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Published January 10, 2022

Christian Roovers composes music, and his wife, Caitlin, is a writer and artist. When they wanted to start a business, they considered doing separate startups. But they also wanted to tell their story together and decided to merge their skills into a single business. They named it Table in the Woods.

Christian explained: “We met at St. Norbert College when we were students there. In the summer we were camp counselors at Camp Tekakwitha in Sheboygan and we would meet at this table — that is literally where we fell in love. It was a table in the woods.”

Choosing the name was sentimental, but also fitting for the image they want to portray. The name, they say, portrays a sense of mystery that is representative of their creative skills. The challenge is writing a clear statement that will define what they do.

“We are working on our story,” Christian said. “The business will include the online sale of art, music, and spiritual goods and services.”

They are working with a copywriter to get concise words to communicate that vision. 

“An aspect of our brand is that we don’t want to confuse our audience, but we do want it to be somewhat mystical,” Christian added.

His part of the business includes writing music and performing on the piano. He released a solo piano album and songbook last year.  He also wrote the theme song for a local business and would like to write musical scores for films. To prepare, Christian has spent long hours taking courses and learning from mentors, including several from the Green Bay SCORE chapter.

“Shirley VerBruggen of SCORE helped me to understand how art and music could fall under one brand,” he said.

There was also a great deal of work on his own as he formed a legal entity, developed an eCommerce site, installed an inventory tracker, designed a website and social media pages, and took care of the numerous tasks required to start a business.

He also continues to work full-time at Achieve Brown County as an evidence-based decision-making manager. Caitlin is a stay-at-home mom (they have a 1-year-old daughter), and she balances that with working on the business.

“Art has been a lifelong passion of mine, and nature is an inspiration for the art prints that I create,” she said. “I do a lot of the nature-type art and my goal is to find what I can offer that will speak to a person on a deeper soul level.”

In addition to prints, Caitlin has created paintings on windows for retail establishments and done custom work. She is the author of a self-published children’s book, “Together We Will Watch Over the Night.”

That project involved poetry, artwork and graphic design, and was a joint effort with her husband.  It showed the couple what they could do when they worked together. The business, located in Green Bay, was launched in 2020 at the beginning of the pandemic.

Christian said: “We decided to form the company during that time and are continuously finding more ways to collaborate and do things together. There are all sorts of ways that music and art can be combined; I don’t think it’s done that often, but we are intrigued by the idea of combining them.”

He says he can visualize something like a musical piece that would be a background to one of Caitlin’s paintings; to tell a story that speaks to the audience.

As they continue to develop their business model, they talked to another SCORE mentor in December. They plan to trademark the name but have seen it used elsewhere and want it protected.  With thousands of SCORE mentors available throughout the country, Christian was able to select email mentoring with an expert in this area at www.score.org. 

He has had other mentors and inspiration, as well.

“As of November, I am part of a mastermind group that is centered on marketing," Christian said.  "The focus is on faith, family, finance, and fitness. We are guys from around the country who are helping each other.” 

The group shares ideas that Christian hopes will help him grow the business. He and Caitlin have a target date of 2026 to have a mature business that will provide a solid income. To achieve that goal, they are constantly testing the market to determine demand.  They have a marketing plan that includes events, social media, art displays and networking. 

“What will the business look like?” Christian said. “This is an exploratory period to define what we’re good at and what we like doing. I can see it being more of a creative agency where we do 50% of what we’re interested in and 50% consulting.”

Caitlin believes the path will be made clear as they go forward.

She said: “To quote Joseph Campbell, ‘Follow your bliss.’ We are finding our world in art and music — the place where you can best show that part of your soul to the world that is authentic and will inspire people. We all have this amazing creative capacity as humans.”