Arts by Trinity: An architect’s side project that outgrew her day job 

Trinity Shiroma started Arts by Trinity arsenic a broadside task while moving full-time arsenic an architectural designer. Today, it’s a full-blown creation business pinch an online shop and a subscription message nine pinch customers successful 22 countries.

She didn’t person the business mapped retired from the start. Each caller opportunity shaped what Arts by Trinity would become. 

When architecture meets art

Growing up pinch a begetter who was some an creation coach and a practicing artist, Trinity had been coating for arsenic agelong arsenic she could remember. So erstwhile she enrolled successful architecture school, she didn’t consciousness for illustration she had to take betwixt the two. They people came together.

Watercolor classes were portion of the curriculum, and Trinity quickly gravitated toward them. Her favourite course, though, was architectural history.

She was ever fascinated by really buildings were designed and the stories down them: why they were built, what they represented, and the group who created them.

After earning a master’s grade successful architecture, she worked arsenic a designer successful an architectural firm. On paper, her profession seemed set. But aft 2 years down a desk, she began to wonderment if this was really her dream job.

While she searched for the answer, she ne'er stopped creating art. She painted watercolors, crocheted Taylor Swift-inspired cardigans, and, somehow, ever recovered group consenting to bargain what she made.

Then she realized the profession she wanted would bring her creation and her architectural expertise together.

The courageousness to conscionable begin

As 2024 came to a close, Trinity group herself a New Year’s resolution: move her creation into a existent business. She didn’t person everything figured retired yet, but she knew the first measurement was building a website.

“I needed a website astatine slightest to return connected commissions, truthful I tin put successful a committee form. Just a homepage, talking astir who I americium – that I’m a legit personification you tin spot and springiness your money to,” she explained.

Before she had settled connected what the business would become, she registered artsbytrinity.com connected Hostinger. The sanction was intentionally wide because she didn’t want to container herself into architecture paintings, watercolor, aliases immoderate 1 creator style.

That marque sanction ended up taking connected a life of its own. “Everyone benignant of calls maine that,” she laughed. “I don’t moreover deliberation they cognize my existent name. They conscionable telephone maine Arts by Trinity.”

In January 2025, Trinity launched her website. She built it herself utilizing Hostinger’s website builder, moving connected it successful the evenings aft her full-time job.

Rather than relying connected the builder’s AI-powered onboarding, Trinity chose to build the tract manually utilizing the drag-and-drop editor. Over 2 weeks, she cautiously refined each item to lucifer her imagination and showcase her artwork precisely arsenic she wanted.

“Hostinger is ace easy to build on. It was much the different stuff, for illustration really I wanted it to look, aliases moreover deciding the colour palette. That was the hardest thing,” she recounted.

Commissions return disconnected – and the numbers follow

With the website live, Trinity started sharing her activity pinch an assemblage of astir 70 Instagram followers. It didn’t return agelong for group to find her online. 

Her first 2 commissioned clients discovered her done Instagram and, aft visiting her website, reached retired to spot an order.

As much commissions came in, truthful did the measurement of inquiries. Trinity soon realized she needed a amended measurement to support group updated than replying to each connection successful her Instagram inbox.

So she utilized Hostinger Reach, the AI-powered email trading instrumentality that integrates pinch the website builder. Rather than juggling different service, she could create email campaigns and negociate subscribers from the aforesaid ecosystem arsenic her website.

“Sometimes group look astatine societal media, sometimes they don’t – truthful it’s conscionable an easy measurement for maine to make announcements and make a waitlist if I request to,” she said.

She organized her mailing database into abstracted audiences: committee openings, world customers, and group waiting for a spot successful her Architecture Mail Club.

Just arsenic pinch the website, Trinity wanted her first newsletter to meet her highest standards.

She utilized Reach’s prompt-to-newsletter characteristic to make an first template, past customized it to lucifer her brand.

“It decidedly made it easy – because again, I conscionable don’t person clip arsenic an artist. When I could conscionable say, ‘Hi, tin you do this?’ it made it a batch easier the first time,” she explained.

It took her a mates of hours to cleanable the wording, layout, and each past typo connected the newsletter template. Once the template was successful place, sending early newsletters was overmuch easier.

The systems she put successful spot gave her much clip to attraction connected her imaginative work. By May 2025, conscionable 4 months aft launching her website, she was earning much from her creation business than from her domiciled astatine the architecture firm, truthful she decided to resign.

Everything she loved, successful 1 envelope

In September 2025, Trinity launched The Architecture Mail Club. While commissions had helped her build an audience, the message nine became the bosom of her business. It was besides the first task that brought together everything she loved: painting, storytelling, and architecture.

By joining the message club, subscribers person a themed letter cover each month, each centered astir a different iconic building. Inside is simply a postcard featuring a people of Trinity’s watercolor painting, a matching handmade craft, and a missive explaining the building’s history and architectural significance.

This message subscription thought had been taking style agelong earlier she officially launched it. 

Growing up, she watched her begetter tally a mini creation mag that he mailed to subscribers. Years later, she saw creators building sustainable businesses done subscription models. 

Taking inspiration from those, she yet created her own. Membership costs $8.88 a period successful the US and $9.99 internationally – prices Trinity intentionally kept adjacent to the costs of a cup of java truthful much group could join.

The consequence was immediate. The nine launched pinch 117 subscribers successful its first month. The pursuing month, that number doubled. Then it doubled again. 

Once the nine surpassed 800 subscribers, Trinity’s location printer could nary longer support up pinch the load, truthful she switched to a master people shop.

Apart from really she prints the postcard, the hand-stamped envelopes, handmade crafts, and the architectural stories that travel each postulation stay arsenic individual arsenic they were connected time one.

And erstwhile the workload became excessively overmuch to negociate alone, Trinity turned to her family for help. “My parents are retired, truthful they’re beautiful overmuch free each month,” she said pinch a laugh.

Today, Trinity still packs and ships astir 3,000 Architecture Mail Club subscription envelopes each month, pinch thief from her hubby and parents.

Still coating buildings, still telling their stories

Arts by Trinity has grown into a business pinch aggregate gross streams. Everything runs done the aforesaid website she built astatine the opening of 2025, pinch Stripe integrated for payments.

Despite the tremendous growth, Trinity still manages the website herself. A mates of times a week, she’ll walk 15 to 30 minutes updating a page, fixing a typo, aliases opening and closing a waitlist. “I benignant of for illustration the customization,” she said. “I person a vision, and I conscionable for illustration to do it myself.”

Looking back, Trinity believes 1 determination made the biggest quality successful turning her creation into a business.

“Artists request a website. That’s what I ever show group – your first measurement is that you really request a website. It makes you look legit. It makes you look for illustration personification group tin spot to bargain creation from.”

Last year, Trinity built a website for that nonstop reason. At the time, it was simply a imaginative broadside task to stock her emotion for creation while she continued building her profession successful an architectural firm.

Today, her watercolor prints recreation to aggregate countries each month, and she’s doing business without having to take betwixt the 2 things she loves the most, but by bringing them together.