To call Stella Grinfeld a graphic designer would be an understatement.
She founded her business, Stella Graphix Inc., and while graphic design is at the root of what the company does, it offers a variety of other services in the digital marketing space.
For Grinfeld herself, her passion and creativity goes back as far as she can remember.
“I don’t remember not having a paint brush in my hand, not drawing,” she said.
She was born in Ukraine and started learning piano at a very young age, as her mother ran a music school. She also was really into visual arts and writing.
“Those are the three things that carried me through my life,” Grinfeld said.
Her family moved to Canada when she was seven years old, settling in North York and later moving to Richmond Hill.
Even while they were adjusting to life in Canada, Grinfeld was still heavily involved in the arts.
“We had no money, we barely had a place to live but my mom made sure I got my art and my music,” she said.
The creative side is only one half of her business. Grinfeld also said she has an entrepreneurial spirit.
She was already selling her own art by the time she was 10 and began running her own music and arts school by the age of 15. While studying design at York-Sheridan she also began doing freelance commission work.
Grinfeld lived in Toronto, Richmond Hill and other areas before falling in love with Newmarket one day while wedding dress shopping.
“I came to Main Street and I came out of the car and said ‘what is this lovely little place?’ I just looked around like where am I, this is wonderful,” she said. “A year later we bought a house here and I just fell in love with the community,”
Newmarket first became the home for her family and later became the home of her business.
She had been working downtown in Toronto and when she became pregnant with her first son, she decided she didn’t want to make that trip anymore.
“One thing I realized is how much commuting really takes your time out of being productive or actually creating. I’ve always been a big advocate of working from home or working from the space you’re at so you’re not wasting time, wasting emissions,” she said.
It was at that same time she decided to go all in on her business, which she had been doing on the side for years.
“I decided to just 100 per cent give it my all and we’ve been pretty much growing year after year,” Ginfeld said.
Her oldest son is now eight and she has two other kids, one who is six years old and the other who is two and a half years.
“I feel like with each kid it’s actually made me a better multi-tasker and it’s made me learn how to do more things better and faster. It’s been this awesome blessing in so many ways,” she said.
Grinfeld began her business several years ago but only incorporated in 2018 under the name Stella Graphix Inc.. She said it took a while to figure out what to call it.
“A big challenge for me was how do I define my business in one word that people can say quickly,” she said, adding that she’s happy with her choice.
Her mission is to support local businesses and help them grow and succeed, by providing digital marketing services and products.
She said she has seen many of her clients go on to become iconic local brands and she is proud and inspired by them.
“By growing our local businesses I feel like I’m helping the local community grow as well. It’s such an important thing to do for everybody, improving our economy, keeping the money local, keeping the money in our community and just allowing businesses to thrive,” Grinfeld said.
One of her recent projects was the LOVE LOCAL campaign from the Newmarket Chamber of Commerce, which highlighted Newmarket businesses and encouraged residents to shop and support them. Stella Graphix Inc. produced the ads for the campaign.
“The words can’t describe, it’s so amazing. I’m so honoured to have been selected for this project,” she said.
While it was a fast-paced project she said she was happy to help other small businesses like herself.
While Grinfeld has recently moved to East Gwillimbury, she said she still loves Newmarket and works with many clients in Newmarket. As the business grows and shifts, she is hoping to bring in more local people to work with her.
“We are focusing on bringing in more local talent on board to drive our business mission forward, while fostering more community growth and opportunity for collaboration,” she said.
As for what’s next, Grinfeld said she never stops thinking of new ideas.
“I feel like I go through my life with a minimum of two to three business ideas daily. I have a book of ideas and I write them down,” she said.
On a personal level, she said she also wants to get into teaching more and help show other entrepreneurs how to be successful.
