Today we’d like to introduce you to Michelle Renfrow.
Hi Michelle, thanks for joining us today. We’d love for you to start by introducing yourself.
I think I was born with a paintbrush in my hand. LOL from a very young age, I was always interested in art and coloring and drawing and painting. I was also into Music, Dance, and Gymnastics, and anything that fueled my ADD brain. So naturally as I matured, I took art classes and engrossed myself in any kind of art activities I could find that enhanced my experiences. By the time I was fourteen, I also knew that I was pretty much going to be a therapist. All my friends came to me with their problems or their worries, and I always seem to have a knack for listening and helping resolve situations, so after a small experience that I had in an outpatient treatment facility for depression, it pretty much sealed the deal for me knowing that I was definitely going to become a therapist. It wasn’t until I was in college that I realized that I could be an art therapist. The school that I was currently at didn’t have a program for that, so I just continued with my basic counseling degree and then sat for the LPC, Licensed Professional Counselor, exam in the state of Texas a couple years after graduation
After getting my LPC, I did look into taking the additional courses and certification for an art therapy license as well. But then I got pregnant and became a parent and kind of put it on the back burner. I took multiple trainings in art therapy and art therapy techniques, and I use art as a form of expression in my therapy activities I offer with my clients. And I’ve definitely noticed the significant correlation between using art in therapy and its success when working with a variety of clients and their needs.
So, I guess you can just say that art is my passion and therapy is my passion and eventually the two are going to collide. For about 11 years, I worked at a sleepover camp near Waco, Texas as the Art Director. When working at a sleepaway camp, it does require a certain level of “therapy” skills when helping with kids who are missing home or are at camp and have any issues they are dealing with. So naturally, I was able to use my therapy skills as well as creating works of art with the campers.
As I moved into my clinical practice and started doing therapy on a daily basis, it came very naturally for me to have art supplies on my desk or wherever I went, and people were able to engage in any kind of art that they wanted to while we worked together. For me, I always noticed that having something to fidget with or work on or do the last conversation to flow more smoothly. It’s less awkward to sit in someone’s office and just make eye contact and talk back and forth than to look down and be drawing together while having a conversation. It kind of seems like it’s an icebreaker or takes the edge off when you’re working with a client.
So, if you ask my best friend, web designer of amazingness, she will tell you that for years she’s been telling me I need to create my own business that incorporates the two things together and not just an art as therapy way but in an engaging, dynamic and creative way. That business came into fruition on a very slow train for the last decade or so. And then, as covid kicked in and lots of reality has changed, I knew it was time to turn my ideas and my very side business into a larger, more prominent fixture in my career.
If you ask my dad, he will tell you that I jumped into the deep end feet-first with all my clothes on and without any kind of a life preserver. But I think I’ve been doing that my whole life. Actually, I think I did that when I was about four years old at my cousin’s bar mitzvah. The pool, the dress, the shoes, it was all there. lol
I guess you could say what I’m most proud of is the fact that I didn’t start off creating a business plan, I didn’t start off getting a small business loan, I didn’t start off doing everything they tell you to do. I just started off with what I knew I was good at, and I searched out my friends who are professionals in the areas that I wasn’t. I collaborated with them and brought them onto my team, and utilized their expertise to help me get things started. It took off from there!
Of course, since then, I have utilized some very amazing trainings through the University of Houston Small Business Development Center and watched some great online and recorded classes. I now have my own business checking and savings account, received an EIN number as well as other professional documentation I needed to make my business “official.” I am an LLC! lol
As far as my brand goes. I understand the concept, and I get where it’s important. But what I’ve also learned over the last three years is that you have to be flexible. For me, what I’m realizing is that my ideas, while they are interesting and dynamic, really have to come from the vibe of what’s around me.
Would you say it’s been a smooth road, and if not, what are some of the biggest challenges you’ve faced along the way?
Recently it has become glaringly obvious that the Mental Health crisis for our young children and early adolescents is reaching soaring numbers. The amount of parents reaching out to me for referrals for psychological evaluations, suicidal ideation, and other mental health issues is staggering and very disconcerting. For the last two summers, I have hosted some pretty amazing and fun art camps for all ages. But this summer, as covid is “starting to wind down ” (not sure that is true, but is seems the masses have decided it’s over), I have found that people are sending their kids to sleepaway camp again, or they are taking summer vacations that they haven’t been able to do in the last few summers therefore it appears that this may be why there are less kids registered in my art camps. In order to stay afloat, I have spoken out loud to my business team that we need to pivot. And pivot hard!
So, I started thinking and looking around and checking out what people are posting on their socials, and I have found that there was a higher need for social-emotional learning experiences, executive functioning classes, and therapeutic groups for elementary, middle school, and high schoolers. After polling several of my clinical friends, I decided last summer I needed to offer those opportunities and experiences for the Houston community. And that flexibility or “pivoting” (thank you, Ross Gellar) put me in a very unique position in the community when it was most needed to offer something that just isn’t readily available to the masses right now. My middle school girls’ groups were a HUGE success, and I intend to offer them again this summer. The mental health crisis is here, and it does NOT want to go away. See a need, fill a need.
Appreciate you sharing that. What else should we know about what you do?
I’m pretty sure all my friends call me a “Jill of all trades.” I have a masters in counseling, a background in art and play therapy, and a zest for life that allows me to use my creative edge to meld all my interests into one cool job! Or several perhaps… lol
Currently, I am a psychotherapist at a private school in Houston. I work with 6th-12th graders. My job is to make sure all the students are happy, healthy, and safe. I teach electives like yoga, meditation, movies and morality, knitting, crocheting, looming, and weaving. I created an executive functioning class for incoming middle schoolers. We address topics such as using google classroom, email etiquette, communication skills, study skills, time management, monitoring oneself emotionally, etc. social skills, and my personal favorite, how to give a presentation without throwing up” It’s basically about self-awareness, self-management, social awareness, relationship skills, and decision making.
Because I’m bored, I also have my own company I run called Colorful Creations. It was the brainchild of COVID and my losing my summer job in 2020. This is where ALL my talents and interests intersect. For the last 10 years, I had been doing some random art classes for adult groups or kids’ birthday parties. But when summer of 2020 kicked in, and there were very few opportunities for families to send their children to any kind of programming, I kicked it into high gear.
The birth child of my Colorful Creations summer art camps began there. Originally, I had procured an office space I could borrow from a friend, and when that fell through the only thing left with a week and a half’s notice was to host the camps from my living room! thank God I had tile floors. LOL
I borrowed some tables and chairs from a friend set up in my living room and started purchasing supplies. My camp was full with 12 kids for 3 weeks in June. By the end of June, parents were begging me to run my camps in July, and they were going so well I was having so much fun that we ran camps all the way through the second week of August!
From there, word got out that I had a pretty unique program going on, and I was being asked to do private art camps in other people’s homes. I’d been working as an art director for a sleepaway camp for 10 years, so I pretty much had this experience down pat. I bought my own tables and chairs and some wagons for carting my stuff around town. And got started!
Parents reached out wanting private birthday parties for their kids outside in their backyards. Munique art experiences like tie-dye shirts and pillowcases, dirty pour canvases, jewelry making, and glass fusing were a HUGE hit!
My name is definitely out there in the community when it comes to my “Art pARTies.”
I get a lot of word-of-mouth referrals and a lot of traction on Facebook and Instagram. What sets me aside is that my parties are unique experiences. It’s not just coloring; it’s something that a lot of kids can’t find anywhere else. Where else can you have someone come to your home and teach glass fusing and bring you back beautiful earrings, trays, or even tic tac boards made of the glass you created?
I am proud of this diversity. I look around and see what is trending and then figure out how to bring it to the masses. I have a strong sense of self and an uncanny way to connect with my students, young and old, and make the experience fun and knowledgeable at the same time. My goal is for someone to be able to leave my class and do it again on their own (if they want to spend the money on all the supplies), and I deliver on that promise.
Is there something surprising that you feel even people who know you might not know about?
I would probably have to guess that very few people know that I sometimes experience terrible “imposter syndrome.” Betterup.com defines this as “… the condition of feeling anxious and not experiencing success internally, despite being high-performing in external, objective ways. This condition often results in people feeling like “a fraud” or “a phony” and doubting their abilities.” Yep. That’s me. Whenever I’m in the room with other talented artists or successful psychotherapists, I always wonder if I’m good enough to be in their presence? It doesn’t keep me from doing “me,” but it does make the “negative Nancy” voice in my head talk a bit more.
I know I have a certain level of skill set in my field. But sometimes, when I’m around those that awe and inspire me, I sometimes judge myself too critically. Even when people around me tell me how good I am or talented I am, I still struggle. Accepting compliments has never been my strong suit.
I know I’m not alone in that struggle. The fact that there is now a catchphrase called “imposter syndrome” lets me know that I am definitely not alone when it comes to feeling less worthy than those around me.
Sometimes this fear keeps me from pushing harder on goals that I want to accomplish. It’s almost like a self-fulfilling prophecy. If I don’t try too hard and don’t take the chance, then I’ll never have the opportunity to fail. Yes, I know it’s a very glass-half-empty thought process. and I promise I’m working on it. I know I want to grow and shine!
There is a small group of people who know that I have a photographic memory when it comes to my arts and crafts supplies. You can ask me if I have a tape measure, and I can tell you exactly which shelf, which drawer, which height, and where in the shelf it’s located.
I don’t think I can do that in other parts of my life, but when it comes to my arts and crafts supplies, I know where everything is. My studio looks like a Michael’s craft store vomited inside it, and while it looks a little chaotic and disorganized, I know where everything is in my head. I’m very visual and have a lot of data stored in my brain that keeps it all together.
I also have a personal relationship with my label maker. Sometimes you see me carrying it around in one of my tote bags so that I can label something at home, work, or elsewhere. It’s probably one of my favorite things that I own that helps keep me organized! Not only is my studio organized and labeled, but my kitchen pantry also is as well. I don’t like bugs, so all of my food is put into storage containers that vary in brand from your extra fancy Tupperware and Pampered Chef all the way down to HEB brand storage containers. I’ve got it all! and it’s all neatly labeled. 🙂
Pricing:
- $18 /per person or up for private party costs
- $350 for a week of summer art camp
- $60 per person for ARTward bound adventures
Contact Info:
- Website: www.michellerenfrow.com
- Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/michellerenfrow1/
- Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/p/Colorful-Creations-with-Michelle-Renfrow-100055508021715/
- Linkedin: https://www.linkedin.com/in/michelle-renfrow-ma-lpc-she-her-70b22024/
Image Credits
Stephanie Marilee Tucker
