We caught up with the brilliant and insightful Audra Walters a few weeks ago and have shared our conversation below.

Alright, Audra thanks for taking the time to share your stories and insights with us today. How did you come up with the idea for your business?

It was all very organic, and one thing led to another. I started out selling real estate and my schtick was “List with me, I stage for free.” At the time, I was storing all of my staging furniture in my two car garage, but before I knew it, my phone was ringing off the hook from other agents wanting me to stage THEIR listings. At the time, I thought it would be a side gig, but it quickly turned into a full time job.
Being in Charleston, the “coastal modern look” with rattan furniture is very popular, but when Covid hit, it became very difficult to get furniture, and at the rate Staging Charleston was growing, I needed ALOT of furniture. That’s when I thought that I should just import the furniture myself. How hard could it be, right? I began researching various companies and after awhile, I settled on one. We compiled a list of items I wanted and one of the scariest moments in my life is when I had to wire a complete stranger, in a different country, a large sum of money for the first 40ft container.

Great, appreciate you sharing that with us. Before we ask you to share more of your insights, can you take a moment to introduce yourself and how you got to where you are today to our readers.

As a kid, I was creative and loved art and design, but my parents said if I wanted them to pay for college I had to major in business or education. I knew I didn’t want to teach, so I majored in Business. My creativity was locked away for many years and I worked in accounting, had a family and one day driving home, I knew I had to change careers for my own happiness. I had the thought “If I stay in accounting anymore, I will drive into a tree at 80 mph”, but of course I didn’t do that, but I knew I was miserable. When I came up with the idea for Auden & Avery (which are combinations of my name and my kids names) I knew there was a market for the products. I used rattan when staging houses on the daily and people always asked to buy the furniture, so I knew there was a market for it, and I knew there were a slew of people who didn’t want to pay the high prices that some companies charge.

Have you ever had to pivot?

I feel like I have had to pivot several times both in business/career and life. I was an accountant for about 10 years, and despised it. I wanted something not behind a desk, so I got my realestate license and did very well. I was in the top 5% in Charleston MLS. I wanted to offer my clients MORE, so I started staging their homes prior to listing. I staged flips, empty rentals, partial stages and whatever presented itself as a listing. But then, other agents began calling me to STAGE. I thought….”well, this can be my side gig”…..hahha
WELP – it took over. It just snowballed. When Covid hit, it was very difficult to get furniture and I was restless. I knew I wanted to acquire furniture for less than wholesale since staging takes its toll on furniture. After research, I picked a manufacturer and wired off alot of money and prayed I wasn’t getting scammed. The rest is history!

How did you put together the initial capital you needed to start your business?

To become a realtor, it didn’t take much capital at all, and the income was very good. When I decided to stage, I cashed out my 401K to buy furniture, buy a trailer, get it wrapped and all the things. I had to find a place to store the furniture, and so many other logistical nightmares.
When I decided to import, the realestate market was HOT and I self financed importing the furniture. It took almost a year for my first container to arrive, as Covid was still around.

Contact Info:

• Website: https://www.ShopAudenAndAvery.com
• Instagram: @auden_and_Avery
• Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/AudenAndAvery/

Image Credits

Barry Cunningham