Good Neighbor Podcast: Virginia Beach
Good Neighbor Podcast: Virginia Beach
Good Neighbor Podcast: Virginia Beach
Ep. 23 The Art of Connection: Heather Donis' Creative Journey
Creativity as community, therapy, and livelihood form the heart of our conversation with Heather Donis, founder of Heather Donis Designs. Heather guides us through her artistic entrepreneurial journey that began in 2010 when she left corporate life to stay home with her young son. What started as freelance graphic design evolved into mobile paint parties by 2012, creating unique spaces where participants could "try on being an artist for a couple of hours."
With warmth and candor, Heather reveals the multifaceted nature of her business—from guiding paint parties at corporate events and private homes to creating her own vibrant, symbol-rich original artwork. She's developed creative workarounds for accessibility, transforming her designs into products like bags and pillows so "everybody can have a little piece" regardless of budget. The joy she witnesses when someone connects with her work provides profound fulfillment and drives her creative purpose.
Our conversation takes a poignant turn as Heather shares how she navigated the devastation of COVID-19 on her community-centered business while simultaneously losing her stepmother to cancer and her father—"my biggest cheerleader"—to Alzheimer's and dementia. Through these hardships, art became her voice and healing mechanism. "Art has always been a way to express my emotions," she reflects, demonstrating how creativity serves as both livelihood and therapy. For aspiring creative entrepreneurs, Heather offers this gentle reality check: "It is a hustle," recommending solid business foundations from the start. Follow Heather's colorful journey on social media @HeatherDonisDesigns or visit her work at the Painted Tree in Hilltop, Virginia Beach.
Heather Donis Designs
Heather Donis
Virginia Beach, VA
This is the Good Neighbor Podcast, the place where local businesses and neighbors come together. Here's your host, Denise Taylor.
Speaker 2:Hi, today we have Heather Jonas with Heather Jonas Designs. Welcome, heather. Well, thanks for having me. Of course, tell me about your business.
Speaker 3:So my business is all about expression. I do paint parties and with the paint parties I have the opportunity to create community, whether it's amongst friends or like a corporate event or just open registration events. So that's really fun. It allows people to try on being an artist for a couple of hours. You know, let go, some let go, it takes, or some it takes a whole two hours to let go and they get to express themselves and just drop in and it carves out time for them to try on being an artist.
Speaker 3:And then with my personal pieces, when I do shows, I'm also connecting with a community in a different kind of way and I love to hear stories. When they look at my pieces, you know how it affects them emotionally, or you know, or the grandmother loved hummingbirds, you know, however it it affects them. Um, so that brings me great joy, um. So basically, I do the paint parties and I do my personal pieces. I you can't, you can't see on the podcast, but there's one behind me and every piece has symbolism and I paint colorful and whimsical pieces and then I also get products done from them, like bags, pillows et cetera. So everybody can have a little piece, whether you, you know, if you can't afford a big piece for your wall, you can at least have a bag or a magnet, even.
Speaker 2:Yeah, that's really beautiful that you see how people are connected to your work through your expression expression. So I know you just shared that. People you might go to home or work with corporate events. Right, you do that. People can also come to no.
Speaker 3:so, for example, last night remax um, you know realtors, they had me last night come to their office. So I go to offices and a lot of private parties, so just homes. So I don't, I mean, I'm in my home is not set up for a studio. I have been currently looking for a space for retail, but not much luck yet.
Speaker 2:And when you do these parties, do you do one piece that everybody creates their own version of yes, so I have one piece, but I um from the get go.
Speaker 3:I'm like please explore your creativity, you can change up anything you want, colors, you know, or I've even had some people just sit down and do their own thing. I think, again, it's just carving the space for these people. You know, people just to have fun, you know, allow themselves to relax.
Speaker 2:How long does a typical paint party either a corporate event or private event take for them to complete a piece?
Speaker 3:Right, so two hours is the max, sometimes an hour and a half, but those are about the typical times, an hour and a half to two hours.
Speaker 2:And just say there's somebody is setting up a party with you. Do they pick the art or the kind of mood that they want to? Or do you kind of say, hey, this is what I was thinking, this is what we're going to do tonight. How does that work?
Speaker 3:Nope, it's totally up to them. I have a gallery site on my website that they choose from from the paintings, so that's totally up to them. Oh, that's fantastic.
Speaker 2:Yeah, it's great when you do parties, do you bring some of your other pieces for people to see and set them up so they can kind of see the pieces that you actually have cultivated and they could put into their home?
Speaker 3:Right, so I used to. But you know it's a lot to carry around a whole art studio and set up. So you know doing when I started doing markets and art shows. I kind of you know I get tired of taking everything around. So now I have, I actually have a place, a little retail spot. It's called the Painted Tree.
Speaker 3:Oh at Hilltop. Yeah, so I direct people that way if they're interested. My business card has one of my personal pieces and every, every, almost every party. They're like, oh I wish we could have painted this. And I'm like, well, that's my artwork and that would take like an eight week course.
Speaker 2:But yeah, tell me some myths or misconceptions about your particular business or industry.
Speaker 3:Yes, that's so people think art's really easy, which you know, they find out quickly. If they do a class, they're like gosh, this is hard, oh, my arm's tired, you know, and it's, they're the business aspect of it. So you know, I'm, I'm doing the books, or I'm doing my own advertising, or you know, and then I own a home, so you know, and then I have a child, all these little things. So I wish I was painting all day and I wish all the ideas came easily, but no, it doesn't. Ideas came easily, but no, it doesn't.
Speaker 2:So tell me, tell me one hardship you, because it sounds like you've probably had the whole gamut of emotions and how long has your business been in business?
Speaker 3:So I started Heather Donna's designs in 2010, when my son was a year and a half, okay, and I left my corporate job to stay home with them. I really want to stay home and so I continued freelance. So it was based on freelance graphic design when I first started, and then I wanted to find the perfect part-time job. So I had a friend tell me about mobile paint parties her cousin was doing in Florida and at that time nobody was around in Virginia beach doing it. So I did a little research and just came, develop my own style and went right out there in 2012. So 2012 is when I kind of launched the paint parties and then I was doing a little show here and there, dabbling with my personal work. And then 2020, I decided to try Old Beach Market it's at the oceanfront the art market and February well, march, yeah, and I was completely thrown into being a full-time market artist. So, yeah, so I would say since 2012, I would consider like the business, your launch, yeah, so beyond COVID, what has been one of the?
Speaker 2:this is what my original question was what is one of the hardships that you've overcome in the business?
Speaker 3:Right. So I would definitely say COVID was a mean hardship. It's been a really tough five years. So COVID was definitely because I had to jump in there and just because paint parties was. You know, you're doing this community and so you're not allowed to be in community. So the challenge was how do I do markets, how do I come up with setups, how? You know, I had to learn all that. Where do I go find markets? And then, in the meantime, through all that, my dad's wife had cancer and then, short, she passed away in 2023. And then he has. He had dementia and Alzheimer's three and then he has. He had dementia and Alzheimer's and he passed away last year. He was my biggest cheerleader and, um, even though you know so, this has been a real challenge. It's been a real tough five years. So I would say I'm still kind of at the the tail end of the biggest challenge and hopefully you know just as business owners you're.
Speaker 2:You're continuing to grow your business. But life happens, life happens. You somehow manage that. It's not. You can just take off if you were a W-2 employee and take time off for bereavement or take time for you know whether it be a surgery, and I think, as a business owner myself certainly you just kind of have to keep going, even when you find yourself in a situation that's not ideal but it's life.
Speaker 3:It's life. Yeah, and he died tragically. So you know, on top of that, it wasn't a regular like passing, so it's been a lot of healing this past year.
Speaker 2:Yeah, how do you feel like art's played a part in that? Oh gosh.
Speaker 3:Well, art has always been a way to express my emotions, where um just have this depth of feeling, and so to talk about feelings as one thing, but to put them, you know, put them um through mind and have them come out on a canvas is, or any medium really, but it's definitely an expression and it's a way to get my voice out there, I guess. Yeah, it's definitely helped, and I see the way it helps people in these parties and when they buy a piece of my work and just their face lights up, and so that's my why and fulfillment.
Speaker 2:That's really great. I mean, a lot of people don't have that outlet. We all try to find outlets, but the fact that you are able to use your talent to be able to use and help other people and help yourself what a great, what a great gift. It's a win-win. It is yeah for sure. Yeah, what thing do you wish our listeners knew about your business?
Speaker 3:Oh well, it is a hustle. So you know, I love to see new budding artists and I love to pass on encouragement, but I do, I wish for me. When I started, I didn't really have a good foundation. So I suggest, like, setting up systems and foundations first. I know you don't, you can't know everything, but definitely have some things in place. I had to kind of just jump right in and things have been organic. The way I've learned them, you know it's I feel like I'm constantly in college every day. So, yeah, which keeps your mind sharp.
Speaker 2:Yes, yes, yes, yeah, so definitely so tell me in Virginia Beach, how are you involved in the community?
Speaker 3:So I do, I still do the local market. So right now it's every first and third Saturday and it's called old beach art market and that's in it's called the vibe district down there and the community is just so supportive down there. So I really try to get down there as much as I can. If there's not a conflicting show, um, and like this Saturday, I'll be down there and then in April it starts every Saturday. So, um, I get involved that way and, um, I try to support, you know, friends shows when they have them, or go see music that you know some of my friends are in bands and I try to go see them, um, so, yeah, try to get out there.
Speaker 2:And then what do you do for fun outside of art? It sounds very fun and right, trusting yourself, but how do you let loose?
Speaker 3:Right, so fun. I feel like I'm always working, but you know I try to carve out some things, like in the mornings. Um, I, it's a mellow kind of fun, but I go for a walk. It's called seashore state park, first landing now. Yeah, yeah, so I go to the beach.
Speaker 2:It's seashore.
Speaker 3:Yeah, seashore, and so I go every morning that I can, that the weather allows. Um matter of fact, I just got back a little bit ago, and so that's my nature bathing in the morning, and then I'm seeing a lovely man, and so we'll have yummy dinners and, like last weekend, we played tennis, you know. So just kind of mellow stuff. Like I said, if a friend is having an art show or a band's playing, I'll try to get out there and see them. I do try to take two trips a year, something to look forward to in the future. My niece lives in Brooklyn, so hope to go in a few weeks for my son's spring break and go see her. So yeah, that's great.
Speaker 2:So, heather, tell us how our listeners can see more of your art. Is it online? What's your website?
Speaker 3:It is, yes. My website's wwwheatherdonisdesignscom and you can sign up for my newsletter. You can find out different things. I have that kiosk it's T3 at the Painted Tree and Hilltop and then on Instagram and Facebook I'm at Heather Adonis Designs and I post where I'm going to be in the markets. You can see kind of some of my work that I'm doing. I posted the paint party picture from last night, so yeah, Great.
Speaker 2:Thank you so much, Heather, for being here and being a part of our community.
Speaker 3:Oh yeah, thanks for having me. I appreciate it Of course.
Speaker 1:Thank you for listening to the Good Neighbor Podcast. To nominate your favorite local businesses to be featured on the show, go to gnpvirginiabeachcom. That's gnpvirginiaBeachcom, or call 757-797-8852.