A Shop Full of Stories

What’s the inspiration behind your store?

I believe every piece in the store should have a story. So, I travel all over. I bring one-of-a-kind things from across the ocean and create vignettes with them. Storytelling through objects is my thing. The vignettes are also constantly changing. I rearrange the store twice a week.

I also style the store with inspiration from somewhere I’ve been recently. Last season, the aesthetic was influenced by a trip to Iceland. I just got back from Lisbon and Paris, so this year the store will have a lot of objects from those places.

What are your favorite objects to sell?

One of my favorite things is that I never sell the same thing for very long. It changes constantly. But I do have certain staples that are part of the store’s identity, like tribal rugs from the Atlas Mountains in Morocco. The rugs are how the women document their lives. Each rug is like a diary entry. Every color means something, and every symbol means something. And one of my favorite things is deciphering rugs and trying to pair a person up with the rug that’s meant for them.

I’m also known for the vintage jewelry and clothes that I bring back from Italy and Paris. I have handmade linen dresses in the summer. And I have candles from all sorts of places. My customers love the jewelry, and I love the stuff that I had to take a donkey up a mountain to get.

You’re a successful business owner who happens to be a woman. What has that experience meant to you?

I do Mentor Mondays. It’s a thing I’ve done for years. I’ll help any woman interested in starting her own business, especially in a creative field. I didn’t have that support when I was starting out, and it’s something that’s been so rewarding. I’ve had 16-year-old girls and women in their 60s who have this nagging pull towards owning their own business. And I always tell them there are so many people who will say don’t do it, and that scares brilliant women away. I like to be on the other side of the coin and say, “Do it. Go for it. It’s the best.”

I’m also biracial, so I definitely feel a real pull to make sure women of color are represented and compensated. Last year, I went to San Miguel, Mexico, because I wanted to represent more Latina makers. Then, I went to New Orleans because I wanted more Black makers represented in the store. It’s something I feel strongly about.

What made you decide to move to the Saugatuck/Douglas area?

I moved here from Chicago in 2018. I had a really successful interior design company, but I was super burned out. I was featured in Origin Magazine, which led to this creative workshop in Morocco, where I met all these women with amazing businesses.

One had a seasonal business, and I had never thought about that. It sounded so amazing. I really love traveling and finding beautiful objects. So, I started to dream about a business where I could be closed in the winter and have a store in the summer.

My husband and I started auditioning towns. We looked at Boulder, Bend, Nashville, and Ashville—all the hotspots. The Saugatuck/Douglas area ended up winning because it’s close to Chicago and is super beautiful.

What do you love most about living and owning your own business in Saugatuck/Douglas?

I think what surprises a lot of people is that you can have a progressive community with really good food and really good people in the middle of rural Michigan. We have things that are on the level of much larger cities. One of my classic jokes is that we are the Hamptons of Chicago. We have taste and style in this tiny little pocket of culture.

I also love that there are many great woman-owned businesses here. When people come to visit, I tell them to go to The Farmhouse Deli & Pantry (owned by chef Christine Ferris), Pennyroyal Café & Provisions, (co-owned by Melissa Corey), and Borrowed Time (co-owned by Kim Bale). There are so many cool women here. I’m in good company, for sure.