Today we’d like to introduce you to Mary Vanderhorst.
Hi Mary, it’s an honor to have you on the platform. Thanks for taking the time to share your story with us – to start, maybe you can share some of your backstories with our readers.
Do what you love, they said. But what did I love? I enjoyed my art classes, and the sciences always held my attention. How could I choose one though? What would combine my two favorite subjects? I didn’t know of many career choices growing up, so all that came to mind was a “Renaissance {wo}Man.” Still not sure who would hire one. Unsure but resolved, I took jobs in the arts. I took jobs in the sciences. I made my way through college straddling a Studio Art major as well as a biology major. After graduation, I still had no idea what to do with myself despite being “phenomenally hirable.” I went back to my comfort zone, working at AC Moore, an arts and crafts chain that had supported me part-time for the better part of a decade already as I put myself through school. Finally, with open availability, I took a full-time position as head of the custom framing department.
I kind of resented it at first. I saw myself as a real artist and put most of my heart into the art classes I taught a few times a week, but my eyes slowly opened up. Framing is not a mindless craft meant to supplement “real art”–it is so much more. On an artistic level, it becomes a part of the art, or can completely transform it. I was so surprised to learn that framing is an exacting science, too–it will destroy or preserve an art form depending on the level of knowledge and expertise applied. I found it. I found my career that I can stand in, wearing my artist hat and my scientist shoes. My customers felt it too. They said they felt informed, taken care of, inspired, and more than anything, they felt like they could finally trust someone local with their treasures.
Fast forward to late 2019, and my comfortable little world turned upside down. A whistleblower informed the world that ACMoore was about to be liquidated and closed forever. None of us would have a job in a matter of months. Thank goodness for that information leak, and even more so for the tight nit community surrounding the store in the last 13 years I had worked there. Countless people we had helped over the years came in to thank and encourage us. My own framing customers pled with me not to leave the industry, but I knew I couldn’t go on to work for Michaels, another art supplier who also offered custom framing services. I had already spent several years rescuing people from them and knew that all of my efforts could still not save a frame shop with their lack of structure. So, I did what I did best; I wore two hats. I was second in command when it came to liquidating ACMoore, and in every spare second, I was teaching myself how to run a small business, writing a plan, submitting loan applications, talking to a few local frameshop owners who were ready to retire or just give up, etc. On March 21, 2020, we sold ACMoore’s last buggy full of merchandise as well as the last remaining furnishings. On March 28, exactly one week later, I walked into my own frameshop, ready for the next adventure.
I ended up buying “Sea Sea Frameshop” after much haggling in February from an elder man and wife who did it as a side gig for 30 years. It was a tiny shop with nothing but the very basics to start and a glut of outdated artwork they couldn’t get rid of. I rebranded it as my own, “Mary Beth’s Custom Framing Studio,” so some of my old clients could more easily find me again. The last two and a half years have been a ceaseless transition. Every time I make a little profit, I invest it back into the shop and myself. We have a better mat cutter and a real glass cutter now. I also have been educating myself as much as possible to ensure I am armed with the best and latest knowledge in art preservation. Framing has been around for over 4000 years, but we are still making innovations and discoveries every day, changing the entire game. I have plans to finally earn my official certification from the PPFA in the near future. The Professional Picture Framers Alliance is the only international accrediting organization to test for proficiency in the modern science of framing and conservation. Soon I hope to be Myrtle Beach’s premiere CPF (certified professional framer) to further inspire confidence within the community that I take my craft seriously and am here to make heirlooms that will survive several lifetimes.
I’m sure you wouldn’t say it’s been obstacle free, but so far would you say the journey has been a fairly smooth road?
Not a smooth road at all! The same week that I heard ACMoore was closing, I totaled my car after picking my fiancé up from work one night. We had to borrow rides for a month until I got a new vehicle, all while coping with the news of the store closing and not knowing what to do next. I never wanted to be a business owner. It was my customers who believed in me and convinced me to take the leap. After months of research and communication with the Small Business Administration and my lifelong banking institution, I thought I finally had a feasible plan to get a startup loan, buy Sea Sea Frame Shop, and get rolling, but all of my loan applications were denied. They said since I was losing my job, I didn’t meet the “income requirements.” It was devastating. So much work and hope was just dashed. By some strange serendipity, however, my dad had just enough money to loan me to cover the business purchase. My grandmother had passed a few years earlier, and he had finally gotten his portion of her estate. I should really be thanking my grandmother’s legacy for making any of this possible. I didn’t feel right taking money from my family, and I think every day of potential entrepreneurs that don’t have the funding they need to start. I think anyone with a drive should have the opportunity. There are some serious misassumptions about how to start a business in America. The SBA is a wonderful resource that I couldn’t have done without, but my experience bitterly showed that if you don’t already have money, it is nearly impossible to make money. Don’t worry about dad, though; I’m paying him back with interest to stand by my principles.
The last 3 years have had their ups and downs as well. I opened right at the start of the pandemic, so it was slow going to say the least. I’m still learning how to run a business efficiently and compliantly as well. I tried hiring an accountant for advice and ended up getting vastly overcharged and underserviced–she didn’t even bother explaining quarterly payments, leaving me in hot water with the IRS. Such is life though. It takes pressure to make diamonds. It took a bad accountant to push me to learn how to do it all myself. Now I’m smarter from it and have a slightly thicker skin. With everything we’ve been through in the last few years, I feel like this business and I can survive anything.
Speaking of “we,” I should mention that now my husband is part of this journey with me. We’ve known each other since high school, and after more than a decade and a half, we decided to tie the knot on October 17, 2021. It was both joyous and bittersweet. About a week and a half before the wedding, we lost Cole’s father to a heart attack at 58 years old. That marked another definitive point shift in our lives. We realized then the true value of time and family. January 1st, Cole left his kitchen manager job and joined me full-time in the frameshop. Never again will we have to miss a holiday or family time due to work. It makes sense with him taking over the back room. His father was a carpenter, and this is Cole’s return to woodworking in a way. It also gives me time to focus on design, business management, and the more finicky framing projects. This year has been much tighter, financially, as a result of us putting all of our eggs in one basket but having just enjoyed our first Christmas together with this new freedom, I can tell you all… it was so absolutely worth it.
Alright, so let’s switch gears a bit and talk business. What should we know?
Like I mentioned, I see myself as both an artist and a scientist. My parents come from a math/computers background, so I’d consider myself proficient in those subjects as well. Most customers come in needing an artistic eye for framing design, which I am absolutely here for. Preservation research keeps me going though. I love learning about the chemistry and physics of various art and framing materials. I also love the mathematically exacting nature of framing and how each project is a series of moving parts that combine to make a whole. I’ve developed a specialty within my niche of conservation framing, and that is for framing textiles. Myrtle Beach has many talented needlecrafters whose work needs a caring framer. Some of the first cross-stitchers I framed for at AC Moore used to participate in competitions. When they enter a piece for judging, there are points pertaining to framing and presentation. The fabric must be pinned perfectly square to help show the accuracy of their stitches, and the overall aesthetic must be pleasing but not distracting. It certainly put the pressure on me knowing I was at risk of hurting my clients’ reputations as well as my own if I was not able to frame a piece to absolute perfection. I must have impressed a few, though, because I had one lady drive all the way from Columbia to Myrtle Beach just to get her unique cross-stitch framed for a juried exhibition. She met one of my other clients at another show and decided it was worth it to make the trip for my expertise. Today, I try to take care of as many needlecrafters as possible. I’m one of the few shops that take the time to “do it right” not just with conservation materials and techniques but also with a heaping dose of the same OCD I picked up from my competitive clients.
Can you tell us more about what you were like growing up?
I was an incredibly shy child without many friends. I retreated into my books and studies for the most part. I liked seclusion and remember getting in trouble for finding good hiding spots to just read and write and draw. My favorite was up a large gum tree in the front yard. I could climb all the way to the top if I wanted to, but I would pack a little bag with a notebook and some provisions and sit on my favorite limb enveloped by the canopy, studying leaves, ants, and anything else growing and living up there. It could be minutes, hours, or the better part of the day. It was my sanctuary. I’m smiling as I think of the parallels with my shop today. The frameshop is a tiny little place hiding on a backroad. Much like my mother used to, you have to hunt a little bit to find me, but once you do, you can enter my magical little world, each wall bedecked with a myriad of distractions to pause and take in.
Contact Info:
- Instagram: www.instagram.com/MaryBeth.Frames
- Facebook: www.facebook.com/MaryBeth.Frames
