Conversations with Lisa Fairlee

Today we’d like to introduce you to Lisa Fairlee.

Hi Lisa, please kick things off for us with an introduction to yourself and your story.
Hi there! My name is Lisa and I am the co-owner of Color Me Mine Boulder! My business partner, Sandy and I have owned CMM Boulder for over nine years. You can say it was a midlife crisis that has proven to be one of the best professional decisions of my life. 🙂

The beginning… I graduated from South Dakota State University way back when with a dual major in Advertising and Communications. For 20 years, I worked at various organizations as a marketing coordinator / director. I got my first start at a natural resources conservation PR firm in Mishawaka, IN, that I absolutely loved. I was able to tour the country and participate in symposiums led by the US Fish & Wildlife department. After almost two years, my husband and I dreamed of a life on the east coast so we packed up and headed to New England where I worked for WPI in their graduate admissions. Our time in New England was short lived as my husband had a great opportunity for employment in Florida so we headed south. In Florida I was employed as a marketing director for both a law firm as well as a radiology organization. After five years in Florida, we decided to head to Denver to be closer to family. We are heading into our 20th year of living in the Denver area and we absolutely love it! The first half of my 20 years, I worked in radiology as a marketing director. The company ended up getting bought out which was a blessing in disguise. I went through a year or two of odd jobs here and there trying to figure out what it is I saw myself doing for the remainder of my professional career. I knew I wanted something that allowed me to be a present mom, to show my kids that you can never be pigeonholed into one line of work, and that new opportunities are constantly out there if you are brave enough to open the door. Sandy and I would talk for hours as our daughters did gymnastics about how we both wanted to break free of the corporate race. So one day, we saw that a Color Me Mine was for sale in Boulder, CO and well, the rest is history. 🙂

Can you talk to us a bit about the challenges and lessons you’ve learned along the way. Looking back would you say it’s been easy or smooth in retrospect?
Speaking solely as a business owner, the last nine years have definitely had their fair share of challenges. First off, best friends becoming business partners takes a lot of patience and understanding of each other. Sandy and I have grown so much as business partners from that first year or two. We used to have to go to public spaces to avoid emotions overflowing. 🙂 We’ve come a long way. But in our defense, we had just taken over a studio that was going in the opposite direction of what a business should be doing so stressors were at an all-time high.

Sandy is currently back in the corporate world, but we are still 50/50 partners. I run the daily ins and outs of the studio, but we both are still very involved in the studio.

Secondly, COVID. We bought the studio in 2016 and our five year plan was to grow gross sales by $200k. We were there in four years and then the dreaded C word hit. It was a rough go for a few years. We had to pivot to online sales, curbside pickup, but we did it, and once the world opened back up, we were able to get business back up to where it was pre-covid.

Thanks – so what else should our readers know about your work and what you’re currently focused on?
I am co-owner of Color Me Mine Boulder. We are a paint your own pottery studio located in downtown Boulder on the gorgeous Pearl St. People can just walk in and start creating their masterpieces! We host parties and corporate events that turn memories into lasting keepsakes.

What I’m most proud of is that we’ve created an atmosphere in our studio where anyone can be an artist. I’m not an artist by any means, but here I am owning and running a pottery studio. 🙂

Also, I very much pride myself on the fact that when you come into our studio, you are instantly family. No strangers. All friends.

Do you any memories from childhood that you can share with us?
Oh goodness, you have me digging way back into the archives…

I guess I would say Christmas time growing up was always one of my favorite times. My dad was a truck driver and growing up he was only home on the weekends… aside from Christmas. This is when he took all his time off. The holiday breaks were filled with Christmas movies, Christmas baking, games, and endless family get togethers. On Christmas Eve, my family always got a visit from the jolly man in red which was amazing! I was always so sad my dad missed Santa’s visits though. He was always in the garage tinkering with the cars. 😉

Contact Info:

• Website: www.Boulder.ColorMeMine.com
• Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/cmmboulder/#
• Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/colormemineboulder
• LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/lisa-fairlee-a8024227a