We recently connected with Lacey Prpić Hedtke and have shared our conversation below.

Alright, Lacey thanks for taking the time to share your stories and insights with us today. Owning a business isn’t always glamorous and so most business owners we’ve connected with have shared that on tough days they sometimes wonder what it would have been like to have just had a regular job instead of all the responsibility of running a business. Have you ever felt that way?

I’m definitely happier as a business owner than working for someone else! I worked in the non-profit sector for years before I made the leap to opening a business–I figured I could make that little money on my own and could always go back to a job that didn’t pay me enough and stressed me out–those will always be there! I started my business in 2017 and didn’t feel ready at all and then at some point just thought I’d never be ready, so opened and it’s just expanded from there.

I definitely fantasize about having a job-job sometimes–I would love a steady paycheck coming in and knowing that I can rely on that money. I think about it all the time, especially during the pandemic when my business was closed for over a year due to Covid + the uprising in Minneapolis and my energy crash because of all that and all the chaos. When I have been distracted by my personal life I can feel overwhelmed at the thought that it’s up to me to hustle to drum up more business and figure out how to make money. I’m an artist first and foremost, so I already am accustomed to living more on the fringe, living cheaply, figuring out how to make money and a life on a nontraditional path. When I go to apply for a job-job I just can’t do it–while I might not have a ton of stability or money, I have so much freedom and time to do what I want, when I want it. I have time to make art, see friends in the middle of the day, travel whenever I want and leave town for months for artist residencies.

Who knows, the older I get the more stability I would love, but even a more traditional job isn’t guaranteed stability. I definitely feel good about my ability to have made it this far as an artist and business owner with no business training, no trust fund, no investors, just me and my intuition.

Awesome – so before we get into the rest of our questions, can you briefly introduce yourself to our readers.

I’m an artist, photographer, librarian, and astrologer and I run a shop in Minneapolis called The Future–a shop and project space for witches and weirdos and artists working with magic. I’ve been an artist and witch my whole life and after working at libraries, sex shops, writing grants, organizing public art events and working at non-profits, I got into a car accident that laid me up for 6 months. That really pushed me to take a leap on what I wanted to be doing–not working for anyone else, doing meaningful work, following a dream of running an artist residency and shop and making more time for my art. I rented a storefront space near my house in 2016, a few days after that horrible election, and opened The Future in March of 2017. I originally conceived of it as an artist residency for artists working with magic, and an event space and magical library, and oh yeah I’d have a little storefront to fund it–I wanted to get out of the grant cycle, as blessed as we are here in MN to have so much grant funding.

In the summer of 2019 we expanded into the storefront next to us, and kept our original space. The store got so much bigger and there was a room for tarot and astrology readings. Then we closed in 2020 for over a year and took all our business online. I had to change my “identity” around being a business owner, because originally the store was just a fun add-on and during and after the pandemic, that’s all The Future was. I let go of the original shop side two years ago, and now run The Future as a shop. I’m so lucky and glad to have survived and stayed open through all the chaos of the past few years.

Everything we carry is made by women, queer and trans* folks. A lot of the stuff is locally made. We make an effort to carry ethically made things, only ethically mined crystals, and prioritize our employee’s mental and physical health above profit. It’s been weird being an anti-capitalist business owner, but it’s also a direct way I can live out my values.

We sell tarot and oracle decks, books on magic and astrology, jewelry, tinctures, spell kits, crystals, candles, art and other items to work magic and make your space feel powerful. I feel like our shop is different than other new age shops because we prioritize an intersectional feminist standpoint when it comes to magic and support artists and makers–we try not to order too much from big distributors.

I’m really proud for the space I’ve created, along with a lot of people in my community, and that the shop has managed to stay open for as long as it has, and have been able to support myself through this business I’ve created.

Do you have any insights you can share related to maintaining high team morale?

All this advice comes from working for other people, being a contractor and being overworked and underpaid in nonprofits that rely on people being so driven by the mission of the organization that they subsidize the work with free labor. Mainly, I treat my employees the way I want to be treated. If they’re late to open the shop, I don’t care. If they call in sick I don’t make them try to call around to find a replacement–that’s my job as a business owner. I make sure that payroll goes through on time and prioritize paying my employees over other expenses. I treat them to lunch if they’re having a weird day. Mainly I prioritize their emotional, physical and psychic health over making money. Sometimes that means the shop has to close early or I end up working on a day I thought I’d have off. I’d rather my employees be happy and feel supported and safe than make some extra money. I buy them luxury gifts during the holidays as a lil bonus. I give them free things when they come my way. I gave everyone a raise when we reopened in 2021. If someone forgets to do something or does something wrong, it’s no big deal. Ultimately we’re selling candles and running a retail shop, not saving people’s lives so I’d rather that an employee have a good experience at work than make them feel bad for a mistake or misstep.

I employ artists that sometimes need weeks or months off to go do artist residencies and I HIGHLY support that! I know that working in a retail store is no one’s dream, but being an artist is a dream, and I encourage my employees to take that time for themselves and their art and we just figure out coverage while they’re away.

And guess what? My employees are always telling me how much they love working here. Which is so so valuable to me. Ultimately, my employees are a part of my community and if I say that I care about worker’s rights (including my own), I need to walk that walk even when it’s challenging or difficult.

How’d you meet your business partner?

Part of The Future includes Gigi’s Flair Emporium–a popup shop within The Future. Gigi makes pins and sells Croc charms, smoking accessories, and other flair. Before I expanded The Future into the bigger space it’s in now, I wanted to sell Prince pins, since he’s from Minneapolis of course, but I wanted the pins to be made by a local maker, ideally a Black woman. In walks Gigi and introduces herself and fits that profile, asking if I wanted to sell her pins. We instantly hit it off and of course bought her pins to sell, and she started doing regular popups in the shop. When I got the bigger space next door, it just happened naturally that she would have 1/4 of the shop, and we outfitted her corner with pegboard painted like Prince’s Around the World in a Day album cover, got a Gigi star painted above her space, just like the stars on the side of First Avenue in Minneapolis, an iconic music venue where Purple Rain was filmed, and now she has a permanent popup inside of The Future.

Everyday I think the goddess for bringing Gigi into my life, but especially during the pandemic. Her energy is just so infectious and positive and she makes me feel like I can get through anything, and she provides a lot of laughs and great music as the soundtrack.

Contact Info:

• Website: www.thefuturempls.com
• Instagram: @thefuturempls

Image Credits
@rxnnxxdrxhxr : creative direction/prop styling @janelle.photo : photography @formampls : studio