From Desk to Studio: How Miriam Found Her Howell, NJ Hot Spot

Miriam De La Vega, owner of The Hot Spot Studios in Howell NJ, spent over twenty years building her career in the high-end interiors industry in New York City. Working for a boutique furniture firm with offices in both Manhattan and Paris, she moved through nearly every role the business had to offer from sales and production management, to design collaboration, vendor relations and more. She was good at all of it. “When you’re with a company that size for that long, you get handed a lot of responsibilities,” she says. “I got to wear a lot of different hats.”

But New York has a way of asking everything of you, and after years of giving it, Miriam and her husband made a decision to trade city life for something quieter and more community oriented. They landed in Howell, New Jersey, with the idea of building a different kind of life. After relocating, Miriam gave the commute a fair shot, but with up to five hours a day lost in commuter transit, it was taking its toll. 

When the COVID pandemic pushed everything remote, her employer shifted her into database and systems management so she could work fully from home. They wanted to hold onto her, and she appreciated that. But the new role came at a cost. “I just felt chained to a desk all day by myself,” she says. “I knew it wasn’t my life’s calling.” 

The Search For What’s Next

Miriam began searching for what’s next. Personality tests, career assessments, life coaches, job coaches. She explored it from every angle, looking for a direction that felt right. “For many years I was kind of searching for what that was for me,” she says. “And it wasn’t until recently that it became a very serious question, where it was like, I have to make a move, and I have to do it now.”

Pottery painting kept surfacing. Not as a business idea at first, but as a memory. When Miriam was sixteen, she had a friend whose neighbor ran a pottery business. That summer, she rode an hour and a half each way on a bus, regularly, just to be there. “I kept thinking back to those times,” she says. “I thought, this is something that brought me joy. Maybe I ought to look into it.”

When she started seriously exploring what it might mean to own a pottery business, she came across something she hadn’t considered before…franchising. And something clicked. “What was overwhelming me about all the research I had done was, how the heck do I do this?” she says. “What a franchise meant to me was that a lot of those big question marks were going to be answered for me.” The structure was already there, as in how the studio operates, what the customer experience looks like, how projects flow from start to finish. Instead of guessing her way through every decision, she could focus on learning how to run it well. For someone stepping into an industry she hadn’t worked in before, that was the difference that mattered.

Related Article – Why Paint Your Own Pottery Franchises Continue To Thrive

Finding Hot Spot Studios

When Miriam began researching franchises seriously, she didn’t limit herself to paint-your-own-pottery-franchises. She looked at other creative concepts. But no matter where she looked, she kept coming back. “It’s kind of like a magnet,” she says. “I just kept coming back to the Hot Spot Studios.”

What drew her wasn’t just the pottery. It was the range. As someone who describes herself as a curious creator, the idea that customers could come in and choose from multiple projects on any given visit resonated deeply. “I liked the idea that there was more than one thing to do there,” she says. “It kind of suits a mood; you might come in and feel like painting today, or feel like making a mosaic, or planting a garden.” The no-studio-fee model mattered to her too. It removed the barrier between people and the experience, and that aligned with exactly the kind of business she wanted to run. After some time considering the risk and decision, she decided to move forward.

Related Article: Are Paint Your own pottery Franchises Profitable?

Building the Space

Finding the right location turned out to be its own journey. After a desired space fell through, she was left wondering if she’d be able to open in her community. Then, a property manager she’d worked with earlier called her out of the blue. Something had just opened up; not even on the market yet, and it matched what Miriam had been looking for. She went to see it. The walls were black. The concrete floors were broken. It had been a gym. “I envisioned it immediately,” she says. “I just felt very excited about it and went for it.”

The transformation was significant. But what Miriam brought to those walls went beyond paint and fixtures. She knew from the start that she wanted a mural in the studio. She found Brian Wentworth through a search for local artists, and the moment she saw his work she knew he was the one. “When I found his page I was just blown away,” she says. “I loved that he had a story to tell with every piece.”

He transformed her walls with an urban twist into something that is entirely The Hot Spot Studios in color and spirit, and entirely Miriam in soul. As a bonus, he even left behind a hand-painted gnome in the corner; now named Noodle, the studio’s unofficial mascot. “People love taking pictures with Noodle,” she says, smiling. The space that began as black walls and broken concrete had become something warm alive, and artistically inspiring.

The Community Showed Up

Long before the doors officially opened, Miriam was out in the community, showing people what this would be. At a local trunk-or-treat event, she set up a small display with sample projects, many of which she had made herself, just to have something tangible to show. She spent time talking to families, answering questions, and giving people a reason to remember the name before there was even a location to visit.

She walked into local businesses, introduced herself, left brochures, and had conversations with owners and staff, including diners, storefronts, anywhere there was foot traffic. By the time the studio opened, there were already people who had heard of it, seen it, or met her. 

Opening weekend, she barely had an empty table. “Everyone that came in was like, we can’t believe you’re here, we’re so excited, this is so exciting,” she says. What she hadn’t fully anticipated was how the community would carry the message for her. Customers started posting on neighborhood Facebook pages. Friends told friends. Families came in because a cousin had mentioned it, or a neighbor, or someone from church. “So much of my business has been word of mouth,” she says. “People saying my daughter, my sister, my friend told me, and I had to come.”

Through her career shift from bustling city to small town community, what happened next was perhaps the biggest surprise of all. She loved it. The conversations, the faces, the energy of a room full of people making things turned out to be exactly where she was supposed to be. “One of my favorite parts of The Hot Spot Studios is engaging with the community and meeting people,” she says. “I love it. I love it. I love it.”

Less than three months in, she already has regulars. People who come back because the studio has become part of their rhythm. For a family that moved to Howell specifically to become part of a community, that means everything. “I’m so glad I landed here,” she says. “It’s been an amazing community.”

One morning, a father came in with his three kids. They spent about an hour in the studio, one child painted canvases, and then all three made candles together. When they were leaving, the youngest turned around and ran back and gave her a hug. “To me, that’s the spirit of the space,” she says. “There’s something about putting your hands on something creative that leaves you with a good feeling.” It’s those small moments, she says, that make the day.

That moment captures something Miriam thinks about a lot; the happiness that happens when people make something with their hands. She describes it with a metaphor that’s hard to forget. When someone wearing a beautiful fragrance walks through a room and leaves, something lingers. The Hot Spot, she says, works the same way. “When you leave, you carry this feeling with you that stays,” she says. 

The variety of projects themselves keep people coming back for more. Pottery leads the way, followed closely by candle making, mosaics, and succulent mini gardens. And then there’s slime, for kids which Miriam has completely mastered. “I guarantee perfect slime,” she says, laughing. Every time she gives a tour and mentions it, she watches the kids’ faces. They light up every single time.This is the business Miriam built; a welcoming place that makes people feel something special. 

Related Article: Creative Franchise Opportunities

Why It Works in Howell

Howell is the kind of place where families build their lives around schools, sports schedules, and routines. For someone moving in, connection doesn’t happen automatically, it happens through those shared touchpoints. That’s part of what makes Miriam’s studio fit so well. She’s participating in the same rhythm as the people walking through the door. As a parent herself, she understands what families are looking for because she’s living it too, and that shows up in the way the space is used, not just as an activity, but as a place where those everyday connections start to take shape.

Hot Spot Studios give people something they can decide on in the moment, whether it’s a parent looking for something to do in the afternoon, a couple with an hour to spare, or a group that wants to get together and share a creative experience they’ll remember.

Looking Ahead

Miriam has only been open a few months, and by most measures, the studio is already doing what she hoped it would. Parties and birthday celebrations are booking; regulars are forming. The word of mouth that carried her through opening weekend hasn’t slowed down. 

The support network that comes with The Hot Spot Studios franchise has been a meaningful part of the journey too. She has access to the brand’s founder, someone who has been doing this for more than three decades, along with a growing community of fellow franchise owners across the country who are doing exactly what she’s doing every day. “It’s really cool that I have access to fifty-one franchise owners,” she says. “When I have questions, or need advice, or even have a thought that could help others, it’s just this really cool community of real people.” 

Miriam’s parents came to this country as first generation immigrants, and owning a business simply wasn’t something that was ever discussed. “Just getting to the point where I can say I’m a business owner,” she says, “feels like a pretty massive accomplishment.” She describes herself as calculated, not a risk taker; someone who moves from A to Z with care. This was the biggest step outside her comfort zone she has ever taken. And she’d do it again without hesitation.

If someone came to her today considering a Hot Spot of their own, her advice is simple. “Ask a lot of questions. Take your time,” she says. “And think about what your heart is telling you.” Because for Miriam, it led her to Howell, New Jersey to a community that was waiting for exactly what she had to offer, and to a new career that, for the first time in a long time, feels like it fits.

If you or someone you know is interested in becoming a paint-your-own-pottery franchise owner, you can reach the Hot Spot Studios franchising team here.