Chalky & Company

Chalky & Company began with family painting nights. Buffy Dumont and her teenage daughter started painting old wooden pieces together and hosting classes for friends. Dumont, who had worked as a banking executive with direct marketing experience, saw a business in it. She launched Chalky & Company with her husband, Dan Dumont, in June 2015 in Monmouth, Maine.

Growth came fast. In April 2016 the central Maine newspaper site centralmaine.com reported that the company had started with 20 Consultants and grown to nearly 500 active Consultants, with parties held in all 50 states. It was then working out of the former Monmouth Police Department building on Main Street, where its wooden pieces were cut and finished by hand.

“It’s really about family. We needed to develop a company that reconnects people without the technology.”

Buffy Dumont, founder — centralmaine.com, April 2016

In 2021 the Cushman family bought the business. Their later About page said one reason was to give their youngest son, a young adult with an intellectual disability, a chance to build work skills in the woodshop. They described Chalky & Company as “a small family-owned business, located in Southern Maine.”

The heart of the line was the “Paint it Chalky” kit. Each kit came with a raw wooden base and the supplies to finish it: paint, glaze, Painters Powder, a stencil and foam brushes. Customers chose their own colors and designs, so no two finished pieces looked the same.

• Wooden pieces: signs, caddies, crates, risers, frames, crosses, coat racks and seasonal shapes, cut in Maine.
• Paint and finishes: chalky paints, glazes and Painters Powder, which mixed with paint and water for a weathered look.
• Stencils: a wide range of phrases and designs, from farmhouse sayings to holiday themes.
• Extras: tote bags, hooks, burlap, rope and other embellishments.

The old Direct Sales Aid profile listed small tools from $2 to $5, paints and finishes from $5 to $14, and kits from $25 to about $225 for large multi-piece sets. The company also ran a Kit of the Month; its February 2019 “All In” kit sold for $35. Later, under the new owners, the company also sold painted furniture and wooden blanks, and it described its chalky paint as having no VOCs.

Sellers were called Consultants. They booked “Paint Powder Parties” and workshops in homes and other venues. Guests chose a kit, painted it on the spot with the Consultant’s help, and took it home finished. Hosts earned rewards based on party sales, and by early 2021 Consultants also offered virtual painting parties, with kits shipped to guests’ doors.

Starter Kit

New Consultants joined with a $99 starter kit. In 2016 centralmaine.com reported that it held wood products, powder containers, glaze, an apron, catalogs and order forms. The old Direct Sales Aid profile added three free months of a personal sales website, after which the site cost $10 a month.

Pay

The old Direct Sales Aid profile listed a 25% commission from the first sale, rising to 30% across seven ranks, with team commissions for leaders. To stay active, a Consultant had to sell $150 in a single month at least once every three months. These figures come from the company’s plan at the time and were not independently verified.

Chalky & Company changed shape before it disappeared. The website still promoted Consultants, hostess rewards and a “Join the Family” page in January 2021. By April 2021, with the business under new ownership, the home page led with a “Retailer Opportunity” to open “your VERY OWN DIY Crafting Business.” By 2023 the site offered only a retailer and wholesale program, which asked applicants for a resale tax certificate, alongside an online shop. The party-plan Consultant program was no longer mentioned.

The last full captures of the site in the Wayback Machine date from late June 2024. After that the domain stopped serving the shop. By 2025 it showed an unrelated blank WordPress page, and on October 2, 2026 the chalkyandcompany.com address no longer resolved at all. We found no public closure announcement, so we describe the company as offline rather than closed.

Second-hand Chalky pieces and stencils still turn up on resale sites. People who liked the format can compare live craft and decor companies in the hobbies and crafts category on Direct Sales Aid.