Meet Tristan Rumery | Creative Entrepreneur & Brand Specialist

We had the good fortune of connecting with Tristan Rumery and we’ve shared our conversation below.

Hi Tristan, what was your thought process behind starting your own business?
It wasn’t necessarily about THOUGHT at the beginning of the business. It was about a need for a transition during turbulent times. A lot of thought went into developing it.

I had been teaching art, design and other subjects for a dozen years when Covid hit. It had been a long time since I was able to make the time to DO instead in TEACH. As the summer of 2020 came, the school was unable to renew a lot of contracts and I was left looking for something new in a crazy time.

I decided to start DOING! I knew that I had a few things I could do that I enjoyed

1. I understood marketing, production and events from my theatre years and my years as event coordinator. Those were some challenging projects I really enjoyed.

2. Art and design. I’ve been an artist in some form throughout my life. Music, Theatre, Design, Doodling in the back of a notebook… my life and even my careers have all been creative. Sure, I’ve had an odd job here and there as most creatives do, but as a business, it had to be creative.

3. I was really interested in brands and strategy. My background in education gave me a unique outlook and process to develop brands and plans that are goal oriented.

Can you open up a bit about your work and career? We’re big fans and we’d love for our community to learn more about your work.
My career in art has changed through the years, but I started drawing and painting as a kid. I would sit and train by redrawing VHS covers. I spent a lot of time in musical theatre – performing, directing, designing sets – building and paint them as well. After a year performing in LA, I moved back to my hometown in Sacramento.

Once back, I started as an arts instructor for adults with special needs. We wrote plays, wrote music, painted sets, made puppets and got to really explore different mediums. As a “jack of all trades” kind of creative, I was soon called upon to supervise/teach/sub a range of other classes, including Graphic Design. With those skills I moved on to a private startup with a craft based curriculum.

It was up to me to create a curriculum that taught work, transition and design skills, while keeping the experience rooted in something tangible and craft based. As the program grew, my role grew in the same “jack of all trades” manner, I lead classes that did brand development for spec brand and in-house craft enterprises. I managed student and family focused events & led student council. I even had a chance to work on the retreat team, planning high level outdoor and excursion based curriculum and outdoor creative activities.

I was lucky. All of these things give e a unique perspective. And I think it took a while to embrace that path and that perspective. It’s easy to feel inadequate, undervalued or get that hint of imposter syndrome if you don’t follow a typical path. but embracing it as the difference can help.

Let’s say your best friend was visiting the area and you wanted to show them the best time ever. Where would you take them? Give us a little itinerary – say it was a week long trip, where would you eat, drink, visit, hang out, etc.
Oh far too many for a week! I’m in Sacramento, and have lived in the greater Sac area almost my whole life. When people come through for one night,

We always meet downtown, and since we are such a food focused city. We’ll grab a beer and pick what type of food we are grabbing.

Canon is great and Oak Park Brewery is so rad. Both great spots. I’ve also heard Bodega and Pizza Supreme Being are great too, so maybe check those out.

I’ve actually played tour guide a few times to designers coming through town. and I make sure to take a walk around town to check out the art throughout the city. Murals everywhere!

A longer week would probably include Naked Lounge Coffee, Beach Hut Deli, Kayaking on the American River, hiking in the foothills of the Sierra Nevada maybe even up to Tahoe (not too far a drive), popping by breweries and coffee shops along the way. I love being in and getting out of the Sac area.

The Shoutout series is all about recognizing that our success and where we are in life is at least somewhat thanks to the efforts, support, mentorship, love and encouragement of others. So is there someone that you want to dedicate your shoutout to?
My family has been a huge support system. they deal with me haha. I know I’m not the easiest to deal with and I appreciate them and everything they do. My little brother is a continuous inspiration.

His name is Sean Rumery. Accomplished chef and great dude. In a family that always did our best to challenge each other and rise to each others level in some way… He keeps me humble and impressed.

I’ve really been lucky to get welcomed into the local creative community and to connect with people and organizations in the area that are trying to make a difference for creatives.
– The Capitol Creative Alliance is a great resource and they’ve already been super supportive of our community building effort “Tap In Creative Cub”.
– We Are Sacramento is another group I’m happy I’ve gotten to know more about. Mario Lopez’s of We are sac is a photographer, entrepreneur, coach, and good guy.
– I met Mario through @monstersinsuits, Emory Ensign who is helping others tell their design stories, backgrounds and viewpoints. Though those connections, I also met
– Michelle Dahl @michelledahlart who is putting together a bootcamp CAREER CREATIVES, to help creatives in Sacramento understand perspectives of what it means to own a creative business.

and obviously so many more.

Instagram: @awfullygreatdesignco