Why Puzzles as Art?
Kris Hale, Founder of Dope Pieces Puzzle Company in Atlanta GA, was the youngest of seven children. Growing up, doing puzzles together as a family was a wholesome and unifying activity that provided hours of happy childhood memories. Kris wanted to bring these connections through art to other families in hopes that they would also be a positive and bonding experience for others.
Kris brings joy to others by giving away some of her puzzles around the holidays.
She also strongly believes that puzzles serve as a vehicle to help artists showcase their work. With a lack of puzzle artwork that represents black and brown demographic groups in a positive, strong and uplifting way, she wanted to change that by providing pieces that affirm and celebrate diversity, as well as offering a way to frame completed puzzles as art: “Dope enough to frame.”
Special Requests
Kris was honored to receive a special request from the Mayor’s Office, City of Atlanta, for two puzzles. One was given out to city visitors and one was used as an attendee gift for the city’s 2024 holiday party.
CVS has also requested custom puzzles to use for clinical trial education tools.
How SupplierGateway’s EDC Helped Pave the Way to Success
Kris was able to certify her business as small, minority-owned, black-owned and woman-owned with one process. SupplierGateway’s Enhanced Digital Certification (EDC) played a critical role in empowering her small businesses and providing the credibility and confidence she needed to engage with larger corporations.
“SupplierGateway’s EDC ( Enhanced Digital Certification) is a document that makes me feel empowered when I attend buyer’s events and talk to these bigger companies. As a two-person company, with this certification, I felt taken more seriously and that I have solid credibility.” – Kris Hale, Founder, Dope Pieces Puzzle Company
Kris is a prime example of a supplier who was already doing B2B sales but was looking for better and larger opportunities. On the retail front, her puzzles are available in 24 local stores ranging from Village Retail in Atlanta, GA, to Peace and Riot in Brooklyn, NY Her puzzles are featured on Amazon’s recommended gift list for black-owned and women-owned businesses as well. Her corporate client roster includes: The City of Atlanta, Fiserv, and Target (as a forward founder).
Overcoming Obstacles
As a solopreneur, Kris was starting from scratch with no knowledge of the puzzle industry, manufacturing or distribution process.
She addressed this in four main ways:
- She told people what she wanted to do and built a network of advocates.
- She started making calls to manufacturers, paper companies, etc., and explained what she was trying to do – she asked for advice and guidance. One question she asked was – what questions have I not asked that I should so I can learn this industry inside and out?
- She did many hours of her own research, studying to learn everything possible about the puzzle industry, piece measurements, paper quality, manufacturing and distribution process, etc. and became an expert in the industry.
- She was lucky enough to partner with others, such as CVS, who supported her vision and promoted her.
Her advice to other women-owned and minority-owned small businesses that are embarking on their entrepreneurial journey is to, “Do it scared but prepared. Always find the free offers, the free tools, free education and resources, etc. – there are so many out there.”
