Meet Kelsey Reust of Scenic Route Shop

Today we’d like to introduce you to Kelsey Reust, founder of Scenic Route Shop

Kelsey, we appreciate you taking the time to share your story with us today. Where does your story begin?
I have always been an artist since I was big enough to hold a crayon. More than a decade ago, my friend Karli and I would sit in a quaint little coffee shop every Sunday in Chicago and dream about what it would be like to have our own art studios instead of the jobs we weren’t particularly thrilled with. I was an architect, and although that sounds like a dream job for some, it didn’t fit me well at all and I never fell in love with it. To use my creative juices (because architecture ended up being more about paperwork than creativity), I would do fun projects and artwork on my own time. In 2009, I wanted to give my now-husband a meaningful gift for his birthday. He didn’t have much need for “stuff”, but his walls were bare while his passions were rich. So I created three pieces for him in my simple line-art style: Wrigley Field (we lived near the ballpark and loved going to games spontaneously when the tickets were cheap), A daisy (he was very proud of his balcony garden), and an Indy Car (he’s been to the Indy 500 19 times!). He loved them! Other friends and family saw these proudly on display and started requesting their own pieces of the things they loved. After years of tweaking the style and playing with the idea of actually selling the artwork, Scenic Route Shop was opened on Etsy in 2017 with a dozen different pieces available. As I created new pieces, the shop grew and grew and today you can find your piece amongst more than 300 designs. I spent night’s drawing orders as they slowly came in, and by the end of 2019, I found myself up at all hours of the night trying to complete orders while still working as an architect. Sleep deprived and miserable from 8-5 every day, it was time. I made the decision to leave architecture and take on Scenic Route Shop as my full-time job. Those that know me well say they’ve never seen me happier. And I have to agree.

I’m sure you wouldn’t say it’s been obstacle free, but so far would you say the journey have been a fairly smooth road?
Once Scenic Route Shop expanded from a hobby to a business, it came with plenty of struggles and obstacles. I cannot stand accounting, shipping can be a real bear, and there are unique challenges that crop up along the way. It is still is a job even if it’s something I love. Although there are the usual business stumbling blocks, it’s the people that make the Scenic Route Shop a success. I have been incredibly blessed to be surrounded by supportive friends and family and the privilege to work with amazing clients. My friends were my first clients and continue to encourage me and cheer me on as the business grows. My clients have left wonderful reviews, have given me feedback that has helped the shop evolve, and have encouraged me by giving me repeat business as well as referrals. To illustrate how incredible my customers are, one particular struggle were the mail delivery delays leading up to Christmas 2020. I’m sure every reader had a package lost for weeks during that time. I was terrified it would turn into bad reviews, which are so crippling to small businesses. But I shouldn’t have been worried because my customers came through with encouraging messages and the patience of saints. I didn’t get one bad review during that time, not one message of frustration or anger over not getting their package for Christmas, and many even came back as return clients. Thank you to all of them from the bottom of my heart.

Alright, so let’s switch gears a bit and talk business. What should we know?
I’ve been asked where the name for the shop came from. A “scenic route” is a road that travels through an area of natural or cultural beauty and purposefully slows you down and takes you through beautiful scenery. When I’m playing with my dogs, time slips away and I just love looking at their sweet faces. When I’m wandering along a hike in a National Park, I never think to look at my watch because my eyes are glued to the mountaintops. So the shop was named Scenic Route Shop because it is filled with the passions, places and pets that cause you to lose track of time because you’re in love with all that’s surrounding you.

If you had to choose one, what characteristic of your business is most important?
I think the most important feature of my success is the style of the art itself. The line art style of the pieces was always an aesthetic I was drawn to and others seemed to appreciate. And I knew the pieces were meaningful, but I just couldn’t nail down why they were so impactful to me and others until I was at my first art fair. Standing in my booth, people would walk by and point at a dog drawing and squeal “Look! It’s Penny!” Then someone else would walk by and point at the same piece and exclaim “Oh my goodness, it’s Max!” And another would say “It’s Bon Bon!” And it hit me. The beauty isn’t in the lines of the artwork, it’s in what each person sees between the lines! This was the same dog drawing, but each person saw their dog. The pieces in the Scenic Route Shop aren’t just pretty pictures, they’re a way to share your own story and journey through your décor.

Contact Info:

• Email: Kelsey@ScenicRouteShop.com
• Website: www.ScenicRouteShop.com
• Instagram: @ScenicRouteShop
• Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/ScenicRouteShop
• Other: www.ScenicRouteShop.Etsy.com

Image Credits
Headshot in the supporting images is taken by Brittany Nemec Photography