AR Workshop
Katie Wells considers herself a “late bloomer” in developing her passion.
She worked in the corporate world for years, but didn’t discover her own creativity until her daughter’s first birthday party eight years ago, when Wells pulled off a Martha Stewart-level event.
Wells spent the next several years building a children’s event planning business and collaborating on projects with Anders Ruff (AR) Workshop co-founder Maureen Anders.
When the opportunity to open an AR Workshop location in Alexandria came knocking, Wells knew she found her calling.
“From what I saw, I thought, ‘This is it. This is what I’m supposed to do’,” she said.
Bringing together her corporate experience with her DIY passion, Wells opened Virginia’s first AR Workshop in Old Town Alexandria. Wells’ store was no. 7 for the creative franchise. There are now close to 100 AR Workshops open nationwide.
Wells was born in Vietnam and moved to Virginia with her parents when she was 4 years old. She’s lived in Alexandria for 8 years, and currently lives in the Waynewood neighborhood with her husband, 11-year-old son and 9-year-old daughter. She attended George Mason University and majored in communications.
Her AR Workshop is a boutique DIY studio with space for classes in sign making and a variety of other crafts, plus a retail arts and crafts boutique. The Alexandria AR Workshop is at 107 N. Fairfax Street, above Dolci Gelati Café.
What do you like most about living in Alexandria?
Community – whether it’s in my neighborhood, my personal life or at work. I feel like there’s a sense of community and there’s a lot of local love.
When you aren’t working, what are you doing?
When I wasn’t working, I was DIY-ing at home. I literally walked around looking for things to paint and craft. When I’m not working now, I love traveling – I’m always thinking about where my next trip is going to be.
What’s the best thing about your job?
I love how happy it makes people. There are a lot of people who walk in wondering what this is, and then when they’re in there taking a class, there’s really good energy. AR Workshop is bright, it’s cozy, it’s inviting, and people talk about how much they love being there. … It’s a place where people can escape and have a few hours.
If you had to do something different, what would your dream job be?
I would love to be a food or travel photographer. It makes me happy to just walk around, explore and see all the little details. I love to capture that.
It’s a friend’s first time in Alexandria — where do you take them?
I’d take them to the Saturday Farmer’s Market in Old Town. … I would take them strolling King Street, going to the waterfront for brunch. The day would be very chill, just exploring the charm.
What do Alexandria people do best?
I think they’re welcoming, and I think because it’s such a transient area, everyone becomes friends and a community.
In the next year, my goal is to...
Continue growing. I’m really happy with the direction that we’ve evolved in – we offer classes for custom décor. But the way it has evolved is that we’re inviting other local creatives in the DC metro area to come and share their craft. So not only do we offer DIY, but we’ve able to offer other crafts like hand lettering and water color workshops, a re-upholstery workshop and how to build a charcuterie board. We’ve even hosted an Instagram 101 class for businesses and creatives.
