Patrick Connelly is the Co-Founder of Stellar Villa, a wall art company located in Brooklyn, New York. With over a decade of experience building businesses in the e-commerce space, he has recently fused a partnership with his wife Laura to create this new venture. Laura is an artist and the designer behind Stellar Villa’s products. Together, this duo is working to deliver modern, high-quality artwork across to customers across the globe.
Please tell us a little bit about your company – what is Stellar Villa all about?
Stellar Villa is a wall art and decor company. We offer original designs, all of which are hand-drawn in our artist’s NYC studio. We are most well known for our line art style. As the name implies, line art is a minimalist art style that is composed of the most basic of artistic elements; the line. Line art can incorporate curved or straight lines (or both) along with various degrees of thickness. Typically line art is black and white but we also offer some pieces with small pops of color. Traditional one line art is created without ever lifting the pen from the paper. We take it a step further and also offer a more detailed version than the one line, in which additional detail lines are added on top of the one line foundation. The great thing about line art is that it looks great in any space and compliments any decor. Anyone can utilize line art to create spaces that look like they were professionally designed.
Tell us a little bit about your background and how you started your company?
My wife Laura, the artist behind our products, founded the company. I joined her to put my e-commerce and marketing background to use in helping to grow and scale the business. Surprisingly enough, the Covid-19 Pandemic was actually the catalyst that led to the launching of Stellar Villa.
It all started in the early days of the Covid outbreak when New York City went into a city-wide lockdown. Laura who at the time was freelancing decided to put her work on hold in order to give back to the community. She heard about some local non-profits that were in need of funds as donations had dried up due to so many people losing their jobs or facing financial uncertainty. Laura started a fundraiser in which she gave away custom illustrations for free to anyone who requested one while accepting optional donations. Over the course of three weeks, Laura illustrated over 1,200 pieces of artwork for people and raised nearly $12,000 which was distributed between the non-profit organizations. Word of her fundraiser spread virally across Instagram and various news outlets. Laura’s artwork was put in the spotlight and people loved what they saw. Even after the fundraiser ended, Laura’s inbox was continually flooded with messages of people who loved her artwork and wanted her to create for them a custom piece of art. That’s when we decided to launch Stellar Villa; to continue offering people unique artwork to decorate any space. We saw the demand for artwork soar this past spring and summer and I believe in part, it had to do with people investing in their homes as they were now spending so much time indoors due to quarantines and lockdowns. Since then, we’ve only gotten busier.
What are your plans, how do you plan to grow this company?
When we first started, we only offered custom artwork. Clients would come to Laura with a vision and she would bring it to life in the form of an artistic masterpiece. Our goal however is to be much more than a commission company. We have started expanding our product line to include art prints. Ultimately, we aim to provide artwork and decor to decorate any space.
What was the biggest problem you encountered with your business and how did you overcome it?
We quickly realized we had a big problem on our hands our first month in business. Since we were only offering custom artwork, which takes a great deal of time to create, there were only a limited number of orders Laura could complete each month. Within a couple of days of our website going live, Laura was fully booked with custom artwork requests for the whole month. Every month following, she continued to sell out a month’s worth of commission spots within several hours. That’s when we started designing pre-made art prints and offering them in addition to the custom work. This is the direction we will continue in, diversifying our product offering.
What were the top mistakes you made starting your business and what did you learn from it?
I think the top mistake I made was having a perfectionist’s mindset. I’m big on planning and I’m the kind of person who wants every detail to be absolutely perfect. However, I believe having this kind of mentality as an entrepreneur can be harmful as it delays your progress. I think it’s important for business owners like me to realize that it’s a balancing act between perfection and getting things done. I’ve come to learn and accept that a business is and always will be a work in progress. There will always be ways in which you can improve so reaching this imaginary level of “perfection” isn’t even possible and instead, you should focus on productivity, making progress, and keep an eye out for ways you can improve things along the way.
What are three books or courses you recommend for new entrepreneurs?
I recommend the following three books: The 4-Hour Workweek by Timothy Ferriss, Before you Quit Your Job and Midas Touch by Robert Kiyosaki. All are great reads for new entrepreneurs that provide practical advice that anyone can implement. Beyond that, these reads will also get you thinking in new ways.
What has been your most effective marketing strategy to grow your business?
Instagram has by far been our most effective marketing channel. As a company that sells artwork, it makes sense that Instagram has been instrumental for us as the platform is highly visual. We focus on posting quality content over quantity. Our brand ambassador program in which we work with influencers has been very successful in expanding our reach and acquiring new customers. Finding influencers that have a strong connection with our target audience has been key. We find micro-influencers with small yet highly engaged followers to be most effective at promoting our products.
If you only had $1000 dollars to start a new business, knowing everything you know now, how would you spend it?
If I only had $1,000 I would spend it making sure I was putting the best possible product out into the world. So in terms of our artwork, I might spend it purchasing and testing different types of paper, ink, and printers. If you are in the business of selling a product(s), I believe this is the most important thing you can do. You can be a marketing genius but if your product is garbage, your business won’t survive. A great product will ultimately cost you less to sell and will to a degree, market itself by creating raving fans who will drive new customers to you.
What’s your best piece of advice for aspiring and new entrepreneurs?
If you are considering starting your own business, I recommend just getting out there and doing it without delay. You can’t succeed if you don’t try and even if you fail you will learn valuable lessons that will dramatically increase your chances of success the next time around.
What is your favorite quote?
“You miss 100% of the shots you never take.”
– Wayne Gretzky
How can we get in touch with you?
You can find us online and check out our latest work on our website Line Art by Stellar Villa. You can also follow our artist on Instagram and DM her with any questions or commission requests.
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