“I am nothing if not willful,” Clark said. That determination carried her through decades of entrepreneurship and eventually brought her back to the mountains—this time to Brevard, North Carolina. She was hustling—serving 25 clients a week as a massage therapist and attending art shows on the weekends to sell her ceramics and mixed media work. Her goal was to shift the balance away from massage therapy and into her art career, so when the opportunity to do so presented itself during the pandemic, she jumped. She signed a lease for her gallery space, tripling her footprint despite the uncertainty of the time.

“What would it feel like if I were just all in with one thing? What if I just believed in myself enough to give myself this chance?” she said of her mindset at the time. “And it’s worked out.” 

Today, Lucy Clark Gallery & Studio in downtown Brevard represents more than 50 artists and serves as a hub for exhibitions, workshops, and collaborations. For Clark, business ownership has always been about people. “If you don’t honor their voice, and you don’t truly acknowledge and receive their expertise, no one’s going to stick around,” she said. Her approach to leadership centers on empathy, compassion, and collaboration. “If you don’t have those qualities, or work in developing those qualities, people will not stick around,” she said.

Clark also invests in creating an environment at her gallery where both her staff and her clients feel welcome. “Our mission above all else is to make people feel welcome,” she said. “Beauty changes people if you allow it, and I think that for me, one of the most important things is when you can make someone feel at home, the space changes.”

As a woman in business, Clark has reflected deeply on the strengths women bring to the table. “Women have innate qualities and two of those are empathy and compassion,” she said. “We’re incredible multitaskers and we tend to listen more. For a long time women have been told in business that those are not qualities worth bringing to the table, and I wholly disagree.”

She balances that perspective with pragmatism, pointing out that both men and women can develop skills outside their natural inclinations. “Women can develop analytical thinking and business acumen, just as men can develop empathy and compassion,” she said. For Clark, success lies in discernment, trust, and choosing the right collaborators. “When you can pay somebody well for what they do well, you can then open yourself up to do what you do well,” she said.

Clark also believes that women must support one another in tangible, genuine ways. “As we mature, as we become experts in our chosen field, it is even more important to have women in your circle that you can trust, that have your back, that applaud you when you have a win, and are there when you’re having a shitty day,” she said. “My idea of being strong is simply the strength to stay on my own path and not worry about anybody else’s—but then be able to support other strong women.”

At its core, Clark’s philosophy is about building businesses and relationships that last. “If you cannot build trust with your customers, your clients, or your contemporaries, you don’t have anything,” she said. “I’m always going to be all in if there’s a win-win. If there’s a win-lose game going on, I’m not interested.”

Learn more at LucyClarkGallery.com.