I was asked recently to mention a few small businesses that I admire. While there are many creative entrepreneurs, female creative entrepreneurs in particular, that are growing inspiring businesses and communities — there are a few that I find particularly rad. These women have helped me to shape my business, find my voice, and map out my goals for myself.
Finding my voice + noticing my aesthetic 〰️ There are many women in the vintage game that I find inspiring for all kinds of reasons. The women who run Boheme Goods, Generally Worn, and Experimental Vintage consistently blow me away with their trained eye, business acumen, and beautiful inventory. They each have a distinctive style that draws you into their world and makes you feel good about being there. Just a quick scroll through my Instagram to May will show how much my visual aesthetic has changed as I try to determine my shop’s style. I am drawn to the 70s as a time period (with some 60s and 90s thrown in), global craftsmanship, and natural fibers. Realizing this helped me to hone my style and sum it up in a short sentence to describe Southside Vintage: earthy + global boho vintage wares. This description helps me to curate my inventory, write the copy for each listing, and edit photos. Engaging with myself 〰️ I’ve been working on mining my past to remember what I wanted from my life when I imagined being an adult. As a kid I wanted to travel and write (I also wanted to be a marine mammal biologist, but I think I’ll settle for purchasing carbon offsets to keep my shop climate positive). So, I am working on figuring out how to achieve those dreams with this business. I started this blog to give myself a writing outlet, but I’d like to publish a book someday. I want to travel and traveling to source inventory for the shop sounds like a rad way to see the world. So far I’ve been able to travel to LA to source goods and I’m headed to Portland in a couple weeks where I’ll be doing a little sourcing too — but my dream is to travel to Marrakesh, Mali, India, and Thailand. I haven’t had longterm professional goals for a long time, but now I can imagine a dope future for myself and have big things to work towards. It’s refreshing and exciting, I almost feel like that kid again who imagined myself as an adult traveling and writing. Setting goals + intentions 〰️ Homestead Seattle is a rad vintage housewares shop in Seattle that I’ve been following on Instagram for a while. I am inspired by their aesthetic and amazing rugs, but I’m really interested in how they’ve integrated their AirBnB into their business. I think it’s a cool idea that makes their business interactive and provides an opportunity to experience their aesthetic on another level. I’m not an interior designer and my house is a hot mess most of the time, but managing an AirBnB property seems like it would be a fun challenge that would enable me to explore my burgeoning interest in design. While it’s important to set goals that fit with your personality and align with the life you imagined, it’s also important to stretch yourself with new challenges. I’m not in a position to purchase income property at this point, but maybe in a few years I can figure out how to make this goals a part of my reality. The low + slow grow 〰️ Marlee Grace of Soft Process (previously Have Company) is the queen of allowing her needs to guide her professional life. Have Company grew naturally from a zine, to a mobile shop, to a brick + mortar shop, a podcast, and finally a website before Marlee ended this project to move onto other pursuits that were a better fit for her current lifestyle. My business is certainly an expression of myself. I stock the shop with pieces I’d buy for myself, engage with customers in an authentic way, and enjoy the level of couch potato I can be while running my business (I’ve written this entire piece from my couch while watching reruns of RHONY). Chelsea Sonksen of Boss Ladies magazine runs a very self-aware business that nurtures creative female entrepreneurs and provides beautifully curated resources for women looking to grow their work. Chelsea has written and spoken about growing her business slowly and carefully, which is something I've incorporated into my business. I try to be very careful, methodical, and intentional as I move forward with Southside Vintage. I don't want to take on debt, make commitments I can't follow through with, or overlook the foundation of this business. This is the low and slow grow that will help me maintain the business and ensure it's something I can be proud of.
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