Samantha's Studio: Overcoming Rent Hikes

Hi, I'm Samantha Rei. I've been an artist all my life, a designer professionally since 2000 and self-employed for the last 16 years as my main source of income. I'm a fashion designer and the goal of my business is to create beautiful things for people who have an interesting voice and want something that says it on their big day. Most of my clients are plus size and/or queer with offbeat style. I am looking for support so that I can keep serving this community.

Since covid started, like many artistic business owners, I’ve had ups and downs. I dealt with heart failure in 2022, then things got pretty level and my husband and I were fortunate enough to welcome a little boy into the world in late 2023.

It was a hard pregnancy but I worked through it (I didn't know your hands could be affected by pregnancy! Thank goodness for physical therapy or I wouldn't have been able to work). As he has grown, work has started to dry up and right before Christmas the landlords that own my studio building decided to drastically raise everybody's rent, effective New Year's day.

I am now significantly behind while trying to navigate making enough money to pay bills, playing catch up from unpaid maternity leave and working to find new client opportunities while taking care of my 1-year-old. On top of that I am also navigating the recent diagnosis of a close family member with a severe health issue.

Unfortunately I'm going to have to move out of my studio that I've grown to love so much. I was on Project Runway in 2017 and moved into this studio a little after the finale wrapped. I've made it my own and have been there for 7 years. I'm absolutely devastated that I can't afford to be there anymore and I know that if I'm going to not have another hiccup in my business I will have to find a new comparable slightly space for similar, but hopefully less. In the meantime moving all of my stuff out, quickly, in the middle of the winter is not feasible. Staying in this place and working through the winter would allow me time to find a suitable studio space and keep my business open.

I don't want to be another statistic of a lost artistic business. There are so many people in need right now and I am so thankful and humbled that you have taken the time to read this and any help, even if it’s only sharing, that you are able to provide. Thank you so much for your support!