Aces of Trades: Stacy Labishak taps into her creative side to spread joy
ZANESVILLE – She gets to use her creativity and spread joy.
“My mom was very creative,” recalled Stacy Labishak, “and she raised my sister and I to share her love of craft projects. This is where my creative spark came from, but it wasn't until I was older that I appreciated my artsy, creative side.”
Today, Labishak is owner of Sign Gypsies–Muskingum County.
“I have a yard greeting sign business servicing Muskingum County,” she explained. “I help spread joy throughout our community celebrating birthdays, holidays, retirements, births, anniversaries, graduations, etc.
“I’m a one woman show,” Labishak added. “I’m the franchisee and lone worker. I communicate with the customer, design the sign, install the yard greeting, and return to take it down after the rental.
“I always say it’s the largest greeting card you can send someone,” she noted. “If you can celebrate it, I can say it.”
Labishak was born and raised in Leesburg, Florida, and graduated from high school there in 1991.
“My dad is from Ohio,” she said, “and we would spend summers traveling north to visit family, often making a stop at Ohio State to check out the campus. Dad was a diehard Buckeye, and I would joke that he was brainwashing us to go to college there. Well, it worked. He was so excited when I applied and got accepted.”
Labishak graduated from OSU in 1996 with a degree in dental hygiene after she met her soon-to-be husband, Jeffrey, who was in dental school at Ohio State.
“After a few years we began searching for a dental practice to purchase as we had gotten married and were starting a family,” she said. “We visited and fell in love with Zanesville and decided to buy a practice that was available here. I worked for Jeff at The Smile Shack on and off, and while I loved the relationships I built with our patients, I’m forever grateful for the ability to stay at home and raise our children.
“Needing a way to destress,” Labishak added, “I started to dabble in children's art and realized I was pretty good at it. As a creative outlet I would paint canvases or wood letters to match room décor, etc. I started looking for things to do when I came upon a friend's FB page. She was a Sign Gypsy around Polaris. That’s when it hit me, we didn't have this service in our area, and it piqued my interest. After realizing it was the perfect way to tap into my creativity again, I purchased my very own franchise.”
Sign Gypsies–Muskingum County started in March 2020. Ever since, Heidi Davis has been a satisfied customer.
“What can I say about her?” Davis asked. “Stacy has been doing my three children’s birthday signs for the last three years. Every birthday she blows us away and we always have people stopping by our house to take a picture or asking where we got it.
“We’ve had the pleasure of growing a bond with her over the years,” Davis continued. “She is the nicest person ever and does amazing things for the community with her signs.”
“It’s such a blessing to do what I do,” Labishak responded. “People share their stories with me, both happy and sad, and I feel honored to be a part of their lives. SGMC has given me a great outlet to combine many of the things I’m most passionate about – building relationships and using my creativity in a positive, impactful way. It is definitely a job full of rewarding moments and joy.”
For more information about Sign Gypsies–Muskingum County, call 740-297-6625 or log on www.signgypsies.com.
Aces of Trades is a weekly series focusing on people and their jobs – whether they’re unusual jobs, fun jobs or people who take ordinary jobs and make them extraordinary. If you have a suggestion for a future profile, let us know at trnews@zanesvilletimesrecorder.com.
This article originally appeared on Zanesville Times Recorder: Business owner Stacy Labishak uses her creativity to spread joy
