Alright – so today we’ve got the honor of introducing you to Lizabeth Cole. We think you’ll enjoy our conversation, we’ve shared it below.

Lizabeth , thanks for taking the time to share your stories with us today Do you wish you had started sooner?

I absolutely wish that I had embraced my creative side earlier in life. Imposter syndrome was and still is huge when it comes to leaning into that realm for me.

With creative parents, aunts, and uncles who had all attended the same high school that I did, and with my grandmother as their art teacher (who retired before my time), I avoided the art wing like the plague.

In New York, in the mid-90s, we were required to have one year of art or music in order to graduate. I already knew that I wasn’t going to be comfortable in music class.

My solution to this conundrum was to head down the opposite hallway to the tech wing and receive my two credits in mechanical drafting. As long as I can remember, I have been obsessed with architecture, and this controlled method of measuring and drawing seemed harder to be scrutinized for. You have to understand that the art teachers who carried my grandmother’s legacy at Niskayuna High School saw my last name and assumed that I would be an asset to their photography, ceramics, weaving, or fine arts classes because Doris Hatch Cole was a unicorn artist and everyone in town knew it. I was terrified. Even thinking back on it now gives me huge anxiety.

I don’t think that I was fooling anyone, however. I just didn’t really want to be creative in public. At home, I was splatter painting my bedroom with the help of my father and aunt at age 10, I was rearranging my bedrooms at both houses constantly. I was styling outfits until way past bedtime. There were always projects. Sewing satin sheets and a duvet for my Barbies. Scouring piles of jewelry of my mother’s and her mother’s for inspiration and to wear something old while I was balancing with the new. I just didn’t see it, but I was creating and ideating.

It’s easy to do when your family is filled with creatives, even if some chose a straighter path that would pay the bills. My maternal grandfather was a communications executive, who on the side could make beautiful furniture and was a celebrated photographer. My paternal grandmother the art teacher, and mother of 8, sewed their clothes and sold her drawings and photos on the weekends at shows. My father is a photographer and woodworker. My step-father is a retired builder, my step-mother is a graphic artist, and my mother can put together a timeless outfit at a moment’s notice.

I wish I gave in to it earlier but when I finally did, it was like there was a reason. I really needed this outlet and I think to fully appreciate it, it needed to happen in my late thirties. Now it’s also a family affair and lifestyle.

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?

Listen, what I am doing isn’t groundbreaking. It just feeds my soul and creates connections.

I curate and sell small vintage wares, furniture, home decor, and accessories. Focusing on my favorite eras and pieces, the 1960’s (not kitschy) through the early 1990s. Rarely clothing, but damn an excellent 80’s earring makes my day.

Often I have a client in mind when I find a piece. If not, utilize communities such as Instagram and Noihsaf Bazaar Home and Vintage to market goods. The response continues to overwhelm and what I love most is the group of buyers who I have come to call friends, even if virtually. Everyone wants to feel needed, so it is nice when I get a sense that the treasure I have found fills a void on someone’s shelf or a space in their foyer where they were waiting on just the right piece.

Is there mission driving your creative journey?

As a full-time communications professional I am realistic that a small, weekend business will not be my full-time gig. I like that Hatched Vintage is a creative outlet, helps put money in the college fund and gets me out of bed with a spring in my step on a Saturday morning to go see what is at the local estate sale. The goal is kinda to keep it that way. Keep it fun and rewarding.

When I say that sourcing vintage for buyers or for my own family in our home has become a lifestyle, it really has.
I am glad that now my kids are old enough to notice the thrill of the hunt and to perhaps wear a unique piece of history or to have a funky chair in their bedroom that can’t be found in a mainstream store or website. It’s just theirs. Ours. We didn’t have to spend a lot of money and we were also taking a step toward sustainability as a family by upcycling as much as possible. Right down to the home we live in. A 1960 mid-century modern clerestory that needed love.

For my buyers, I feel this mission spreading through their homes as well.

Learning and unlearning are both critical parts of growth – can you share a story of a time when you had to unlearn a lesson?

Charge enough for shipping and handling because it can be expensive, however ensuring that a one-of-a-kind item arrives safely and securely is important to both parties.

Protect your margins and the goods. I have had a couple of trial-and-error moments I am not proud of, but you live, learn and refund the customer.

Contact Info:

• Instagram: HatchedVintage
• Other: Shop link – https://noihsafbazaar.com/shops/HatchedVintage

Image Credits
Photo of Lizabeth by Daughter, Elkë Sorensen