Today we’d like to introduce you to Sara Meinking.
Hi Sara, so excited to have you with us today. What can you tell us about your story?
While I was born and raised in Kansas City, Missouri, I spent every summer in Daytona Beach, FL, visiting my godparents. Each summer while visiting, my mom and I had our favorite little ma and pop shops we would frequent. These shops would be filled with local artwork, with a coastal flair. I still today have a few of these items that we purchased some 40 years ago. My professional career was health care administration – focusing on dementia care, and providing training for staff and family members of those living with dementia around the country. After Covid, I personally needed to make a change for my own well being, and fell into a brief job helping a friend at a local shop – full of local artwork. The owner of that shop passed away suddenly, the shop closed, BUT a seed was planted and I decided then I wanted to recreate the experience I remember growing up… Sea Dreams by Sara was born.
We all face challenges, but looking back would you describe it as a relatively smooth road?
One of the biggest challenges was finding the right location, with the space I wanted and the budget I needed. I looked for about a year, and came upon where I am today. It went from a shell of a former call center to what it is today. I signed the lease and opened the doors in about six weeks. My goal was to have 12-15 artists in house – I thought that would provide me with an opportunity to kind of ease into things. I opened with 27 artists, artists walking in EVERY DAY, a waiting list, and not much ‘easing into things’ – it was full throttle! Looking back I think that actually helped. I still have artists weekly coming in wanting to join our shop, and a wait list. All that being said, the struggles have been prioritizing where my focus should be at times – where to advertise, how to get customers in the door, and the impact the whole world of social media plays. I also had no idea I even had Google analytics, yet alone needed to know what to do with them – I do now! 🙂
Thanks for sharing that. So, maybe next you can tell us a bit more about your work?
I grew up around music, art, and theater. I play the piano and sing. I graduated from the Conservatory of Music at the University of Missouri – Kansas City, with a degree in music therapy. I think the arts are incredibly important and that everyone is influenced by the arts – even if they don’t think they are, it’s just a matter of the TYPE of art. I’ve always been creative musically. I’ve painted murals for children bedrooms. I have season tickets to just about every venue available. The arts are in my veins. Currently I have a few items of my own work in the shop, but I honestly just haven’t had time since we opened – it’s a goal of mine this year to return to the creating side of things again as I can. I think I’m known for being an out of the box thinker. I love to find ways to solve problems a bit more ‘creatively’. I remember in my healthcare life, often during reviews I would be told that ‘while we love your ideas, we need you to hold on to the string that’s tethered to the box’. I’m proud that my kids friends still talk about the posters I would make at their birthday parties, and that friends contact me when they need a creative idea. Today, I stand in my shop and I’m beyond proud that I’ve accomplished creating a place that people now want to make a destination when they return to Florida, and that locals love to come in and escape for a bit. The shop isn’t pretentious, and I love it when customers come in and immediately admit they’ve never ‘been in someplace like this before’, and spend an hour walking around, asking questions, and getting so excited that they’ve found a piece that fits their budget that they can take home. That’s part of what sets us apart. We provide a level of customer service that doesn’t exist much anymore unfortunately. It’s still out there, but you have to find it. We greet you when you walk in, we offer you something to drink, we gage how much the customer wants to talk, we provide information on our artists – making it as educational as the customer wants. Our excitement breeds their excitement, and comfort level. I wrote a blog about uncomfortable kindness – we as a society don’t always know what to do when someone is kind to us. I’ve noticed with customers that sometimes they want no interaction – and that’s ok, but I do hope that they get back in their car, or back home, and think about their visit to the shop and say to themselves “that was nice”.
What sort of changes are you expecting over the next 5-10 years?
Hopefully the trend will continue to be welcoming. I think people want that personal experience, knowing that someone cares. We have customers call and ask if we can find something for them, or put together something to send out to a friend. There has been a shift in shipping charges, tariffs, as well as people are watching a bit more carefully how they’re spending their money. That being said, we haven’t seen a direct hit on numbers. People are finding their ‘safe haven’ and spending more time there – and we want to be here to help them make that safe haven exactly what they need it to be.
Pricing:
- Our artists have done a great job at having pieces available at all different price points.
- Our goal will always be to provide a shopping experience that ever.y budget can handle
Contact Info:
- Website: https://www.seadreamsbysara.com
- Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/seadreamsbysara
- Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/profile.php?id=100094188912659&mibextid=LQQJ4d
- LinkedIn: https://linkedin.com/in/sarameinking
