Meet Susan Small of Multiplicity in Katy

Today we’d like to introduce you to Susan Small.

Susan, can you briefly walk us through your story – how you started and how you got to where you are today.
All of my life, I have loved everything creative. When I was young, I wanted to one day go to art school As a young adult, I was unable to afford the tuition for art school, so instead, I attended an engineering school where I was able to get financial aid. I was interested in design and architecture and believed that I could begin with basic engineering and move from there to another school at a later date. Hopefully, one day being able to attend art school as well. My favorite classes in college were metallurgy and technical freehand sketching. I should have known then that I was destined for jewelry metalsmithing.

After college, I moved to New Orleans where I lived for 18 years while raising my family. In New Orleans, my craft of choice was pottery. In 1997 I moved to Houston and left my potter’s wheel and kiln behind.

I really missed my creative outlet and decided to finally go to art school. The time was right, my kids were older and I had some free time. I signed up for drawing and jewelry classes at Glassell School of Art. I immediately fell in love with metal work. I continued to take classes at Glassell, on and off, for over 10 years. I just loved the comradery of the students and all of the wonderful critiques and commentary that occurs in that type of creative environment. When I wasn’t in school, I worked in my home studio creating jewelry for gifts and to sell. A couple of local boutiques carried my work on consignment, but over time, I lost my creative energy.

In 2009, I was looking for a residence for my father who was moving back to the US, from Belize. While checking out listings in Historic Katy I happened upon 1306 Avenue A. The property felt completely magical to me. but it was not what my father needed. About a year and a half later, after having lunch with one of my jewelry artist friends, I decided to open up a shop that would be centered around a couple of my passions – jewelry and metalsmithing. My first thought was to see if that property that I had fallen in love with was still available. It was! I looked at the property one more time and still felt the same way about it. I just knew that I was supposed to be there so that I could share that same magical feeling with others.

Since then, I have not looked back, and I have felt inspired every day. I am now not only inspired to create, but also to help others along their journey – whether it is creating, celebrating life events, or just enjoying a beautiful day. My entire staff has the same goal in mind for our customers. They pass along a passion for creativity and an exuberance about life to everyone who visits. It constantly amazes me how Multiplicity continues to grow and evolve in directions that I hope will continue to enrich and brighten the lives of others. This has been a fabulous journey that I hope will continue for a long time.

Overall, has it been relatively smooth? If not, what were some of the struggles along the way?
Initially, I felt like everything came together much faster than expected. I had my business name, logo, branding ideas and place of business all in a matter of days. However, I really did not have the experience to know how to make everything work the first time around. There was a lot of trial and error, and a lot of wasted dollars, with regards to marketing, advertising, inventory tracking, etc.

Other than trying to figure all of the business details out, I would say human resources has also been a struggle. It took a long time to find the right team, with a great mix of personalities and abilities, so that Multiplicity could have the synergy needed to move forward in a strong, positive path, to meet our customer’s needs. I have definitely learned that great support staff is the most important thing if you want your business to flourish. It is so important to be a team leader, able to inspire your staff to be their best and to promote the company’s mission. That way you can feel comfortable delegating even the really important things.

All areas of our multi-faceted business are driven by a desire to please our customer, to go above and beyond expectations, and we do.

Alright – so let’s talk business. Tell us about Multiplicity – what should we know?
Multiplicity is a hidden gem in the heart of Historic Katy. We offer a garden event venue that is perfect for large or small events, with a staff that goes above and beyond to ensure that all of our clients’ events are a huge success and as stress-free as possible.

In addition to our wonderful venue, we offer a wide variety of creative classes in jewelry making – both beading and metalsmithing, as well as classes in painting with Chalk Paint(r) and in floral arranging. Our shop, which is located at the front of our venue space, boasts a fabulous bead store, an artisan gift boutique that offers our exclusive heart flower designs – jewelry, gift items and decor made by our talented staff, and a paint area where we sell the entire line of Annie Sloan paint products. Our Metal Studio, just two doors down, has a fully-equipped metal studio where students can learn all types of jewelry making.

Any shoutouts? Who else deserves credit in this story – who has played a meaningful role?
One of my dearest friends, Joan Mendell, has been with me in this story from the beginning. She came with me the day I decided to buy the property and never hesitated. She is my business manager and handles all of the bill paying and number crunching. There is no one more loyal than she is and nobody more trustworthy. She is and always has been one of my biggest cheerleaders.

My husband has also, never wavered in his confidence, caring, and support. He is my rock.

Contact Info:

• Address: Shop – 1306 Avenue A, Katy, TX 77492
  Studio – 1210 Avenue A, Katy, TX 77493
• Website: www.multiplicity.co
• Phone: 832-437-2442 (Studio) 832-437-6329
• Email: susansmall@multiplicity.co
• Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/shop.create.celebrate/
• Yelp: https://www.yelp.com/biz/multiplicity-katy

Getting in touch: VoyageHouston is built on recommendations from the community; it’s how we uncover hidden gems, so if you know someone who deserves recognition please let us know here.