As you go through our products, you may be wondering who takes the time to hunt all of this stuff down? Who put this great website together? Well, we're Dominic and Courtney Smith, and we're a newly wed couple with the goal of putting antique art in homes across Northwest Arkansas. When we first got married, I certainly didn't plan on starting a small business in the first year. The process has been wild, and we've had some ups and downs with the business, but overall, we absolutely love it.
When Court first brought up starting a print business on our honeymoon, I first thought that it was a fun idea, but not something that we would do. I agreed that we could look into it, but that we couldn't really afford to make a large investment. We talked it over and over and over and finally decided to meet with a local group named Startup Junkie. They were immensely helpful with pointing us in the right direction.
The biggest test that we were faced with was when we literally started our journey to starting the business. We left on Thursday, and drove from Fayetteville, AR, to Nashville, TN, to Savannah, GA, to learn about the collection we might be buying. We finally got to Savannah and met with Ginger and John Duncan who own V&J Duncan Antique Maps. They showed us the ropes of how to identify quality prints, names to look for, and most importantly, helped us pick pieces to start our own shop with. After we finished, we had to then turn right around on Saturday and drive straight home to Arkansas. 16 hours in the car is not fun.
Since that road trip, the project has become a lot more enjoyable. From researching our products, to hunting for them in antique shops, to creating our website, to finally launching our business, we've grown closer as a couple, and loved every step of it.