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Meet Christine Marecki

We’re excited to introduce you to the always interesting and insightful Christine Marecki. We hope you’ll enjoy our conversation with Christine below.

Christine, so good to have you with us today. We’ve always been impressed with folks who have a very clear sense of purpose and so maybe we can jump right in and talk about how you found your purpose?
I started creating art and even designing products at a very young age, it’s always been a part of my life. Art was all I ever wanted to study and practice. I wasn’t sure I could make a living as a professional artist so I pursued other careers but always managed to add in a little creativity. I was still painting, mainly commissions on canvas or faux wall finishes or murals. I expanded into illustrating and designing invitations and announcements for friends. When I started to receive requests from others, outside of my circle, I considered it an opportunity to breakout of the corporate world. I was all in, launching a social stationery business with my illustrations and finally pursuing art as a viable full time career. It was a bit scary taking that leap and it took a while to grow, but looking back, it was the best decision. As the business grew, I was meeting so many other talented artists, I knew I wanted to promote their artwork too. I began licensing their illustrations to expand the product line, which was great for my clients but felt even better to support fellow artists. I always knew I would do something creative and I thought pursuing a career in art had to be my sole purpose. Then I started promoting other artists and my purpose in this artful world grew exponentially!

Appreciate the insights and wisdom. Before we dig deeper and ask you about the skills that matter and more, maybe you can tell our readers about yourself?
Art is everywhere. Everything you see has been designed or created by someone – art is abundant in every day life. Once that sinks in, pursuing a career in art doesn’t seem so out of reach. There’s room for all creatives. I live an artful life, personally and professionally. I’ve spent my creative career painting, illustrating and designing artful products for gift and home. In addition to my designs, UncommonWares products include artwork from other talented artists. Just as I’ve done with my previous ventures, I will always promote other artists.

Looking back, what do you think were the three qualities, skills, or areas of knowledge that were most impactful in your journey? What advice do you have for folks who are early in their journey in terms of how they can best develop or improve on these?
For me, being a creative comes more naturally than some of the other necessary functions of running a business. I’m grateful for the business experience in my previous corporate positions. I was able to apply so much of what I learned to my businesses. I was also fortunate to have supportive mentors willing to answer questions and sometimes just listen through my ideas. My advice would be to listen and absorb any and all information, you never know when it will be helpful but you’ll be ready for anything.

One of our goals is to help like-minded folks with similar goals connect and so before we go we want to ask if you are looking to partner or collab with others – and if so, what would make the ideal collaborator or partner?
We frequently work with Interior Designers, delivering exactly what they need for their clients’ space. Working with varied artists allows us to curate different styles for unique product offerings at UncommonWares. Whether it’s a stock product or custom created to meet their specific needs, Interior Designers trust UncommonWares to deliver interesting, functional art for their clients.

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