Growing a business with one of a kind pieces with Connor Riva

Welcome to the third season of our podcast.  Help- I started a business, now what?  At the beginning, there are so many decisions to make and so many things to do.  It can feel like everyone else has their business figured out. It’s also really easy to compare your brand new starter business to others that are well established. In this podcast, we will talk about all those hairy first big steps that come with starting a business.  For this episode, we’ve brought on Connor Riva from

Check out the show on YouTube, Spotify, Apple Podcasts or read the transcript below. We’ve even included timestamps in case you want to zero in on one part of the show.

00:03.18

Handmade Seller:Amber

Hello everyone and welcome to the first episode of season three of The Now What Show. I'm your host, Amber Christian. Today it is my pleasure to welcome Connor Riva to the show. Connor, can you please introduce ourselves to your audience?

00:18.99 Connor Riva

Hi, everyone. I am Connor. I am the artist and founder of Studio Riva, which is what I call my business. And yeah, I'm excited to be here. Thank you for having me, Amber.

00:30.53 Handmade Seller:Amber

Now, one of the things that's really cool about Connor's business is he has a little bit of a unique background. And so we're going to talk about that some today. So Connor, can you tell us about what were you doing before you got into the art world?

00:45.94 Connor Riva

So before I started in art, I was a software engineer for about six or seven years before the stars aligned for me to take this leap and try to do art full time.

01:00.34 Handmade Seller:Amber

So let's back up a little bit though. So to go from working in tech to then becoming an artist, I think there might be a little bit more to the story. So how did art and how has art played a role in your life? Let's go back to where did it start and how did it kind of evolve for you?

01:20.61 Connor Riva

For sure. Yeah, art has kind of been part of my life for as long as I can remember just doing, you know, drawing and sketchbooks as a kid, doing short summer art club things. But as I went through school and through college and all that, I kind of had to put art on the back burner because My family had a lot of financial struggles and the 2008 financial crisis really affected my family all the way up to where my family had to declare bankruptcy back in 2012, which was when I was applying for colleges. So at that time I was so financially scared that that's why I chose to jump into computer science because I wanted to pick a career that I knew would kind of help me be financially stable. So like you know I got scared in the programming. But after doing that for a bit of time and in college, I found that trying to squeeze myself into this, I'm a computer science box, was really detrimental to me.

And I found myself hating, hating my studies, hating programming, hating all that. So what I did it at the time was add an art minor in college and that helped me kind of have that creative outlet while I was still doing programming.

And so post-college, yeah, I i did the typical thing and got a job as a software engineer and stayed there. But it wasn't until about three years ago when my wife and I moved to Cleveland, at Ohio from Southern California, where we are from. She's from Northern California. I'm from Southern California. I was able to take my remote, my job, my software engineering job remote to Cleveland. And while we were there, my wife was going through grad school.

And so during that time, I just stuck the course. I stayed as a programmer and because of the lower cost of living of Cleveland, I was able to just put a lot of money into savings. And once my wife finished grad school and got a job, I started running the numbers and realized, okay, I have enough savings to where I can take this leap and try this out for a couple of years to see if I can make this a viable option or make this, you know, feasible as a, as a longtime career in art. That's the goal. I hope I can do so, but that's kind of what led to where we are now. And so it's been almost a year of being full-time artist and it's been a great journey so far.

03:59.41 Handmade Seller:Amber

And so there's a lot of pieces to this story that I think are really interesting because you spent a number of years learning the discipline of engineering, which you knew would get you a job. And I worked in the tech industry for 20 years and I'm a systems thinker, something very systematically and very engineering wise. And yet this other part of you pursued the art at this at the same time. And so it's like you you were honoring trying to honor both sides of yourself while saying, hey, I have to have a job that's going to pay the bills because it wasn't like you had a lot to fall back on, right? You talked about it was a challenging family situation. So it's not, it's not like you could look around you for easy answers. So you had to do something that was going to basically pay the bills and afford you a comfortable living, essentially. And tech does that for a lot of things. And yet then this other part of you is like, let's do art, which is, you know, talk about switching right and left brain, right, in the two processes. So that part, now while you were working in in the early years, and while working in tech, were you still doing art on the side? What kind of art, how was art involved in your life in that gap period? You're working full time in tech. Where did art fit during that period of time for you?

05:28.71 Connor Riva

Sure. Yeah. At the time, the thing I had the most access to was I had an iPad with an Apple pencil. And so I was doing digital painting on my iPad. And that's kind of where I got my my fix and tried to play the social media game for a while, just doing the the the things I drew. And, you know, I I only got so far because it wasn't bringing me a whole lot of life. It was just kind of Another task to check off to try and get out of tech is like, Oh, I need to make it big on social media. And that's how I'm going to get out of tech. But I quickly found out that I cannot do two full-time jobs at the same time.

06:09.67 Handmade Seller:Amber

No, no, you really can't. Yes, so you you started with the digital art, but then something happened. Tell us what happened.

06:18.68 Connor Riva

Yeah, it was I think about two years ago. One of the creators I follow online released a kit to create a 3D kind of miniature diorama of a but blacksmith's workshop, um like a fantasy blacksmith's workshop. And so I was interested, I bought this kit and it included all the materials and items and tools you would need from from plaster to paint, to balsa wood, to fake grass and foliage, to fake rocks and everything you would need to to create this this workshop. And I I fell in love with with it. And it kind of opened up the floodgates of three-dimensional art and mixed media art. And from there, I've just been letting the creativity flow. And it's, yeah, I've learned a lot about what what type of art I enjoy doing in this three-dimensional field. and Yeah, I'm excited for where it's going to lead from here on out as well.

07:26.28 Handmade Seller:Amber

Yes, and so it also bridged that gap of you're moving from the digital world back into the physical world, which I think is is also interesting and saying, oh, okay, now I've got this tangible physical thing and holy smokes, I really like this.

And so how do you think that that that that led to where you've where you've started with your physical art? So let's talk a little bit more about what you started building because you're still in the early stages. And what's so fun about talking with Connor, right? For people watching this is his style is still evolving. Like how often do you get to talk to people are like, I'm still kind of figured out and I'm dabbling in a lot of different things as opposed to I have my distinct style. You're on this journey of discovering it. Cause you, you figured out it was moving from digital digital to physical and these three dimensional. And now within that space, let's talk a little bit more about the processes and how you're starting to develop that out. So what were the first things that you made when you started this versus what you're making now?

08:29.66 Connor Riva

So the the first initial things I made were just similar to that blacksmith's workshop, which is simple dioramas and kind of those three dimensional items. But from there, I started thinking like, Oh, what what if I What if I added lights to this? What if I added movement to this? What if i I was just letting the creativity flow where it wanted to flow? And it kind of led me on this journey to what I create now is functional art. So I make nightlights, I make lamps, I make um pieces of furniture, I make like cribbage boards and other game boards. um And yeah, so just letting the creativity flow and just thinking what more can I add to this? And once I realized just how much I enjoyed creating an object that is, you know, can be interacted with, can be used in daily life. It is just that that's where I've kind of really felt like this is this is what I want to make as art. Like this is my niche. And so now I make functional art in whatever form that may look like.

09:35.01 Handmade Seller:Amber

And so functional art is a little different than something that hangs on the wall. I'm an It's something that actually can be used in someone's day to day life. So let's talk a little more now about if you're making functional art. You also have to have a certain level of design scale. So how do you think engineering comes into play? Because you went through all that structured thinking for engineering for a reason. Talk a little bit more about how how the engineering now has come back into it with your art. So can you speak a little bit more to how that all fits together in your processes?

10:15.82 Connor Riva

Of course. So now when I create a piece of art, I'm thinking about the user experience. How will the user interact with my art and use it in their daily life? Like, how are they going to turn on and off the lamp? How are they going to you know use this nightlight? Stuff like that. And so user experience, I'm thinking about um durability of materials. So I'm thinking about based on the structure of what I'm building, like what material will be best used to to bring an idea to life, whether that's through woodworking, through plaster sculpture, through clay, through, you know, wiring. It could be any number of things. So I'm thinking about the structural integrity of the piece of art. And I forget what the third thing I was about to say was. Yeah, but those those are the main things of like thinking about like the engineering process of it. But yeah, other than that, I just like let the ideas come as they come. And then the engineering is, how am I going to bring that to life in the best way possible?

11:27.46 Handmade Seller:Amber

And so it's a really, it's a really nice way to merge left brain, right brain, right, and be able to kind of honor both sides of you because you've got the two different sides and the two different two different outlets and so it's a really cool way that they can work together to create something that's aesthetically pleasing for someone to be able to use, you know, as part of their environment.

So you've started to create some of these first pieces, and since your style is developing, how are you approaching selling things at the beginning, also knowing that your style is still evolving? Can you can you speak a little bit more to what that's been like?

12:06.53 Connor Riva

Yeah, so I have my online shop, which is the one place where I I primarily put my things. I'm still It's kind of like I'm throwing everything at the wall and seeing what sticks. I have a YouTube channel that I'm making YouTube videos for. I have my Instagram account. I'm posting on threads. So I'm just kind of trying out all these different avenues to see what works best, what works best for me, where I can get an audience, where I can find a market and start honing in on who wants to buy my pieces and better understand what they want and where they want to buy it from.

12:53.32 Handmade Seller:Amber

Yeah. So it's the million dollar question. Who buys functional art? It's the interesting question. And you know, an interesting thing that I share with a lot of artisans that Connor and I talked about before I hit the record button is about for artists, there's a lot to be said about some artists will say, well, I just want to make things. You need to have the happy medium between what people want to buy and what you want to make. And it so says it's like that circular overlap in figuring out, okay, well, I found these things that I really enjoy making, that I'm working on which niches would actually buy them. And then is that enough of a niche that that's what I want to focus on?

So it's a very early and an interesting exploration time. Do you find, is it hard to be patient with yourself in the process or not really? Talk a little bit about that side of it. See, as an engineer, we can sort of be like, duh, duh, duh, duh, duh. How has that been for you? How have you kind of balanced that part of you that probably just wants to know with that curious part of you. How's that balance working?

14:00.69 Connor Riva

I think the main, I guess, statistic I'm using it right now is, like, how much have I made this month? And that's a sign of, like, success or not success. And so sometimes I can get a little bit impatient with myself ah thinking, oh, I'm not making enough. I'm not doing enough. I'm not selling enough. It comes back to I just need to remind myself this is my first year. I'm still figuring all this out. I have the savings to last another year or two to where I can explore more and figure this out. And so I just need to allow myself that grace to explore and not feel so stressed and inundated by the financials of it all.

14:49.31 Handmade Seller:Amber

And that goes back to that you prepared, right? Before you decided to even embrace the journey, you got yourself ready for it before ever getting started. And so I think creating creating that financial cushion to give yourself some space in order to breathe is super important and is something that a lot of people for a variety of meat for a variety of reasons don't do that. And so I think that's giving you a little space to be able to figure out and iterate as you as you narrow in on your target market. So this has been a really interesting discussion. I love it when I get to talk with tech folks about how this journey is iterating and evolving because I think it's and everybody has their own unique story. So now people want to find out more about Connor. How do they find you on the socials? Where's your website? How do they learn more about you and learn more about your functional art?

15:41.58 Connor Riva um My website is studioriva.art and on the majority of the socials I am just at studioriva, except for YouTube it's studio underscore riva because studioriva was already taken at that point. But um yeah, that's that's where you can find me. I am active on all of them as much as possible so you can reach me anywhere.

16:04.26 Handmade Seller:Amber

All right, wonderful. Well, thank you so much for joining us today, Connor. It's been such a delight to talk with you and learn more about your journey as an early stage business and really appreciate your time today. So thank you so much. And any final words you want to say to the audience before we wrap up?

16:21.50 Connor Riva Yeah, I... First of all, thank you, Amber, for having me on the show. I'm really appreciative for it. And I know, I just want to acknowledge that I know it's not possible for a lot of other artists to create that cushion for them. And so this is in no way like downplaying like your struggle because it's valid and the love of creation is also very valid and I wish everyone would be able to have the freedom to explore like I do and I realize that they don't. So just much love to all the others out there who are struggling to try and make it work. You you are strong.

16:58.51 Handmade Seller:Amber

Yes, absolutely. We send we send much love out to all the artists and businesses that are basically living to fight and and and you know just trying to you know get through the fight and survive this year and and as the economy and some of the economic spending heals. Thank you so much, Connor. Thank you so much for joining us today and thank you everyone for tuning in and we will catch you next time.