Tura Lura Co. Founder Story
Art has the power to create and sustain community. Two years ago, I formed Tura Lura Co. as a way to stay connected to the art community that I had lost by fostering a new one. After years of performing and teaching ballet and contemporary dance, it was an accidental step into entrepreneurship. From 2021 onward, the small, intentional steps forward focused on how to develop spaces, workshops, and products that could empower people through making art together.
Following the intense isolation of the early pandemic, I saw a call for artists posted on the Johnson County Public Health site, and I paused.
The project idea was so captivating - art for vaccine awareness. We were headed into the months of Delta and Omicron, and I knew I could contribute to the vaccine awareness in an approachable way. My handcrafted candles mixed with my career in education - it was meant to be! Read more in the Press-Citizen Newspaper Coverage.
After my small business journey began, I felt more comfortable with the idea of being a creative entrepreneur. I began selling at local markets, like the South District Diversity Market and Iowa City's Farmer Market. And as I was exposed to more community resources, I ended up applying to an entrepreneur program through Merge IC. I was searching for local resources to help makers and artists (like myself) make profits more effectively. Our community already values the arts; we value buying small and buying local. But there was a need to facilitate more business to business relationships with an arts focus. I was selected to participate in the Builders + Backers program, and it has been life changing. (Read more about my work with Builders + Backers here).
From getting involved in the business community, I was fortunate to be awarded a scholarship to join the Iowa City Area Business Partnership. The mentorship from other local women entrepreneurs has been phenomenal. Read about my first big retail pop up full of Local + Good items in downtown Iowa City during the holiday season, as well as partnering with Green House Iowa City to offer Candle Pour Bar classes. Then my first conversation via Podcast with Empower Her Co! My first two years in business was a lot of experimenting with how to create workshops that could people to hone their own skills alongside friends, relatives, neighbors, and others creators.
My strengths are as an educator and connector who uses art as my vocabulary for communication. It’s hard to be what you can’t see, so I’ve had to spend a lot of time envisioning the work I want to do and the impact I want to have on the arts in central Iowa. I continue to go after grants and opportunities to learn, and have put myself out there in sharing my vision and dream. Tura Lura Co. won “best pitch” in my first pitch competition at JPEC’s Innovation Challenge in late fall 2023. These funds allowed Tura Lura Co. to open a studio in downtown West Branch in February 2024.
The journey to open Tura Lura Co. is the culmination of years of long nights, discovering local materials, community organizing, and a passion for connecting people through art. Cheers to 2 years!
