At an age when many people start to think about slowing down, Cathy Deano was just getting started. She was 56 when she co-founded Painting with a Twist, a creative studio in Mandeville, Louisiana, designed to bring people together through art in the wake of Hurricane Katrina. What began as a way to help her community heal turned into a business — and soon after, a national franchise.
Seventeen years later, the paint-and-sip brand has grown to more than 200 locations across the U.S. and Deano, now 72, is still actively involved. “I never had a problem with jumping in,” she says. “I had this idea, and we just said, ‘Let’s do it.’ There’s never been any roadblocks in my mind. I think that comes from my parents — they didn’t put limits on me.”
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“There’s never been any roadblocks in my mind.”
That fearless mindset helped Deano and her co-founder navigate early skepticism and confusion over the concept. “People didn’t understand what it was,” she says. “Even my co-founder said, ‘Who’s gonna do that? I can’t paint.’ That’s when I said, ‘Well, what if you drink?’ If we drink, we’ll do anything, right?” That lighthearted idea would become a core part of the paint-and-sip experience that now defines the category.
As the brand expanded, Deano transitioned from wearing every hat to building out a full franchise support team. She eventually stepped back from day-to-day operations and helped form Twist Brands LLC, which now includes Painting with a Twist, Color Me Mine, Chesapeake Ceramics and, as of last year, Pinot’s Palette — its largest competitor. But Deano didn’t walk away.
“I thought it was time to bow out. But my partners said, ‘No — we want you to stay. You’re the founder, you’re the culture, you’re the history,'” she says. “And I see now that they were right.”
Today, Deano serves as a kind of cultural compass for the brand — speaking at conferences, visiting studios and mentoring franchisees. Her influence is especially meaningful to longtime owners like Ashley Herbert, who opened her Beaumont, Texas, studio in 2010.
“She leads with heart,” Herbert says. “That’s why the culture stuck. Cathy doesn’t just talk about caring — she lives it.”
“These people bought into my dream…I take that very seriously.”
That emotional connection to franchisees runs deep for Deano. “These people bought into my dream,” she says. “Some of them mortgaged their houses, their kids’ college funds, worked extra years at their jobs to make it happen. I take that very seriously.”
That mindset occasionally conflicted with the realities of scaling a franchise system. Deano admits she’s a people pleaser by nature, which made tough decisions harder. “If a franchisee wanted something that would help their individual location but didn’t benefit the system as a whole, I had to say no. That was really hard for me.”
To balance compassion with structure, Deano brought in operational partners with more traditional business backgrounds. “They’re better at making those hard decisions,” she says. “And I’m better at soothing ruffled feathers.”
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“You might be the creative spark, but you’ve got to get other smart people in the room.”
Looking back, Deano says her age was never a disadvantage. In fact, she believes it gave her a steadier outlook. “I think life experience makes you calmer,” Deano says. “You’ve weathered storms. You know you’ll come out the other side. So if something happens, we pivot again. Age gives you a different perspective.”
Her advice to others considering a second-act startup? “Do it, don’t let fear stop you,” — but don’t go it alone, either. “Know that you won’t have all the answers,” she says. “You have to be willing to accept that you’re not the smartest person in the room — and get those people in the room. You’ll never be everything a business needs to run.”
That humility, paired with her persistence, continues to inspire both new and longtime franchisees. And it underscores a message Deano has carried from day one: It’s never too late to bet on yourself.