Entrepreneurs

There’s almost nothing that inspires me more than when talented, creative people succeed at turning their art and eye into cash. Yeah, yeah, art isn’t about money, blah, blah, blah… Everybody has to pay the bills, and if you can do it by being creative and bringing new things into the world, then who gives a crap! And if you can be your own boss in the process? Even better!

I realized the other day that I am literally surrounded by folks who are in the process of turning their creativity into a way to make a living (or at least some extra cash…).

First up, my beautiful wife. While working at Jon-Beck Salon she’s discovered that she has an eye for wedding hair and make-up. She’s been told by one professional stylist that she’s doing the best wedding hair in Lexington, she’s been offered jobs by salons specializing in weddings, and she’s beginning to build a name for herself in other cities! I couldn’t be prouder. Her website is still being built, but when it’s finished it’ll be at: www.saradrury.com. In the mean time you can read about her exploits at saradruryhair.tumblr.com.

Speaking of Sara’s website, it was created by Derek Price! Derek is a really cool guy and a really great web designer. Sara had a vision for her site and Derek came in, listened to her, and is creating something that is totally Sara and really great looking. I can’t recommend his stuff enough! You can find him at www.derekprice.net.

By working at Crossroads I’ve had the opportunity to work with a lot of creative people - none more creative than the young lady we contract our graphic design and website work out to: Sarah Eardmann. Besides knowing what she’s doing in the digital realm, Sarah also has a neat letterpress printing business where she makes all kinds of original paper goods. Sarah has a great eye and is one of the sweetest ladies I know. You can find her website at www.luckystarpress.com.

Matt Cooper is a guy I’ve known from for years. Matt works at Southland Christian Church these days, but has left and indelible fingerprint on the tech and production side of things at Crossroads as a volunteer and part-time staff. Matt loves production and gear, so it’s no surprise to see he’s turned that love into a business. Matt’s company is called Barge Heights and specializes in helping churches design and create scenic and lighting schemes for their services. One look at some of the before and afters on his website will tell you just how talented he is. Matt can be found at www.bargeheights.com.

Matt isn’t the only talent in his family, his wife Melissa is a great photographer with a really neat eye. I’ve seen her take a lot of pictures of a lot of different subjects and they always come out looking great. You can see Melissa’s stuff at www.missacooper.com.

Melissa isn’t the only talented photographer I know. Matt Sawyer was my youth minister when I was a kid. We used to say that Matt could do a little bit of everything. He’s been a screen printer, a cabinet maker, a musician, and a lot more things than I could list here. He’s great at all of those things and he’s especially great at photography. Matt did Sara’s and my wedding photography and we couldn’t have been happier. Check out his stuff at www.mattsawyerphotography.com.

Speaking of weddings, my friend Sally Foster is a great wedding planner - well, not just weddings - any event. Just recently she decided to parlay that skill into a new business called Urbaniste. What’s not to love about somebody striking and creating something new from their passions. You can check out Sally’s website at: http://urbanistelex.com/

My friend Kim Carollo is a very talented hair stylist - but if that weren’t enough, she’s also a great jewelry designer. It doesn’t seem fair when one person can do so many different things does it? Check out Kim’s work at www.kgcdesigns.com.

Kim isn’t the only friend or mine that’s turned a love for jewelry into a creative way to make money. Brooke used to be Sara’s roommate and stood up with us in her wedding. A few years ago she started making jewelry in her free time and has turned it into a business. You can check her out at www.itsapeach.com.

So there you go. I’m know other business owners, but these are the ones with websites that are in creative fields. If I’ve missed you and you want me to mention you here in front of my millions of readers just send me a scathing email. As for the rest of you, if you need a photographer, jewelry, a website, a party planned, some lighting, or your hair did, please check out one of the talented folks above.