We recently connected with Christine Wilson and have shared our conversation below.

Alright, Christine thanks for taking the time to share your stories and insights with us today. Before we get into specifics, let’s talk about success more generally. What do you think it takes to be successful?

I believe the first question you have to ask yourself is what success means to you. We have to remember life is not all about the numbers. Does success mean making six figures or does it mean solving problems for your clients? I believe the key to finding success and feeling good about your level of success is to do something you are truly passionate about. Do the thing that you love doing. The thing you think about without any effort. What you are excited to spend your day doing. This will help you focus on what truly matters to you and avoid chasing someone else’s formula for success.

To me, success means having more time to spend with my family. It means as an entrepreneur I get to choose what I pour most of my time into. The more I am able to have control over my own schedule and time that is how I feel I have achieved success. The ultimate key to being successful is to never give up and be open to learning. If something is not working, don’t be afraid to try a new approach to your business. It’s okay to fail. That is how we learn and grow, but don’t give up. Your people will find you and follow you wherever you go.

As always, we appreciate you sharing your insights and we’ve got a few more questions for you, but before we get to all of that can you take a minute to introduce yourself and give our readers some of your background and context?

Due to the Covid pandemic in 2020, I found myself with more time on my hands that I was simply never afforded before. No longer having a long commute and constantly being drained of all energy after coming home from my corporate job gave me more time to follow my passion. During lockdown, I decided to finally start the adventure I’d wanted to embark on for as long as I could remember which was selling some of the unique vintage pieces that I’d been collecting for years. I spent all of that time further honing my craft of carefully curating specifically styled decor and apparel from thrift stores, estate sales, flea markets, yard sales, auctions or even sometimes sitting out on the curb. I could never have anticipated the outpouring of love from my community and beyond for vintage items and the general thrill of hunting for and finding that perfect piece.

Before I knew it, I was thriving with this new business venture during one of the most stressful and uncertain times for myself and many others. It was such an amazing way to still feel connected to my community and I felt that in both sides of every interaction. My business started in what is now a niche community of Instagram resellers. This platform has grown a huge following of dedicated clientele since 2020. More importantly, this community of resellers uplifts and supports each other. We are always valuing community over competition. It’s about more than just selling a kitschy decor piece or fun vintage dress. This community helped to make us all feel less alone in a time that I was truly needed and I am so proud of being part of that. I never get worried about a flooded market, on the contrary, it excites me because at the end of the day we are trying to encourage second-hand purchasing and to save beautiful vintage pieces from the landfill.

A little bit about me. I grew up an only child in a home filled with Italian glass, marble sculptures, original paintings encased in ornate gold frames, rattan furniture and even Egyptian vases. This had such a profound effect on my love of beautifully made objects that tell a story. It is where I got my love of collecting growing up in a home filled with unique gallery quality pieces from my parents travels all over the world during my father’s time in the Navy.

The products I sell are vintage home decor, furniture, apparel and accessories. I also provide design services and sourcing services for clients looking for specific vintage items.

What sets me apart from others is that I help people who care about having a beautiful yet eco-conscious home or closet full of unique vintage pieces.

I help clients bring their unique style to life whether that’s at home or in their sense of fashion. It can take a long time to curate the right pieces that represent you. I think this is one of the biggest problems I can solve for clients. I put in that time so they don’t necessarily have to. I spend the time digging through bins or traveling to seemingly random locations to find these rare pieces for you while helping round out your vision for your particular space!

I also show a lot of behind-the-scenes tips when it comes to sourcing and cleaning vintage items yourself. I think it’s extremely important to save these one-of-a-kind pieces from landfills and to always promote buying secondhand first!

How did you build your audience on social media?

When I strategized about my social media presence, I took the approach of being a brand that I would personally want to follow, which meant to me, being vocal about underrepresented groups, speaking out against hate, donating to community action teams, and promoting equality and inclusion. My advice to others is to be the social media profile that you would want to seek out and follow for products, advice and your overall ethics align with. Look to follow and reach out to build relationships with other profiles who align with your clientele.

For anyone just starting out, my best advice is to be real, be you and be authentic. Don’t strive for perfection or unrealistic expectations. There is only one you and show how you bring something different to the table. This is what sets small businesses apart compared to larger corporations. Telling your story helps promote a sense of relatable and approachable content which is what people want to see. They want to know your story and what makes you different from everyone else in the industry and embrace that. Do not focus too much on what other profiles are doing. Focus on the core audience you want to attract and don’t get hung up on numbers, especially in the beginning. You don’t just want followers you want meaningful followers who will become future clients. Just be consistent and keep putting yourself out there with posts and your clients will find you. You want to remember you don’t want just high numbers of likes or follows. Numbers are fleeting you want to focus on the quality of those numbers and creating core followers that will stick around and or purchase from you for years to come.

What’s been the best source of new clients for you?

The best source of new clients has been word of mouth from returning clients, especially through their social media posts and clients resharing products on social media. Social media can sometimes be the bane of small business owner’s existence with the ever-changing algorithm and time-consuming nature of it, but it is truly a great tool for exposure and to build trust within your community.

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