For Debbie Jacknin, it’s about the art.

Before she opened Songbird Artistry in Lawrenceville eight years ago, there was Jenn’s Jems, a small business for Ms. Jacknin to sell her daughter’s handmade jewelry, stickers and magnets. They had a booth at the now-defunct Pittsburgh Public Market and garnered a bit of a following, so Ms. Jacknin was confident they were ready for the next step.

“It was like, let’s just go all in and do our passion,” Ms. Jacknin said. “I look at what we’ve created here — we’re making it.”

Save a year of downturn in 2020 due to the COVID-19 pandemic, Songbird Artistry’s growth has been marked. In 2021-22, Ms. Jacknin said the business grew 45%, and the ensuing year jumped 63%.

Songbird Artistry carries around 44 local venders, double from 2016, selling everything from stained glass mosaics to bouquets of yarn and scented soaps. The majority of the revenue comes from the work done by Ms. Jacknin and her daughters, Jennifer and Jacklyn.

Ms. Jacknin, who grew up in Pittsburgh before attending Simmons University in Boston, used to work as a real estate agent and spent time in retail management. She always loved art — and ideas of creation and self-expression — but was hesitant to center her livelihood around it.

Art remained adjacent to Ms. Jacknin’s job when Jennifer was in high school, but a Feather Fascinator hat changed everything. Popularized by the movie “Black Swan” in 2010 and worn by Kate Middleton, Jennifer sold her version on Etsy, and sales ballooned. It shot up to Etsy’s front page, “and all of a sudden she got like ding, ding, ding all day long getting these orders,” Ms. Jacknin said.

The early years of business were highly formative for how Ms. Jacknin approaches operations today.

“It is not easy to make a living as an artist,” Ms. Jacknin said. “So if we can help another artist or another artisan get started, give them a place to showcase their stuff, it’s very important for us.”

Seated on a couch next to one of her dogs, Ruthie Barker Ginsburg, Ms. Jacknin offers a simple reason for the growth of Songbird Artistry: “I know artists that are better than I am but are afraid to make that leap,” Ms. Jacknin said. “I wasn’t.”

‘Something I want to do’

Unlike Ms. Jacknin, Joe Ravita of Mt. Lebanon-based Empire Music isn’t completely involved in the craft of his business. He enjoys the intricacies of producing a guitar, but is not a gigging musician. He’s just passionate about his shop.

His father’s store, Ravita’s Music, closed in the same location in 2002. He had worked there since he was 14 and helped manage the business through high school and while studying at Duquesne, where he graduated with a degree in marketing. Mr. Ravita tried his hand at various marketing and sales jobs with more “traditional” companies, but the urge to manage his own business never left.

“I’ve got to figure out a way to do something that I want to do,” Mr. Ravita remembers thinking. “I was somewhere in the midst of a terrible interviewing cycle that I decided I had enough.”

Mr. Ravita now has 11 full-time employees along with full photography and videography teams for the company’s active social media presence. The store offers music lessons, repairs and is lined front to back with different guitars, amplifiers and equipment, but Mr. Ravita said online sales now constitute over 95% of the store’s revenue.

Empire Music’s price points are roughly in line with those of larger, national brands. For instance, Empire Music’s Player II Fender Stratocasters run between $799.00 and $829.99, virtually identical to a company like Guitar Center. The price of repairs and setups are similar as well, as Empire Music charges $60 for a standard 6-string acoustic setup, and Guitar Center runs between $60 and $70 for similar services.

While the focus has shifted to E-commerce, Mr. Ravita still relishes the personal interactions.

“We’re in a business our customers love, which makes it much more fun to do than if you have to sell something that people don’t want or have to have,” Mr. Ravita said.

For anyone starting a business, ambition and diligence are prerequisites. Canyon Cabrera, co-owner of Five & Dime Vintage — a quaint clothing store in Lawrenceville — had both, plus a passion for thrifting.

“It started as a hobby,” Mr. Cabrera said. “Me and my friend in high school would go around to thrift stores and find unique pieces that no one else would have.”

Five & Dime opened in February and has four employees. Mr. Cabrera is constantly searching for new pieces to sell and looking for ways to improve, but as Five & Dime grows, his mentality stays the same.

“I think the most important part of owning a business is one, location, two, perseverance,” he said.

First Published: September 3, 2024, 6:46 p.m.