Today we’d like to introduce you to Sherri Fernandez.
Hi Sherri, we’d love for you to start by introducing yourself.
Paint ‘n Party was started purely by accident. I had been painting with acrylics since middle school, but somewhere in 2010 a few girlfriends and I started going to paint parties at restaurants for fun. This concept was invented to bring customers to a restaurant on a slow night, Mondays, Tuesdays, or Wednesdays. We didn’t mind. We would drive almost anywhere just to go paint! We always liked girls nights out!
With having painted at over 50 of these events, I took my Daughter-in-Law to one at a restaurant in the Los Feliz area of Los Angeles. She was a little afraid because she didn’t consider herself an artist and thought she couldn’t paint. But once she did and had a wonderful, relaxing time, she was hooked.
My full time job was running a marketing firm. We focused on local, small businesses, “Mom and Pop shops” and promoted shopping local. We started one of the first loyalty rewards programs locally in January of 2008 before such programs became mainstream as they are today. In the Summer of 2017, one of our clients, a frozen yogurt shop, had to sell the entire shop quickly and offered it to me for $25,000. My thought immediately was “WOW!” I wanted to purchase it for my Son and Daughter-in-Law so they could run a business of their own.
I set out to get an SBA loan from the Small Business Administration. While we were in the process and few days away from funding, over the weekend someone had offered my client $25,000 cash. They accepted without contacting me. I was devastated!
But that disappointment soon turned into an opportunity. I asked my Daughter-in-Law, “What could we do for you that would be yours?” We pondered a bit and thought of paint parties, since she liked them so much…and the dream was born! We set out to purchase the supplies, such as aprons and easels, and market our new paint party company, Paint ‘n Party. Since I was still in marketing, I had our graphic designer and programmer design a logo and website for us.
Our office for marketing was right next-door to a popular restaurant with a beautiful large outdoor patio in Glendora, California. As they were our client in marketing, I brought them the idea of having paint parties once a month. That’s where it started. We started to get exposure doing fundraisers with philanthropic organizations and large corporations in Glendora. One of our first paint parties was with 52 people on the patio of the restaurant, and the word started to get around!
The pandemic changed a lot for most businesses, and especially for ours. Running a business requires customers, and like all businesses in 2020, we shut down too. Of course we were not able to conduct any parties. Here I was with two businesses, and no paycheck. We had no income for a few months, until the lockdown started to lift allowing people to go out wearing masks.
In about June of 2020, we started to get calls asking us if we would have paint parties at their location in the backyard if everybody wore a mask. Of course we would! That was the beginning of the explosion. We were so busy, we were booking two parties many days, and between the two of us, we were exhausted. My Daughter-in-Law started taking care of her family during the pandemic more, so I was doing a lot of the paint parties on my own.
I got a call in March of 2022 asking if we have Summer Camp. I paused for a moment, and immediately exclaimed, “of course we do!” That made me realize we needed a location for Summer camp, and I started my search for a studio. Not knowing what I was about to find in retail locations, I almost gave up. All retail locations were expensive, but also added a CAM fee, or NNN, also known as a ‘triple net lease”. I soon came to find that the small location which seemed affordable, quickly became unaffordable with a triple net lease. This was where a landlord charged a separate fee for things like their insurance, building maintenance, and outdoor maintenance, kind of like an HOA on steroids. A space for about $1500 a month for 900 square feet, immediately became about $2400 with the extra fees. No Thank you.
I was then told about a location just down the street from where I was looking in San Dimas, California. Yes, the same San Dimas as in Bill and Ted’s Excellent Adventure. It was an executive suite with four other small businesses in their own little offices. When we first started, we did a paint party for the owners without knowing we would be back 3 years later to create a studio. We had come full circle.
This location had a kitchen in the center complete with island, five offices in the front, and two in the back. I soon saw amazing potential for this location, as it had an open space just off the kitchen perfect for a studio, and a large workshop room adjacent where we could have parties that could accommodate up to 35 painters. It was all inclusive, and less than the retail locations I had looked at. It was the perfect location to host parties. Painters and party-arrangers would bring all their food and drinks to set up on the island. We had Paint ‘n Sips, birthday parties for all ages, and more, and it was an excellent adventure!
We started to offer Summer camp in 2022, and immediately became busy helping people celebrate birthdays, holidays, corporate events, fundraisers, team building events, and offered everyday fun with Kids Paint days, Family Paint days, Paint ‘n Sips with many different types of paintings for all seasons.
We have conducted paint party events with many schools, both public and private, and have painted just recently with groups up to 96, 85, and 78 painters!
In June of 2024 I was approached by the City of Upland, Parks & Rec department. I was asked if I can do a “Paint Your Pet” class. Amazing timing! I was adding a Paint your Pet paint party to our website as we spoke. “Of course” I replied. That was the beginning of my employment with the City.
I began to teach classes for kids and adults in acrylic painting by offering basic, but fun classes. This was so rewarding. I loved it! As Summer approached, I created Summer Camp classes like we had in the Studio. I looked forward to it everyday, bringing the kids new projects they had never done before. I loved every minute of it!
I realized that helping others have fun painting was more of what I wanted to do. I love seeing people happy and having fun! I said to myself every December that I was going to end the marketing firm. I realized that I had less stress and pain. Painting is therapeutic, relaxing, and stress free. That’s what I encourage others to think about when they’re painting.
They say when one door closes, another door opens, and that is certainly the case. During the Paint your Pet class in the City of Upland, I was approached by someone who was interested in acquiring the marketing firm, allowing me to let go of all that stress I had been desiring to release with the sale of the firm.
After three years flew by, in early March of 2025, the building our studio called home, was sold. Having to move was unfortunate but we found another location. Again, we had come full circle. The new location is in Glendora, in the same building as our marketing firm was before the pandemic.
Paint ‘n Party has been such an amazingly rewarding experience. I love to watch people discover painting, and help people have fun while relieving stress. It gives people a creative outlet to let go and enjoy, and quite possibly discover a talent or passion they never knew they had.
If you would like to have your own private Paint ‘n Party at your location or our studio in Glendora, We can help! You can even choose the painting you would like to paint. We have hundreds of samples to choose from. Give us a call at 909-447-9551, or visit our website at PaintNPartySoCal.com. Let us help you plan your next great event!
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Can you talk to us a bit about the challenges and lessons you’ve learned along the way. Looking back would you say it’s been easy or smooth in retrospect?
Some of the obstacles and challenges Paint ‘n Party has faced over the last almost eight years, was of course the pandemic, and also having to move and find a new studio. Moving is never fun. At first I had secured a location but it wasn’t right. I moved all the tables, supplies, and all into a storage space until I could find a better location. That had to wait after the Fair. We have been fortunate over the last few years to have a booth at the Los Angeles County Fair at Heritage Square in May. This year was slower than I had ever seen it.
Alright, so let’s switch gears a bit and talk business. What should we know?
After having just sold my marketing firm of 18 years, I was ready to shift the focus full time to Paint ‘n Party and all it’s facets, projects, and possibilities.
Paint ‘n Party offers paint parties for birthdays, team building events, corporate events, fundraisers, classes, Paint ‘n Sips, Kids Paint days, Family Paint Day, Summer, Winter and Spring paint camps, and more. We even help local Girl Scout Troops earn their Art & Design badge! We are really looking forward to Fall and Christmas this season! With new designs and projects, we will be offering more than ever before!
We serve the Los Angeles, Orange, Riverside, and San Bernardino Counties. Have Party…Will travel! All paint parties are led by a talented staff artist, step by step. While making it easy, we help the painter complete the painting confidently, even if they have never painted before. We encourage individuality and creativity while having fun. We have even been known to crack a few jokes from time to time in our parties, making sure everyone has a fun time!
We want the readers to know we are here to help! We know many people have not planned a paint party before, let alone painted at one. They can choose the painting they would like to paint. We send about 20 samples through email according to the season or their theme. We have hundreds of everyday samples as well. We provide all the supplies needed to complete their desired painting, together, step by step.
We always encourage the painter to personalize their painting as well. With some paintings, they can paint their initials in the sand on the beach, add footprints or pawprints, and even personalize some dog paintings with painting their dog’s particular ears. Yep, we help painters with that too!
One of the things that we are most proud, is that we have been trusted with large corporations’ events, and they continue to come back. We have worked with ADP, Kaiser Permanente, Options for Learning, and Habitat for Humanity, amongst others. We can help your company with a team building/ retreat or fundraising event too!
Any advice for finding a mentor or networking in general?
For business growth, it is always a good idea to network. Whether it’s with a local chamber or business networking group, the more people your business gets exposed to, the better the growth. This is true with any business.
With my marketing firm, I joined many local chambers in our foothill area, which is made up of many small towns. For years I would always attend the networking events, and I have been fortunate to have been awarded contracts from the chambers and cities.
Pricing:
- Each painter is $30, and includes everything. I like to personalize the service and talk to a potential customer.
Contact Info:
- Website: PaintNPartySoCal.com
- Instagram: paint_n_party_
- Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/PaintNPartySoCal/
Image Credits
All photos are my own.
