teaching assistant artist, only to be burned...

Hello everyone,

I taught a friend of a friend (recommended because she had some artistic talent) how to face paint. I worked with her one on one and provided her with books and DVDs for face art and balloon twisting. Basically, I gave her what took me 7 years to learn through mainly trial and error. On top of it, I supplied her entire kit of face painting supplies and holding palette, a $50 sign with face choices, and a director's chair. Technically, she is a subcontractor, so there is nothing I can do about it, but she decided she is going to start her own company; as in competition with me. She didn't even tell me about it (I had to hear it from someone else), nor did she return my supplies or training materials, and she hasn't answered texts or phone calls. My friend said she will try and get the stuff back, and she's more upset than me about it...I honestly am not surprised, as I saw some signs she might not be 100% reliable, but I really wanted to give her the benefit of the doubt. I could understand if I wasn't treating her well or what-not...but I have hooked her up for the 6 months she's worked with me...$50 per hour, even under the table for a while, while she was getting some unemployment, plus often gas $$ and or some extra here and there if I called her last minute. Her only responsibility was to show up and do a good job for a couple hours...no phone calls or anything- not a bad deal if you ask me! My friend said that she probably wouldn't tell me so I would continue to give her gigs and she could hand out her own card.
Although my friend thinks this person is not motivated enough to be successful on her own (most of us know what really goes into getting those gigs...websites, advertising costs, etc...) I still feel like crap. How did I let this happen when the signs were there? Sometimes I'm not 100% business savvy...I want to think everyone is as trustworthy and kind as I am, especially when I'm being treated well and compensated generously.
I have two other assistants, whom I trust 100% The one who told me this was going on (we've become close friends), and another whom is a Sr. in a college fine art program. I found these two people myself, and the other "trader" was a referral...
What would you do about this? I haven't even tried to approach her about it, but I'm sure she would deny everything, or even not respond if she found out I know. My suggestion to other artists would be: Take caution in who you teach...Try a family member if possible, and interview potentials carefully, even take references.

I hope this experience helps others avoid getting burned...I know this will be the last time I do.

Melissa

Oh Melissa - this is the sort of thing that is just so hurtful! I am so sorry that happened to you! In retrospect you could have had her sign a noncompete agreement before you started, but honestly in the end it might only have been something to try to hold over her head rather than something to pursue...

I just went through a horrible spell with a contractor I hired (for my web design business). I did everything right - checked references, his work, had an agreement about noncompete and privacy signed etc. The first couple of jobs went okay (but he was a real prima donna - warning flags?) but then he took me for a $1700 deposit he didn't do the work on and then called the client telling him I wasn't paying him and would he like to work with him directly. They fired me (didn't want to be involved) so I had to return $3500 they had already paid me. I had to take out a loan to deal with it all. In addition he spooked some of my other clients which in turn cost me additional business. He was in Florida and I'm in North Carolina - I decided that the emotional toll of going after him (as vindictive as he was I really think he could have really damaged me in other ways like hacking into my client's websites) and the cost of pursuing it across state lines - I let it drop. It's not my choice, but I can sleep at night and focus on just getting past it and knowing it's behind me.

I tell you this because I have been in the web design business with my own company for 13-14 years and I so see - I STILL make mistakes trusting people. Try not to be bitter and I'm so glad you have reliable subcontractors so you know not everyone is like that! You are a generous person and I know the good karma will come back to you. And yes, people like that are too lazy to be successful. Ultimately she'll fail, get a bad reputation, etc. Until then be prepared with tactful statements that will convey the truth to your clients/potential clients without actually bad mouthing her.

One of my new contractors tends to use the word "interesting" in regards to prior programming he has to untangle - I always know what that means.

Melissa, anyone you have working with you should sign a "no compete clause/contract" Meaning if they were to eventually branch off from you they could not compete with your business within a specified square mileage radius. i.e. by signing this agreement you agree not to do business within my established business territory of 25sq mile radius of whatever town or zip code you live in. Still allows her to do business but she would have to go out of area to do it.

That's a good idea...not sure how it would stand up in court as a contractor...but might be enough to make someone think twice

Another thought - not making someone give you money (as I get that - sometimes your apprentice needs help getting going) you could keep tabs - and then ensure you get your starter kit, help out with gas, etc. back ie they have to work the first gig(s) free of charge to pay that back.

yeah, I'll have to have a contract...either do that or make sure they at least return a full kit when they are done.

paintedyou wrote:yeah, I'll have to have a contract...either do that or make sure they at least return a full kit when they are done.

I'm so sorry this person abused your trust, time, and training! I hope you will be able to look on it as a learning experience without holding onto any bitterness. (This would be my biggest trial if it happened to me).

In the future, I would definitely get a signed agreement to repay you for your initial investment (and for a nominal training fee) to be repaid at a reasonable per gig rate. I don't know how a non-compete agreement would work out, but I think it would be reasonable to require one that is valid until all training fees (supplies, training, advance pay items) have been repaid.

I'm glad you posted about your experience, as it does give me something to consider when I am ready to train someone to work with (or for) me.

Thanks for your comments! I'm not holding on to any bitterness...I'm a little hurt though I'll feel a little better if I can at least get the books and DVDs back...

I've avoided contracting & training other face painters because of this. I'm just not willing to train up new competition. But, I agree, most people do not have the know-how or patience & commitment to do well & usually fizzle out. A no-compete agreement is good. I'd also have them sign that the supplies are your property & will be returned if the business relationship ends. Or you can come up with a way for them to work off the cost of the supplies & then become owner to them.
We have a lot of new face painters in our area that got their start from a company that kept training & then burning their face painters. Some have fizzled out & others are going strong & have become good friends of mine.

Yowza! That is bad. I agree that a non-compete is the way to go. I'm learning more and more from you what it takes to do this as a business.

Pixieface, I do graphic design in my 9 to 5. I'm sure we could swap war stories in that line of work.

I have a friend who does graphic design & has many a nightmare stories:-)

Ok so my opinion, lol:
I dont agree with the no compete within xx radius. to ME that's BS (not trying to hurt anyone, but thats what I thought of...). What I DO accept is "I agree to not contact XXvenderXX within a period of xx months" if I am doing a job for someone and they hire me out PLUS i give out THEIR cards. Win win for both. You should only do this if you trust the person regardless of contract b/c you always run the risk of them not coming through (artistically, timely, rude, etc...) professional for you, giving you a bad name. Another option is passing out the job for a xx fee ($10, 15, etc..) or even just passing along the client...so many different ways to deal with this, but i suggest everyone try a few of them out and figure out what works best for YOU.

kimmywizzle and psalm - oh don't even get me started!!!!!! But you know - I think it doesn't matter what you do, you can get burned out on anything. So I need to keep it in perspective. There are so many people that think what I do would be a grand job!

Unfortunately, even family members have been known to turn on each other for the sake of the mighty dollar, so there IS no sure fire list of people you can trust.

My suggestion for any apprentice is to, instead of bending over backwards and assuming all of the financial loss/risk, make the apprentice prove his/her convictions by paying for what they need. You could have the kit and give them a price for it if they want to be your apprentice. Insurance, I'd want them to provide their own or reimbursement for their portion of my premium. Watermark every image you give to your apprentice...even that which is on your banners and signs. As far as training goes, I can't remember who it was that said something like, never teach them everything you know unless you no longer need the knowledge. What that means is that if you teach all that you know, you've in essence bolstered their confidence to the point where they will feel that they can go head to head without you taking a cut of their earnings. Eventually, they may venture off on their own, they may be controlled by a non-compete, or they may not.. At the end of the day, you will be able to say that 1) The paid for a top notch kit, they are going to have to pay for insurance, and they're going to have to embark on a journey of discovery in order to become a better painter.

Whenever we spoonfeed our skillset to others, we stand the risk of encouraging the skillfull bottom feeders who see little more that dollar signs. To them, even half of our rate is good money.

We can't stop people from doing stuff like this, but we can be on our guard about it. There's a lady at my church who wants to be one of my volunteer painters for the next kids events, but she was over heard telling her friend in the bathroom that she was getting hooked up with that "Professional painter that does all the events" so she can learn how to "do faces" and start doing parties. Fortunately, the person who heard what she said just so happens to be the youth pastor's wife and she spoke to him. Needless to say, they decided (before I even got involved) to put a stop to any plans of my training her. When I do train, it's the basics and a few simple designs and then I direct them to the web.,,so I don't think the scheming lady would've gotten far anyway. Anyway, where was I? Oh...I'm sorry that you're going through this, it really does suck and people don't seem to realize that burnit bridges can be a pretty bad thing down the line.

I'm so sorry you got burnt! Life lessons suck even if we learn from them.

I found these sites which have a bunch of good advice and legal forms for future subcontractors as well as info on starting up a SP and LLC:

http://www.jian.com/library-of-business-information/f328/managing/using-non-compete-clauses-.php

http://business-law.lawyers.com/small-business-law/Subcontracting-and-Your-Small-Business.html

Melissa

I so feel your pain. Something VERY similar happened to me too, and when I think of the hours I spent training one on one, teaching EVERYTHING I knew( all for FREE), I get mad all over again. Unfortunately I have come to the conclusion that there are MANY of these types in this industry It is sad to think that so many of us have a similar story!
I learned my lesson and realize that there are "vampires" out there who will take and take, and never again will i train anyone.
Lets hope karma works sooner rather than later eh


Shelley

Wow, that really stinks.

On the positive side of things, you avatar is KILLER awesome.

I'm sorry for you, it's awful.

I've only trained one person not related to me and she agreed to sign a non-compete agreement.

It basically states that after she stops working for me, she will not contract with any of my existing clients and she can return the kit I supplied or we'll come to mutual agreement on the worth. There are some other details between she and I included, but it doesn't go much further than that.

I know I can't control all situations and mostly it's a matter of trust because enforcing a non-compete agreement is a difficult, costly hassle.

One thing I suggest to you, is to first try to contact her to get your supplies back. If she avoids you send her a couple of certified letters with a list of everything you are requesting be returned by a certain date.

If she still doesn't respond and what you supplied her is worth enough, file a small claims suit against her. The filing fee is very small (in MA it's only $40 if your kit is worth $500 or less.)

If she hadn't kept all your stuff, I wouldn't suggest this, but it sounds like theft to me. Don't make it easy for her by not doing anything.

those are great forms Pandora....BluAngl, this is not just simply working with contractors...I've worked with artists in my area, and we're very friendly and understanding if we give a job we give the job with no cut taken. This is someone I trained and gave all training, face painting materials, directors chair, signage, etc. so she could be a contracted assistant, paid a very reasonable rate of $50 per hour, just to show up and paint, normally with a two hour minimum, and with confidence that they would not compete with me.

And thanks vampkat, I took it from my new main page on my website. I too, do some graphic design...I guess a lot of people do, LOL...no wonder I can't find a job almost two years after getting laid off in that field! Good thing I've been face painting for so long!

I think we all have a story like this,,,,
We thankfully have not had the whole thing go bad ...yet
we have a guy we have worked with for over a year on balloon sculpture and decor, we feed him all his jobs and get his supplies to him at cost.
The down side, he acts like it is a chore to do jobs that we are spoon feeding him, then resents we take a cut, we just made all the contacts, did the advertising, made the booking, set up the contacts with the client etc etc... why would we want a small cut...lol
We have a no compete, and I have known him since he was 10 yrs old and I have told him I would destroy him.
Other than that don't know what else can be done..
I really need a face painter, but I am at this point too scared to train anyone.

PaintAndGlitter wrote:I think we all have a story like this,,,,
We thankfully have not had the whole thing go bad ...yet
we have a guy we have worked with for over a year on balloon sculpture and decor, we feed him all his jobs and get his supplies to him at cost.
The down side, he acts like it is a chore to do jobs that we are spoon feeding him, then resents we take a cut, we just made all the contacts, did the advertising, made the booking, set up the contacts with the client etc etc... why would we want a small cut...lol
We have a no compete, and I have known him since he was 10 yrs old and I have told him I would destroy him.
Other than that don't know what else can be done..
I really need a face painter, but I am at this point too scared to train anyone.

I love you. lol

You need to go to this person and demand that she give you your stuff back. Send her a letter listing your items and give her 1 week to return them and then take her to small claims court. You can get the money back that you spent in small claims court – she will have to pay it. I had similar situations with 2 assistants that I have trained, and one took 3 month to give me back my stuff – I had to out her to other local face painters just to get her to return what was mine. I had her sign a non compete agreement which was valid in Kentucky but when I found out that I might lose my job (and I still might) I let her out of the agreement so she can start her own company and then she became very nasty to me, which took me completely by surprise. I thought she was a friend but it turned out all she wanted was my skill. She even demanded that I turned over my company to her just because she heard it from someone else that I was going to do that – which was complete bullshit. There are givers and there are takers. Once you have been burned you can tell those that just want to TAKE AND TAKE and you stay far far away from them.

If you find that you are getting more jobs than you can handle RAISE YOUR PRICES!

I have finally found an assistant that wants to work just for me and she is fabulous. She too had someone stab her in the back so to speak at her full time job so she understands.

If you decide to train someone then you need to take a large commission - at least 25% - 35% and for each gig that they do they have to sign an agreement that they will not contact the client for a period of 1 year and that they agree to give out just your cards and if they give out their own personal cards they Forfeit the money earned from the job. Some people even have the clients sign an agreement not to contact the face painter for 1 year and some for 2 years. Sounds extreme but if you are in a market where their is a lot of competitors you need to protect yourself and your business.
Never give them anything to start – if they want to get into this business they need to spend money like you did to get started – teach them just the basic and watch them on how they are treating you. If you start getting bad vibes – then let them GO ASAP. Protect yourself and your business. I do not train anyone near me and I get calls all the time and flat out say NO and tell them they can go to the conventions and other classes around the country like I did.

I'm sorry that happened to so many of you too. I was so young when I started my clown business and I was too trusting of people. Anyone can throw on a clown costume and call themself an entertainer. It takes a special person to be successful. I also decided to learn more about the business and legal issues which has come in very handy.

This is a tough one and a big reason why facepainters fall out. If I 'train/teach' facepainters what I know, I assume they're going out to paint and make a living too. It's only natural.

I've given a facepainter a start before and given them a couple of spare facepaints I had. They went out, researched and bought their own fairly quickly. They came back to me and taught me a couple of things they were so into it and felt like they finally found a job they adored. I never regret introducing them to facepainting.

The kit is another matter. This is why painters should always always ALWAYS have their own kit. It's obvious but communication is key in these situations.

a) Did you agree the kit was a loan?
b) Was there any way that she thought it was a gift?
c) Was their an understanding that they were not to branch out on their own? (I have to say, that's a difficult one to impose on a person)
d) Was there 'talk' about the painter building a kit of their own.
e) Was there ever 'talk' about her giving the kit back eventually and when?

I do think the painter heading off, doing work on their own with a lent kit is a bit rich. If it had been their own kit from the start, it would be a fair cop that they would get their own gigs eventually. On gigs where I've been a recommendation, although I've given out the original facepainters cards, parents have often said, 'no, I want you specifically'. That just happens in this buisness, when folk see a particular facepainter, sometimes that's one they want.

Another thing you can do is have a business card made with all your info on it on the front & your entertainer is:____________________________ on the back. Your contracted worker can write their name in the blank. Then, if the client or someone at the event really liked that particular person, they give out that card. This way the client knows who to ask for.