Shay Namarri has always considered herself a creative person. Her mother used to joke that she came out of the womb armed with crayons and paper. As a child she was consumed with drawing and colouring, but her parents never pushed her in the direction of following a creative career path. They were hoping that she would follow a more conventional path and become a doctor or a dentist, so in school she took all the math and science classes. She was no good at that and ended up failing those classes. She knew in her heart that she was meant to be doing something creative. She rebelled, applying to design school, and got accepted without her mother knowing. These days, Shay says that her Mom is her biggest fan base.
After a few years she transitioned from interior design to working in construction, working with general contractors as a project estimator and coordinator. Although she was good at it, she found that the work was not fulfilling, and she didn’t love it. One day she decided that she had had enough and quit her job with no back up plan.
The next little while was spent trying to find her calling. There were some failed attempts, like the boutique salad bar idea, and a cupcake business idea. The Good Tile was born from her 10th year anniversary vacation to Morocco. The tile work, design, and architecture inspired her so much that when she got back from vacation, she started making her own DIY tiles at home. She posted her designs on social media and people showed interest. Having worked as an interior designer she knew what products were available on the market and what products were missing. She realized that encaustic inspired or cement tile inspired vinyl tiles were not available on the market. She continued to make the tiles and eventually it became a business. She later expanded the product line to include yoga mats, and fully customizable, peel and stick wallpaper. Nature, women, travel, and fashion inspire her. Many of the patterns displayed in her studio can be worn, and eventually will be. An apparel line is in the works.
I had to know what the wildest custom design she had ever made was. She has had a few but the first one that came to her mind was the wall of rubber ducks for a micro bar called Three Monks and a Duck on Queen Street West in Toronto.
As the self-proclaimed “worst salesperson in the world”, Instagram is Shay’s only marketing tool. Word of mouth was helpful in the beginning, but she finds that because her product is so fun and customizable, people gravitate to it and it often sells itself. I am sure her 18,000+ Instagram followers would agree. She is silly and goofy on Instagram, sharing behind-the-scenes reality of being a business owner, the good and the bad. I asked if she thought that her personality might have anything to do with attracting customers, and she said that she has had a lot of people tell her that they find her relatable. When you have a large following and a cheeky sense of humour, you are bound to attract some trolls. She is unfazed by trolls and finds it mind boggling that anyone would go out of their way to come to her page to leave negative comments.
COVID-19 has forced most of us to stay inside and become more aware of our spaces. Home offices were set up overnight, and home renovation projects that had been put off now moved to the top of many to-do lists. This was good for The Good Tile. Shay finds satisfaction by providing people with solutions. She loves helping people and what keeps her going through challenging times is getting feedback from customers. Hearing that a wallpaper or décor solution that she gave a customer makes them feel better when they are in their spaces makes her day. She considers herself blessed that she can keep doing this work during a time when many other small businesses have been negatively affected.
Her advice for multi-passionate people like herself who may be considering starting a business or pursuing a new career path is to just start. Hone in on the one thing you love the most and go with that. Know that you will make mistakes, you will fail, but you just have to get up and keep going. Stick to what you believe because you’re the one who knows what’s best for you. “Of course, hard work pays off, but you also have to be very consistent. Maybe that’s why some of my other ideas didn’t work out. I was not consistent. I lost momentum.”
Wondering what The Good Tile thinks is a bad tile? With a laugh Shay says that “There are no bad tiles, all tiles all good. There are just different types of tiles. My tiles, it's a good time tile. It's easy to install. It's DIY friendly, and it's customizable. You can do whatever you want with it, you can have any design on it. So it's a pretty good wholesome tile.”
Follow The Good Tile on Instagram
Interview by Glodeane Brown
Photos provided by Shay Namarri
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