Checking in with...Kristy McTaggart:

Kristy McTaggart was willing to go without food in order to realize her dream of opening her own business. Today, 15 years later, Artiface, a showroom that designs invitations, is a successful small business in Costa Mesa.

Artiface is a one-of-a-kind place that creates invitations for weddings, birthdays and events hosted by nonprofit organizations, among others.

How did you come up with this idea?

I have a background in commercial design and music packaging. Because I had this background and I knew how to make people look good in photos, I had this idea of using people’s photos on invitations to make it more personal. Over the years photos on invitations became no longer so upscale, so we moved to upscale constructed layering and using specialty papers.

How did you start out your business?

I started out of my home for a couple years and quickly realized I needed a commercial location. I moved my business to a commercial location in the back of a warehouse in Santa Ana.

Why do you call this a showroom? What is a showroom?

This is not a store. People don’t come here and browse stacks and take home something, and our staff are not clerks. It’s a consultation and custom-ordering based.

We do our business by appointment, and we sit with our clients and spend a lot of time with them. It’s very labor intensive.

It’s also made to be relaxing and peaceful because people who are getting ready for weddings are stressed out, so we want to be a little oasis for them and let them know we are handling it.

How do you go about helping your clients make decisions about their invitations?

We keep a lot of samples on display. Most people don’t know exactly what they want when they come here, so we give them an idea, and they can get a lot of inspirations from the samples. They realize what’s possible and end up getting really excited.

Have you ever gotten a request to make invitations for an unusual event?

I made invitations for a rabbit’s birthday. His name was Roger, and I did invitations for his birthday five years in a row.

Do you have any plans to expand your business?

We have tripled in size in the last four years. But in the labor intensive business you can’t grow too fast because we make stuff, and you can only make stuff so fast and our reputation is all we have.

Why did you name your showroom Artiface?

Art refers to a craft man’s work and efface means to flatten, and we are artists of flat art that you can put in an envelope.

What kind of advice do you have for young businesswomen who, like you, have an idea and want to start their own business?

You have to have passion and perseverance because it’s a long hall and you can’t do it because you want to get rich. And take a lot of advice. I’ve been a member of SCORE (Service Corps of Retired Executives) for many years and I have gotten a lot of wonderful help, mentoring and counseling from them. And you have to be willing to live on nothing.

Artiface

Website: Artiface.com

Address: 2915 Red Hill Ave C107, Costa Mesa

Call: (714) 751-7278