We caught up with the brilliant and insightful Dana Bruinsma a few weeks ago and have shared our conversation below.
Alright, Dana thanks for taking the time to share your stories and insights with us today. Alright, so you had your idea and then what happened? Can you walk us through the story of how you went from just an idea to executing on the idea
When I was a kid, my grandmother and mother would take me thrifting all the time. We frequented bin thrifts, goodwills, and yard sales looking for hidden gems. All of the time spent with them sifting through other peoples discarded belongings honed my eye to quality fabrics, brands and styles. I always loved digging and finding unique and creative pieces, but would be disappointed when I found something amazing but the sizing wasn’t right. Eventually I started buying items for friends if I knew something was their style and aesthetic but never really thought about making a career out of it.
In 2012 I discovered Poshmark, an app for selling clothing. I quickly listed all the pieces I was no longer wearing or outgrew and was surprised at how easy it was to make extra cash. I had a pretty decent system running out of my studio apartment by 2014, but was still only doing it as a side project while I worked full time as a photographer.
My job as a photographer connected me to a local vintage shop owner, Lynn Chorister of 229 Vintagewares. I photographed some styled shoots and runway shows for her and we became fast friends. When she found out about my online business she offered to rent me a room in her shop she was using for storage. Before I knew it, we were building shelves, steaming clothings and tagging new finds.
We kept our shops as separate businesses, but shared three different storefronts over the span of four years, each one being bigger and better than the last. Each new storefront we spent a wild amount of time renovating, painting and building custom shelving and displays to fit our needs, with the help of my husband Vince. Until, one day the store front next to ours was available. It was just a tiny little thing, but I thought it would be perfect for striking out on my own. Since we had moved so many times, it was so familiar to pack everything up and rebuild everything. Without Lynn from 229 I would have never even considered a brick and mortar location, and with her support and guidance over the last 5 years my shop now has it’s own little storefront in downtown Gettysburg that feels like a second home.
Awesome – so before we get into the rest of our questions, can you briefly introduce yourself to our readers.
(Previous answer elaborates on this quite a bit) I like to say I just fell into this career, but in reality it took a lot of hard work and patience to get where I am. The work just feels easier when you enjoy it. I was slowing getting out of a job that left me physically and emotionally drained, and the simplicity of opening a shop, working with customers and sourcing pieces just felt second nature. I had to work both jobs for a few years, but the eventual switch to running WildRoot full time was almost a relief. I had support from my good friend Lynn of 229 Vintagewares who had run her own shop for three years when I joined her. Vince Bruinsma helped me with almost all of the building and customizing of each space making sure that each location reflected my brand and vision.
WildRoot is focused on pre-loved clothing and accessories, but I also carry jewelry and other small products from a variety of small businesses and local artists. I curate a shop full of items that fit a variety of styles that work as a cohesive collection.
On of my favorite things I do currently is offer personal shopping services. During shut-down, I sold curated try on boxes for customers while the majority of stores in our area were closed. Kind of like stitch-fix, but for pre-loved clothing. I loved pulling together outfits for customers after getting to know their personal style. Once I realized I enjoyed that so much, I decided to quietly add the option for personal shopping to my business and took on a small number of clients. I spend time getting to know my them, their style wants and needs, and then spend time sourcing quality used articles that I feel they will love.
It’s been a wild journey, but I wouldn’t trade it for anything. I’m thankful for the tiny impact my little store can have on the ever growing commercial clothing industry and the second life my customers give to the treasures they find here.
Can you open up about a time when you had a really close call with the business?
In January of 2020, my friend who I shared a space with and I rented a new space across the street from our storefront. It was much bigger and quite a bit more expensive. For both of us, it was definitely a risk, but we were both crazy excited to see what we could do with it. We took the chance on it knowing it was the perfect location. It had separate spaces for each of us, allowing us to differentiate our brands for customers. We spent almost two months renovating and pouring our hearts into the space, sourced like crazy to fill the racks and finally opened March 6th. Two weeks later we had to shut down. If we hadn’t been sharing a space at that time, splitting utilites, rent and sharing creative ideas on how to make it through shut-down I think my shop financially would not have made it. We both pivoted to online sales and eventually were able to re-open. For me, this time really solidified that this was what I wanted to do. The idea of losing my shop wasn’t something I was comfortable with and that’s also when I made the decision that given the chance I’d find my own storefront someday.
What’s a lesson you had to unlearn and what’s the backstory?
When I originally started sourcing for my storefront space I had this idea that I wanted every item I sold to be exactly my style. As in, it would feel like just a big closet filled with clothes that fit my personal style. The idea stemmed from how I started just by selling my own clothing, but I should have known it wasn’t a fully sustainable idea because at the time I tended to wear lots of neutrals and simple outfits. While that didn’t do terrible at first, I realized customers were looking for bright colors, bold patterns and styles that I’m sometimes not adventurous enough to wear. Being able to source and style those looks is just as important, so I began doing more research on current trends to make sure I’d have the items different people might be looking for. Over the years my own personal style has grown and changed and I definitely attribute that to being exposed to so many different styles on a daily basis and seeing the incredible outfits my customers put together.
Contact Info:
- Website: www.wildrootcollection.com
- Instagram: wildrootcollection
- Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/WildRootGettysburg/
Image Credits
Vince Bruinsma of EarthMark Photography