Today we’d like to introduce you to Julia Bay.
Hi Julia, thanks for joining us today. We’d love for you to start by introducing yourself.
My path to Pour Paint Party wasn’t a straight line. I spent the first part of my career in international education, working in student services at the University of Oklahoma and later leading international programs at two other institutions. It was work I loved: helping people find their footing in a new place, building community, and creating moments where someone felt genuinely welcomed. Along the way I earned my BA and MA in international studies, served in AmeriCorps, and traveled to more than 25 countries. Human connection was always the thread.
In February 2020, I decided to build something of my own and founded Pour Paint Party. The idea was simple. Acrylic pour painting is hands-on, a little unpredictable, and impossible to get “wrong,” which makes it the perfect way to get a room of people relaxed, talking, and creating together. Weeks after I launched, the world shut down. Instead of walking away, I rethought the whole model and kept going, and that resilience shaped everything about how the company works today.
Now Pour Paint Party designs employee engagement experiences for companies that care about connection and culture. I’ve had the privilege of working with teams at AWS, Adobe, Mastercard, AstraZeneca, and Capital One, among others. What looks like a painting event on the surface is really about the same thing that drew me to this work decades ago: giving people a reason to slow down, be present with each other, and walk away feeling a little more connected than when they arrived.
I’m based in the Leesburg, Virginia area, where I’m raising two kids, tending a pollinator garden, and always planning the next hike.
Can you talk to us a bit about the challenges and lessons you’ve learned along the way. Looking back would you say it’s been easy or smooth in retrospect?
No, it has not been a smooth road, and the biggest challenge is one every parent will recognize. I built Pour Paint Party as a stay-at-home mom of two, working part-time jobs on the side. It was never just the business. It was everything that comes with raising a family at the same time. Juggling, juggling, juggling. Some days I dropped the ball.
What that taught me is that priorities are everything. I live by the 80/20 rule now, pouring my energy into the 20 percent that actually moves the needle instead of trying to do it all. It is still a practice, not a finish line. I am always recalibrating, protecting the balance between building something I love and being fully present for the people who matter most. My family comes first. The fun we have together comes first. And I have learned that taking care of myself is what makes all the rest possible.
That balance is the real work, and it is the part I am proudest to be honest about.
Appreciate you sharing that. What should we know about Pour Paint Party?
I run Pour Paint Party, a corporate employee engagement company built on a simple truth. When people create something together with their hands, they connect in a way no icebreaker or happy hour can match.
We specialize in acrylic pour painting experiences for corporate teams. It is hands-on, a little messy, and completely impossible to do while checking your phone, which is exactly the point. In a world of back-to-back video calls, we give teams a reason to be fully present with each other, and they walk away with a piece of art and a genuine shared memory.
We meet teams wherever they work. We run experiences in person, hybrid, and fully virtual, so a distributed team across three time zones gets the same sense of connection as a group gathered in one room. We also offer employee gifting, which lets companies extend that feeling of appreciation to people who could not be there in person.
What I am most proud of is that our work builds real relationships. I have designed experiences for teams at AWS, Adobe, AstraZeneca, Mastercard, and Capital One. One of my favorite examples is a client who first booked me at AstraZeneca, then moved to a new company and brought Pour Paint Party with her. That is the thing I care about most. When someone changes jobs and wants to recreate the experience for a brand new team, it tells me we delivered something that actually mattered.
That is what I want your readers to know. This is not arts and crafts. It is a deliberate, well-run experience designed to bring people together, whether in person, hybrid, or virtual, and to help companies show their people they are valued.
We’d be interested to hear your thoughts on luck and what role, if any, you feel it’s played for you?
Honestly, I do not think luck had much to do with it. I think bravery did.
I still remember the first time I posted about Pour Paint Party on Facebook. I was terrified. Putting yourself out there, telling people you are starting something and inviting them to judge it, is one of the scariest things you can do. But I hit post anyway. And if I had not taken that one small, terrifying step, nothing that came after it would exist. No first booking. No corporate clients. No business at all.
That is the thing about luck. People look at where a business is now and assume some lucky break got it there. But nothing lucky happens until you take the first step. You have to be brave enough to begin before you have any proof it will work.
My timing certainly was not lucky. I launched in February 2020, weeks before the world stopped gathering in person. But even that came down to a choice. I could have quit, or I could figure out what my business was really about, which was connection, and rebuild around it. That was not luck either. That was deciding to keep going.
So if I have learned anything, it is this. Bravery is what got me to the starting line, and it is what kept me standing there when the timing fell apart. Luck only finds the people who are still in the game, and bravery is what keeps you there. Take the first step while you are scared. That is the part that is yours.
Pricing:
- Individual Gifting with Video- $55
- In-Person Event: 12 Person Minimum $55-85 Per Person
- Virtual Experience shipped around the world: $75-110 Per person
Contact Info:
- Website: https://www.pourpaintparty.com/
- Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/pourpaintparty/
- Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/pourpaintpartyJulia/
- LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/juliabay/
