Father-Son Pair Paint a Colorful Retirement Dream in Business: Pinot’s Palette Woodmere

“Retirement is the ugliest word in the language,” Ernest Hemingway once said. Rick Beam seems to agree. The recent retiree had considered entrepreneurship from time to time during his career in international banking.

But after a 40-year career, Rick recently decided to retire — from banking, that is. But whiling away his golden years on leisurely pursuits is not Rick’s style. Instead, he decided to go into business with his son, Ryan, opening a Pinot’s Palette® in Woodmere, Ohio.

“I only had one requirement for my retirement business,” Rick says. “I wanted to do something fun.” As father and son initially explored franchises together, the “fun” stipulation meant that they looked at ice cream shops, donut chains, and finally — at Ryan’s suggestion — paint and sip opportunities.

The elder Beam had never been to a paint and sip studio and admits that he “can barely draw a straight line with a ruler” — but his wife and son reassured him that it would be an enjoyable venture. As the family compared paint and sip franchises, as well as the possibility of starting an independent studio, Rick’s financial background enabled him to identify Pinot’s Palette as the best option.

“The hard dollars you would have to put into planning and designing the tech alone — if we had to develop that on our own, it would have been a tremendous cost,” Rick says. “Pinot’s Palette always seemed to be a step above the competition with the tools and background and upper scale feel. They gave us exactly what we wanted.”

Rick also appreciated the guidance of the Pinot’s Palette corporate office during the construction and permitting phase of his new studio. “Without the leadership of our franchisor, this would have been very difficult,” Rick says. “They laid out a plan, all the steps you go through. Getting all the permits and other kind of stuff can be quite a challenge, but it’s much easier when you don’t have to do the whole planning piece.”

With the construction process and Grand Opening now behind them, the Beams are finding the experience of empowering their artists and sharing the paint and sip concept with community members very rewarding. “You can only go to so many movies and play golf so many times. This is something different,” Rick says. “And I want people to know that they all have an inner artist in them. It may be hidden, but I encourage them to come out, have fun, and give it a try.”

Rick is having fun as well. With his retirement goal on track, he’s cherishing the opportunity to work with his son. “Since he was a teen, he’s always talked about running his own business,” Rick says. “It’s been wonderful working together. I know some parents would love to have that close relationship and I’ve got it, and it’s wonderful.”