I couldn’t be more proud of this evolution.

While they may not seem connected, each professional endeavor I’ve pursued has been a necessary stepping stone to where I am now.

I’m sure it wasn’t obstacle-free, but would you say the journey has been fairly smooth so far?
Of course not! I’ve been met with plenty of resistance at every turn. The biggest struggle I’ve encountered has been the rollercoaster of solopreneurship. The frustration of trial and error is present at all times.

It can be scary and vulnerable to venture into the world of entrepreneurship because most of the time, in the beginning, you’re playing almost every role of a functioning business: accountant, manager, creative, marketer, director, web developer, etc.

There’s a huge learning curve and more than anything, you’re getting a crash course in personal development and self-growth. In my opinion, that’s the main journey you’re signing up for when you become an entrepreneur. You have to be ready to completely dismantle the way you’ve “always been” or “always done things” to make room for a major evolution of self.

There have been so many moments where I’ve had to take a deep breath between tears to remind myself that I chose this path and a hard day pursuing something I love is better than a good day on a path that I know is not in alignment with my highest purpose.

Alright, so let’s switch gears a bit and talk business. What should we know about your work?
The Artizan Studios specializes in a highly curated and artisanal approach, we design experiences that leave a lasting impact and promote connectivity. In 2024, we are launching an event series that will be open to the public where we focus on infusing an unconventional approach to conventional gatherings.

In addition to our gatherings and events, we have a signature creative services offering called The Playground. This is where we step back from crafting our events and experiences to take on the role of guiding businesses, creators, and artists toward their unique solutions and activations.

Through our collaborative and organic approach to creative services, we nurture relationships and cultivate creativity. Below is a sample list of our Playground services:

– Creative direction

– Custom event and experience design

– Social media production

– Marketing

– Branding

– Community engagement strategy, programming, and activations

In addition to my work with The Artizan Studios, I’m also a mixed-media artist alongside my mother, Christine Patterson. My mother has been an established artist for 30 years. In 2020, we began producing work and taking commission requests together. Over the last few years, we’ve grown our body of work and now have gallery representation throughout the Southeast. Art has played many important roles in my life and I feel so lucky to share this passion with my mom. You can learn more about our work together at www.c-s-artwork.com.

What’s next?
I have big plans and dreams!

In the immediate future, I’m excited to see all of the event concepts and ideas materialize for our 2024 Artizan Studios Event Series.

For the long term, you’ll have to stay tuned! We have a lot in the pipeline for the business.

I’m excited to harness everything I’ve learned and grown through over the last few years and create work that lights me up.

Contact Info:

• Website: www.theartizanstudios.com
• Instagram: @theartizanstudios
• Linkedin: https://www.linkedin.com/company/the-artizan-studios