Women Entrepreneurs: Shelley Keim of Merit Event Co.
Shelley Keim can make your business – or your wedding or your photos – stand out. This artist and creative entrepreneur has her hand in a number of businesses, but all share the theme -- approaching life with beauty and expression.
Keim started Merit Event Company as a full-service wedding planning business, but she transitioned that to styling and details, and then extended the creativity to styling for publications and products.
“I focus mainly on flat lay design, which is where the camera kind of shoots above and down on a designed board and all the objects are lying flat, and that curates a story.”
It was a gradual refinement of purpose that led Keim down the path to being an entrepreneur.
“I felt very fulfilled in event planning,” Keim says. “I went to school for hospitality, so the natural love for events was there.”
Originally from Upstate New York, Keim moved to Greenville and worked at the Peace Center’s Huguenot Mill and Loft, working her way up to event manager.
“I stepped out of the venue role to create my own business to be more personal with the clients and really discover what their full vision for the wedding was and help them there,” she says.
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After doing that for years, she again narrowed the focus of her work.
“I said as long as wedding planning was on my plate, because the couples always come first and wedding planning is a very long process, I'm not going to be able to paint and do art and offer my styling that I really, really want to focus on, so I ended the career as planner and just offered my role as a stylist,” Keim says. “Whenever anyone asks me what I am, I always say I'm an artist and a creative entrepreneur, because I do have a few things going beyond the styling, I actually have an art studio, which is two main rooms. One side is actually for my painting, and then the other side is available to rent as a photographer to come in and do their own photo sessions.”
Keim can also help style those photo shoots if needed. And she rents the space for events as well.
To keep those creative juices flowing, Keim creates monthly styling boards, usually on a seasonal theme, which help build her portfolio and are available for photographers.
“I definitely feel like styling is really new for me, so there were a lot of risks happening as far as going from the wedding industry and having a full knowledge of vendors and relationships,” she says. “I still have those, but there's new people to meet, and building up that portfolio and new clientele. It’s a lot of work behind it, but I haven't really felt a huge risk. It's just more the nervousness of wanting to be there and trying to stop and enjoy the process. I'm certainly a social people person, so that's my favorite part – to reach out to new people make that connection.”
Keim enjoys the shared energy of other artists located at Railside Studios and she is always open to what comes next, while staying true to her passions and creativity. That’s her advice to other creative entrepreneurs as well.
“Personally, I would tell anyone to just do your business your way,” she says. “It’s really important to create a business that's uniquely yours and to start there and not necessarily look outward too much. Just use it as a building ground.”
Learn more at thepropertyline.co and studiotwoart.com.
This article originally appeared on Herald-Journal: Women Entrepreneurs: Shelley Keim of Merit Event Co.
