Omar and Summer Obaid quit their corporate jobs to start e-commerce art business Abstract House in 2016.
Sales took off quickly and around two years later, the couple decided to quit their corporate jobs — Omar worked for The New York Times as an advertising operations executive and Summer was an ad manager for cinema chain Odeon. They hoped to turn their side hustle into a full-time e-commerce art business. They set up their company,Working in the art world was something Summer longed for."I always wanted to have ... an art gallery. I felt like that was like a dream for me.
"We've always tried to focus on providing original affordable art … the mission was about producing quality and making it accessible," Summer said. Originals and prints are made in-house, while prices are kept reasonable because there are no gallery fees or commission to pay. Attracting more trade clients — around 40% of their customers are businesses — and expanding overseas are two ways the pair want to grow the business, with Omar having created six large artworks for the Caesars Forum, a conference center close to Caesars Palace hotel in Las Vegas.