Meet Elizabeth Sutton, an Artist, a Designer, and an Entrepreneur, whose colorful artworks and products are helping others stay motivated.
A single mother of two, and born and raised in New York City, Elizabeth is a self-taught artist, designer, and entrepreneur. Her business ranges from custom commissions, fine art, and limited edition prints, to the manufacturing and distribution of fashion accessories and homeware. She also provides best-selling and award-winning licensing deals spanning from tile to rugs to home office desk chairs and luxury accessories for girls.
The third child of four, Elizabeth grew up in a nice family, with good education and other great opportunities, but she had some difficult time in her teenage years. Talking about that time, she says, “My life started getting messed-up when I was thirteen years old. My parents went through a very traumatic divorce which led to me not having any relationship with my father.”
Being raised in a traditional and conservative environment, getting married young and becoming a good wife and mom, and taking care of the home were supposed to be her primary goals in life. She elaborates, “I followed that path, studied marketing and finance in college, got married at 21, and didn’t have any further career goals. I had a very fortunate and blessed lifestyle, and was a very spoiled upper-east-side housewife and hostess.” It was because of a series of distressing events and fiscal and personal needs that she decided to have a career. She wanted to be happy and have freedom from a bad marriage, and she took the leap. She explains, “My business actually involved me throwing a lot of spaghetti against a wall and then accessing what stuck best and how to synergize those cash cows.”
Her organization, Elizabeth Sutton Collection, is an NYC based fine art and design firm with a mission to foster positivity and good vibes through colorful artworks and products. Elizabeth, along with her team, tries to inspire people to change the things they are unhappy about in their lives through hard work and resilience. She says, “Very often our most uncomfortable life circumstances are the ones that are meant to teach us the most important lessons, as long as we learn them and put in the effort and hard work that it takes to create change. I try to teach people to not only be comfortable, but to embrace change.” Through her art and designs, Elizabeth tries to explain to people that energy is extremely important, She believes that life is a ball of energy and one must keep the good and cut the bad out, while surrounding oneself by those who deserve their love and attention.
Elizabeth had to overcome many hurdles on this journey. She had no skill set or actual work experience when she decided to start her firm. The death of her best friend and father-in-law, a miscarriage after the birth of her first son, getting divorced and being left with the responsibility of her two-year-old and three-year-old kids with little money in her wallet, and the death of her art assistant in her car after leaving her birthday party had left her devastated, but she fought her way through it all.
Even today, some of her challenges remain. Her current obstacles include lack of time. She elaborates, “Success doesn’t come without hard work and that means logging a lot of hours. I have a lot of responsibilities between my children and my company, and I often neglect myself. It’s very challenging to find a balance.” In addition to this, growing without proper capital and finding the right people for her team are the continual challenges that she faces.
Elizabeth’s licensing deals have been both award-winning and bestselling. She has been awarded at the two largest hospitality conventions in the United States, and her MP pool party installation, an 8,500 square foot hand-painted pool deck was featured by Architectural Digest, Architectural Digest Spain, and New York Post. Elizabeth has been written about in almost every major New York publication including the New York Times, Wall Street Journal, Entrepreneur, Forbes, and Lux Magazine.
Elizabeth believes that her biggest accomplishment is being called “The Artist and Designer you need to know right now”, by Forbes. She feels fortunate for being blessed with so much and has a message for anyone who finds her story inspiring. She says, “Life is hard, but we have the choice to make it beautiful. If you are unhappy about something, change it. Even if you are afraid, use fear as your motivator. If you are willing to help yourself, you will be pleasantly surprised by how many people are willing to help you if you just ask. God closes some doors so that other doors can be opened. Just lean on to your fundamental support, your family and friends that love you, to help you get through the hard times”.