Star Greenwood, co-founder of Mayu Silk Art, talks to Meta about the importance of social media and Meta tools in the success of her small business
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Meta: What inspired you to start your business?
One bright summer day, I took some art supplies out to the front yard of a rented beach house to enjoy the sunshine and create something beautiful, using an ancient and mysterious art I’d enjoyed as a college student many years earlier, but had never pursued. I set up a wood tray, filled it with water, and started dripping paint onto the surface of the water. A few beachgoers stopped to see what I was doing. My partner, Phil, sat nearby with his sunglasses and a glass of iced tea. He watched as one person after another asked, “What are you doing?” “What’s in the water?” “Can I try?” Before long, a sizable crowd had gathered. And they never went away. Our lives changed that day. You see, with each person who came to watch, I met a friend, a kindred spirit. But Phil saw a potential customer. With each question asked, he heard, “Cha Ching!” By the end of the day, Phil already had the beginnings of a business plan on paper. After years of working in the corporate world - Phil as a car dealer and I in a variety of administrative and clerical roles - we’d been hoping to find a way to escape the yoke of working under someone else’s terms. I’d never dreamed I could actually make a living doing something I truly loved doing, much less doing it with someone I truly loved. |
Star Greenwood, co-founder of Mayu Silk Art and member of the Meta Network Leaders group, at the MetaBoost “Gather” event in Washington D.C. May 2022
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It was an exciting time for us! Within months, we had our business name, Mayu Silk Art, LLC, and by November of that year, we had our first public event: a pop-up market at L.A. Live in downtown Los Angeles. That night, a reporter saw the crowd around our little popup booth and asked, “What are you doing? What’s in the water? Can I try?” And as she discovered the magic of water marbling for herself and shared it with others, the crowd grew.
Meta: We’d love to hear about how your business is doing – any new developments or challenges in recent months?
Of course, Phil and I (and our burgeoning business) had our ups and downs. We lugged untold buckets and made countless mistakes, but the art, our family, and a delightfully loyal community were always there to redeem us and to renew our faith in our dream of entrepreneurship and independence.
We got married... we both had battles with cancer; grandchildren were born and loved ones lost; our beloved work van was stolen with our entire inventory inside, political unrest divided our country and a global pandemic threatened to bring everything to a crashing end.
In September of 2017, as we were getting ready to launch an online version of our Business in a Box classes, Insider Style launched a 2.5 minute videofeaturing Mayu Silk Art, that went viral in a big way. 1.5 million views in the first 24 hours; 22 million by the end of the first week! Thus far, it has netted nearly 52 million views and has been shared around the world. Ever since that time, we’ve maintained a loyal following of nearly 50,000 on Facebook and another 45,000 on Instagram. In response to the demand generated by that video, we opened a large studio/warehouse in November of 2017, and launched our online class in December.
We knew we will never be able to reach all those people ourselves, but through our unique Business in Box classes we now have hundreds of students in 28 countries on 6 continents actively sharing the art in their own communities, many of them building lucrative water marbling businesses of their own.
By early 2020, the world was still clamoring for a chance to share in the wonder and joy of what we now call the Mayu Silk Art Experience, and we were running a full schedule of events and programs. From street fairs to trade shows, private parties and corporate events, team-building and fundraising activities, individual studio visits and full-spectrum marbling classes, we were poised and ready to meet the demand. Our Spring calendar was packed!
And then, the truly unimaginable happened: COVID-19. Companies such as DISH, Morgan Stanley, Steelcase, Deloitte, and a host of others cancelled their bookings with us, and we had to return thousands of dollars of deposits. Parties were canceled, students were forced to withdraw from in-person classes due to travel restrictions.
Uncertain of the future, we applied for government loans, watched the news, made daily phone calls to family and friends, and held one another a little closer while holding the rest of the world at a distance.
For a moment, time stood still and we thought, THIS IS IT. WE ARE DONE.
Meta: How are you working to recover from the effects of the pandemic?
Of course, no one really NEEDS a hand painted silk scarf. But what we may have underestimated was how, in times of crisis, the world needs WONDER & MYSTERY, ART and BEAUTY, HOPE and FORGIVENESS, INSPIRATION and JOY. These are the very things that happen when people get together to paint on water and create beautiful, wonderfully fascinating, one-of-a-kind designs.
The pandemic made it more difficult for people to access this art. THE INTERNET MADE IT EASIER. All of a sudden, folks had lots of time on their hands, and were eagerly searching for the very things we had to offer. Demand begets action: we were blown away by how readily we were able to make all of our products and services available remotely through the wonders of FaceTime, Messenger, Zoom and WhatsApp. Our students asked for live, virtual training sessions; the online community asked for live-streamed art videos and demonstrations. Our Instagram page lit up with likes and reshares, and requests for collaborations. We received our first wholesale orders to put handpainted scarves in subscription boxes, and hand painted pillow cases on beds in group homes. Our 3-day business classes took on a whole new aspect when conducted live via FaceTime, with our students learning face-to-face from the comfort of their own homes and studios.
Once the initial panic of the pandemic shutdowns had eased a bit, we started getting lots of requests for private studio visits for individuals and family groups. People feel safe in our large, airy studio warehouse; social distancing is easy when you are working independently at 6-foot-long marbling trays!
We got to do some fun collaborations, and in 2021 we were featured on two TV programs - Destination L.A., and the Southern Toyota Dealers S.T.E.A.M. Series, both of which aired on CBS2-LA.
Whether it is online, on TV, in print, or in person, being able to tell our story and share this fascinating art with others keeps us excited about being in business for ourselves.
This spring, as masking mandates and crowd restrictions are going away, we have received a growing number of requests for larger parties and corporate events, speaking engagements and collaborations. Overall demand for all of our products is on the rise, and we are breathing a sigh of relief, knowing that against all odds, we have weathered the storm and are ready for the Spring rush.
Meta: Which tools and platforms have been the most impactful for your business? Tools include Facebook (Events, Shops, Live), Instagram (Reels, Stories), WhatsApp or Messenger
Facebook and Instagram have been consistently reliable spaces for us to build the Mayu Silk Art brand and maintain an active connection with a community of loyal followers. Of course, everyone loves a mesmerizing video of swirling paints and vibrant colors, and we use our art to our advantage by incorporating videos and photos into all of our posts and Event notifications, stories, and reels. Messenger is an important tool for us. Folks are constantly asking questions about the art and how to access it, where to buy supplies, etc., and we don’t want to clog up our feed with long complex answers that might not be of interest to all viewers. Messenger provides a user-friendly place to share photos, videos and links - or even connect live and “in person” with our students around the world who need in-the-moment advice and help with troubleshooting.
Can you share specific examples of the impact Meta’s tools have had on your business? (for example: success of ads, response rate on messenger, % rise in sales, growing number of employees/locations, etc.)
Full confession here: data and statistics are not my forte. I am just getting started on digging into all the potential that Meta tools provide to me and my company. I can say that the 2017 InsiderStyle video launched a meteoric rise for us, the success of that single campaign is immeasurable. In the months following that post, hits to our website were up something like100,000%. Our social media following grew exponentially. We opened a brick and mortar location and became a world-wide sensation. I’m so glad it happened on Facebook - the platform that this grandma/CEO was already using and familiar with - because that kind of excitement and enthusiasm is rather overwhelming!
Though I would never, ever wish for a worldwide pandemic, the last two years have provided a chance for Phil and I to sit back and look at where we’ve been, and where we are going. Where are the deficits (conversion ratio, inconsistent messaging, lack of technological know-how, insufficient funding for our biggest goals)? How can we improve our processes and services, increase efficiency and grow traffic? What tools and resources can we tap into to help us continue to fulfill our dream of building a business that allows us to live life on our own terms, to thrive by doing something that has meaning and purpose, and to help others fulfill their own dreams of entrepreneurship?
Looking forward, we are revamping that dream and facing the challenges of staffing, funding, streamlining and scaling our business for even bigger and better outcomes. It’s a bright, sparkling, colorful and creative world we live in. I love where we have been, where we are, and where we are going.
I am so proud to have been invited to join the Meta Boost for Leaders program and the the Meta Leaders Network, an elite group of extraordinary small business leaders. I look forward to tapping into all of the amazing resources available to small businesses like mine, and especially to helping other small business leaders to discover their own potential for growth within the amazing metaverse.
Meta: We’d love to hear about how your business is doing – any new developments or challenges in recent months?
Of course, Phil and I (and our burgeoning business) had our ups and downs. We lugged untold buckets and made countless mistakes, but the art, our family, and a delightfully loyal community were always there to redeem us and to renew our faith in our dream of entrepreneurship and independence.
We got married... we both had battles with cancer; grandchildren were born and loved ones lost; our beloved work van was stolen with our entire inventory inside, political unrest divided our country and a global pandemic threatened to bring everything to a crashing end.
In September of 2017, as we were getting ready to launch an online version of our Business in a Box classes, Insider Style launched a 2.5 minute videofeaturing Mayu Silk Art, that went viral in a big way. 1.5 million views in the first 24 hours; 22 million by the end of the first week! Thus far, it has netted nearly 52 million views and has been shared around the world. Ever since that time, we’ve maintained a loyal following of nearly 50,000 on Facebook and another 45,000 on Instagram. In response to the demand generated by that video, we opened a large studio/warehouse in November of 2017, and launched our online class in December.
We knew we will never be able to reach all those people ourselves, but through our unique Business in Box classes we now have hundreds of students in 28 countries on 6 continents actively sharing the art in their own communities, many of them building lucrative water marbling businesses of their own.
By early 2020, the world was still clamoring for a chance to share in the wonder and joy of what we now call the Mayu Silk Art Experience, and we were running a full schedule of events and programs. From street fairs to trade shows, private parties and corporate events, team-building and fundraising activities, individual studio visits and full-spectrum marbling classes, we were poised and ready to meet the demand. Our Spring calendar was packed!
And then, the truly unimaginable happened: COVID-19. Companies such as DISH, Morgan Stanley, Steelcase, Deloitte, and a host of others cancelled their bookings with us, and we had to return thousands of dollars of deposits. Parties were canceled, students were forced to withdraw from in-person classes due to travel restrictions.
Uncertain of the future, we applied for government loans, watched the news, made daily phone calls to family and friends, and held one another a little closer while holding the rest of the world at a distance.
For a moment, time stood still and we thought, THIS IS IT. WE ARE DONE.
Meta: How are you working to recover from the effects of the pandemic?
Of course, no one really NEEDS a hand painted silk scarf. But what we may have underestimated was how, in times of crisis, the world needs WONDER & MYSTERY, ART and BEAUTY, HOPE and FORGIVENESS, INSPIRATION and JOY. These are the very things that happen when people get together to paint on water and create beautiful, wonderfully fascinating, one-of-a-kind designs.
The pandemic made it more difficult for people to access this art. THE INTERNET MADE IT EASIER. All of a sudden, folks had lots of time on their hands, and were eagerly searching for the very things we had to offer. Demand begets action: we were blown away by how readily we were able to make all of our products and services available remotely through the wonders of FaceTime, Messenger, Zoom and WhatsApp. Our students asked for live, virtual training sessions; the online community asked for live-streamed art videos and demonstrations. Our Instagram page lit up with likes and reshares, and requests for collaborations. We received our first wholesale orders to put handpainted scarves in subscription boxes, and hand painted pillow cases on beds in group homes. Our 3-day business classes took on a whole new aspect when conducted live via FaceTime, with our students learning face-to-face from the comfort of their own homes and studios.
Once the initial panic of the pandemic shutdowns had eased a bit, we started getting lots of requests for private studio visits for individuals and family groups. People feel safe in our large, airy studio warehouse; social distancing is easy when you are working independently at 6-foot-long marbling trays!
We got to do some fun collaborations, and in 2021 we were featured on two TV programs - Destination L.A., and the Southern Toyota Dealers S.T.E.A.M. Series, both of which aired on CBS2-LA.
Whether it is online, on TV, in print, or in person, being able to tell our story and share this fascinating art with others keeps us excited about being in business for ourselves.
This spring, as masking mandates and crowd restrictions are going away, we have received a growing number of requests for larger parties and corporate events, speaking engagements and collaborations. Overall demand for all of our products is on the rise, and we are breathing a sigh of relief, knowing that against all odds, we have weathered the storm and are ready for the Spring rush.
Meta: Which tools and platforms have been the most impactful for your business? Tools include Facebook (Events, Shops, Live), Instagram (Reels, Stories), WhatsApp or Messenger
Facebook and Instagram have been consistently reliable spaces for us to build the Mayu Silk Art brand and maintain an active connection with a community of loyal followers. Of course, everyone loves a mesmerizing video of swirling paints and vibrant colors, and we use our art to our advantage by incorporating videos and photos into all of our posts and Event notifications, stories, and reels. Messenger is an important tool for us. Folks are constantly asking questions about the art and how to access it, where to buy supplies, etc., and we don’t want to clog up our feed with long complex answers that might not be of interest to all viewers. Messenger provides a user-friendly place to share photos, videos and links - or even connect live and “in person” with our students around the world who need in-the-moment advice and help with troubleshooting.
Can you share specific examples of the impact Meta’s tools have had on your business? (for example: success of ads, response rate on messenger, % rise in sales, growing number of employees/locations, etc.)
Full confession here: data and statistics are not my forte. I am just getting started on digging into all the potential that Meta tools provide to me and my company. I can say that the 2017 InsiderStyle video launched a meteoric rise for us, the success of that single campaign is immeasurable. In the months following that post, hits to our website were up something like100,000%. Our social media following grew exponentially. We opened a brick and mortar location and became a world-wide sensation. I’m so glad it happened on Facebook - the platform that this grandma/CEO was already using and familiar with - because that kind of excitement and enthusiasm is rather overwhelming!
Though I would never, ever wish for a worldwide pandemic, the last two years have provided a chance for Phil and I to sit back and look at where we’ve been, and where we are going. Where are the deficits (conversion ratio, inconsistent messaging, lack of technological know-how, insufficient funding for our biggest goals)? How can we improve our processes and services, increase efficiency and grow traffic? What tools and resources can we tap into to help us continue to fulfill our dream of building a business that allows us to live life on our own terms, to thrive by doing something that has meaning and purpose, and to help others fulfill their own dreams of entrepreneurship?
Looking forward, we are revamping that dream and facing the challenges of staffing, funding, streamlining and scaling our business for even bigger and better outcomes. It’s a bright, sparkling, colorful and creative world we live in. I love where we have been, where we are, and where we are going.
I am so proud to have been invited to join the Meta Boost for Leaders program and the the Meta Leaders Network, an elite group of extraordinary small business leaders. I look forward to tapping into all of the amazing resources available to small businesses like mine, and especially to helping other small business leaders to discover their own potential for growth within the amazing metaverse.
