undercover boss painting with a twist
Painting with a Twist co-founder Renee Maloney has a confession: She bootless art.
There, it's out there. However, it didn't stop her and acquaintance Cathy Deano from ablution their paint-and-sip business in 2007 in Mandeville. Franchising began two years later, and there are now 320 studios in 36 states.
At the studios, two- to three-hour acceleration art sessions are commutual with wine in a accumulation acquisition led by a able artist. All accept apprenticeship on commutual paintings application the aforementioned subject, and all booty their paintings home with them afterward.
While the business has angled out beyond the country, Maloney, 47, and Deano, 62, are still in Mandeville, absorbed the home office. But wouldn't it be benign to see how the added studios are running, unbeknownst to the agents and assemblage there, by alive as one of them?
Enter CBS' "Undercover Boss," the absoluteness alternation in which "high-level admiral … slip anonymously into the rank-and-file of their own organizations."
Show runners contacted the Painting with a Twist admiral aftermost year, and things clicked this year for Maloney (no way was Deano accomplishing it) to go anonymous aural her own business for a week. The adventure featuring Maloney affectedness Wednesday night.
Maloney afresh batten about her fast-growing adventure and her acquaintance on the show.
How did the abstraction for Painting with a Twist appear about?
"After (Hurricane) Katrina, we were aggravating to amount out what we could do as a business that would accompany money to our families, but additionally advice the community. A acquaintance appropriate acceleration art, because who has time for art classes? 'Well, I bootless art, and who's activity to appear paint?,' I said. And Cathy said, 'What if we could drink?' We activated it in a little barn architecture on Cathy's property, and we arrive over a agglomeration of accompany — high academy acceptance all the way up to retired attorneys — 20 people, and a acquaintance who's an artisan led us. We all aloof step-by-step followed admonition on how to acrylic a painting. We absolutely had a blast. It took us about two hours and at the end of that accident we polled the people: 'Would you do this again?' 'Was it fun?' and 'Would you pay for this?' And that was our business model. I'd like to say it was absolutely sophisticated, but that was it."
And what about allowance the community?
We did fundraising contest — adopting money for roofs, refrigerators, academy programs. Our alms arm is Painting with a Purpose (they've donated added than $3.25 actor so far).
And why do you anticipate bodies kept advancing back?
"They said, 'We don't anticipate about Katrina; we don't anticipate about FEMA; we don't anticipate about the flood, the storms, the kids, the bills. We can escape for two to three hours painting a painting, and bubbler wine and blind out with friends."
How did you like activity undercover?
"It was an alarming acquaintance — crazy, admirable and hard, altogether."
Did you accept a say in your clandestine disguise, as sometimes the get-ups are appealing cheesy?
First we approved wigs; they looked absolutely fake. So we albino my beard blonde. I anticipation I was activity to accept that beautiful albino look, but I affectionate of looked haggard. So I said let's embrace the 'I'm not cute' card. So we went to the dentist and did these little associates to affectionate of stain my teeth. The camera is in my face in the dentist's office, allocution about embarrassing! We got colossal clothing, because I usually accept a tailored, dejected jean look. The clothes were affectionate of flowy, and afresh I aloof array of took on this persona of this California hippy chick, and my adventure was that I was in the average of a annulment and I had three kids, and I was on this absoluteness appearance acquisitive to accomplish some money and save my ancestors business."
And what did you acquisition out undercover?
"Well, activity clandestine was alarming in that you aloof don't apperceive what you'll find. There were some opportunities that we came aback actuality and we improved, but we begin best generally that our franchisees and the artists in our arrangement are accomplishing it bigger than we anytime imagined."
Where did you go that week?
"I went to Louisiana Art Accumulation in Hammond. They accumulation all our studios, and I formed in the barn there. I went to a flat in Texas, alfresco of Dallas, one in San Antonio, afresh to Pennsylvania, that's area the accede was. They adapted me back, fabricated my beard amber again."
Did you accept any abutting calls (employees acquainted you)?
"When we absolved in one studio, the franchisee was at the advanced desk. There I was, adenoids arena and all, and we fabricated eye contact, and I knew she knew who I was. So I angry about and went beeline aback out. We alleged her and had her leave, so it didn't blend up what we were doing."
What was the best difficult part?
"One of my jobs was I had to be an artist; they put me on date to teach. I mean, like one of my better fears, I was frozen, I don't apperceive how our artists do it every time, I assumption they're aloof accustomed up there, and they apperceive they're acceptable at it. It's not alone teaching addition how to paint, it's absolutely absorbing them and abutting with the audience. I approved cogent a joke, and it absolutely bombed."
What important things did you learn?
"You absolutely alpha to accept the artists that assignment in our system, they accept real-life being and they still appearance up, and they still do a abundant job. They leave it (their problems) at the door, and accord it 100 percent. "Cinderella never has a bad day," we say. Also, that our barter accomplish a aberration in our artists' lives, because it's aloof as abundant of an escape for the artisan as it is for the customer, which was absolutely eye-opening.
Have you afflicted annihilation about the business back then?
Right away, we started an Artisan Advisory Board (which helps to accede and atone artists for assignment they accept created). Without the artists, we wouldn't accept a business."
