A creative animal lover named Mandy Helwege has a booming business designed around photoshopping furry friends. She wanted to create something special for the many dedicated pet parents out there, so she came up with a brilliant concept!
Mandy’s journey to success began with a fun idea for her Great Dane’s Instagram page. She thought it would be adorable to photoshop a picture of her Great Dane as a puppy next to his current self, creating a unique peek into the past. The moment she shared the photo to her pup’s Instagram, her life changed.
Friends and family fell in love with Mandy’s photoshop creation and were asking for their own personalized portraits of their dogs. Mandy thought this would just be a fun side project she indulged in occasionally, but word of her talent spread fast across the internet.
Before she knew it, Mandy had dozens of requests a month from pet parents around the country. Things really kicked off when a video about her work went viral on TikTok, which sent custom orders flooding into her Instagram inbox.
“I was so overwhelmed when it went viral, because I posted it thinking, ‘OK, if I can get 25 orders from this, that’ll be nice.’ I ended up with hundreds of direct messages on Instagram, because that’s how I used to take orders.” – Mandy Helwege
Mandy’s business has come a long way since she first began, but she is now filling hundreds of orders a month with the help of her full-time graphic artist employee. She releases a waiting list on the first day of every month at 10 AM MT on her website and says that it always fills up within minutes of her posting.
She requires a $10 deposit to hold your spot on the waitlist, and once it’s your turn, her designs start at $125. Everyone tells her that she should increase her prices due to her talent and the fact that nobody is doing what she is, but she wants to make her work accessible to as many people as possible.
“I’m never going to be the artist that wants to charge as much as possible. I have such a big heart for animal lovers and pet parents, and I realizewe’re not always the wealthiest. I love the sentiment of being able to provide everyday working Americans who love their pets with the ability to have a piece of beautiful artwork on their walls.” – Mandy Helwege
We are absolutely blown away by Mandy’s incredible designs. Are you going to get one of your own?
