Meet Rachael and Brad Roumaya of Board & Brush Fort Collins in Fort Collins

Today we’d like to introduce you to Rachael and Brad Roumaya.

Rachael, Brad, please share your story with us. How did you get to where you are today?
We moved to Colorado in 2017 from Austin, TX. Both of us were climbing the corporate ladder and working long hours in high-stress jobs. Our son was born in 2016 and we began to realize we wanted something different for him. Shortly after he was born we began dreaming about starting somewhere new. We’d talk for hours about where we would go if we could go anywhere in the world. We quickly landed on Colorado, and then after a few visits found ourselves in love with Fort Collins. We made the big move in October of 2017 and haven’t looked back.

Fort Collins has been incredible for our family. We’ve been welcomed into the community and love everything about this city. After moving here, we ‘d walk for hours every day around Old Town and the neighboring parks and breweries. We knew early on that one day we wanted to own a business here. Our dreaming began and after looking into several (25+) businesses for sale, we landed on Board & Brush. One of our friends in Texas owns two studios and was having so much fun. So we thought, let’s check it out!

In January of 2019, we traveled to the corporate office to see what it was all about. We took our first Board & Brush workshop at the flagship studio and knew immediately this was for us. We had so much fun, and our signs turned out great! In February we began the process of finding a location and opened our doors in September of 2019.

Has it been a smooth road?
Nothing is ever a smooth road. For over a year we vetted out current businesses we wanted to purchase, some of which stole our hearts. To go through the negotiations, inspections, paperwork, etc. and to lose a deal is completely heart wrenching. Through it all, we’ve learned resilience. We’ve learned that these businesses are truly built on blood, sweat and tears. Sometimes lots of tears.

One of the most important things to remember, as we’ve learned, is to pick yourself back up. Someone once told me the path to success is to test, fail, learn and repeat. You’ll never get it ‘right’ on the first try. So figure out what went wrong, learn from it and get back in the ring.

We finally found this opportunity and watched everything fall into place. Even when we thought things were falling apart, they were falling together and we wouldn’t realize it until months later.

Tell us more about the business.
Board & Brush is a high-quality DIY sign studio. We hold instructor lead workshops where you will distress, stain, assemble and stencil your very own wooden sign. Everyone in a workshop has the opportunity to select and personalize their design, so everyone is working on something they are truly excited about.

Our environment is high energy and entertaining. We have music videos playing, serve drinks, and allow people to let loose and enjoy their time out.

You do not need any art or DIY skills to complete a project with us. One of our favorite things is when someone comes in proclaiming that they are not “artsy” and then watching as they create a sign they are truly proud of.

How do you think the industry will change over the next decade?
Wood signs and DIY workshops are not going anywhere soon. We are just getting started. There are plans to add some additional projects to our workshops (think doormats, pillowcases and more!) We will continue to bring confidence and DIY passion to people across Northern Colorado for years to come.

Pricing:

• Pick Your Project Workshops (Our standard 3-hour instructor lead workshop) $68/person
• Team Building Private Events $35 – $68/person
• Children/Teen Private Parties $25 – $35/person
• Birthdays, Bachelorette Parties, Wedding Showers, Baby Showers and Holiday Parties $35 – $68/person

Contact Info:

• Address: 244 N. College Avenue #115
  (at The Exchage, Fort Collins)
  Fort Collins, CO 80524
• Website: www.boardandbrush.com/fortcollins
• Phone: 970-213-1575
• Email: fortcollins@boardandbrush.com
• Instagram: @boardandbrushfortcollinsco
• Facebook: facebook.com/boardandbrushfoco
• Yelp: https://www.yelp.com/biz/board-and-brush-fort-collins-fort-collins

Suggest a story: VoyageDenver is built on recommendations from the community; it’s how we uncover hidden gems, so if you or someone you know deserves recognition please let us know here.