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

Marley, thanks for taking the time to share your stories with us today Can you talk to us about a risk you’ve taken – walk us through the story?

I’m a natural risk taker and that’s how I found myself in Salt Lake City, UT over 12 years ago. I moved here from Wisconsin to start a business from scratch, and didn’t know a single person in Utah. Being an entrepreneur at heart, I firmly believe that risks are part and parcel of the lifestyle. With Revive, I took a big chance – working full-time at a demanding corporate job while opening a store during the COVID-19 pandemic. Having recently quit that job to dedicate myself fully to Revive, and to start another business venture, I’m ready for whatever comes my way. I thrive on taking risks and love the challenge it brings.

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.

Revive Thrift Boutique is a second-hand shop with an empowering mission: to make thrifting fun, stylish, and sustainable. With our unique selection of vintage and trendsetting items. We offer styling sessions and photoshoots for our customers who want to feel confident in their style and clothing – we are breathing new life into pre-loved goods. Not only that but by shopping second hand you’re doing your bit for the planet! Our mission is to provide quality secondhand clothing in an enjoyable atmosphere while helping lead a movement towards sustainability .We want to be at the forefront of providing fashionable pre-loved apparel in order demonstrate that sustainability doesn’t require sacrificing style.

What else should we know about how you took your side hustle and scaled it up into what it is today?

Yes! Before I opened Revive I used to resell items I would find at the thrift store to online market places. I loved doing it and thought, I could turn this into so much more. So I had an incredible opportunity that I came across to buy 100,000 POUNDS of clothes that were going to be sent to a landfill (to put it in perspective, that is almost 4 semi containers full of clothing). These clothes were about to be sent to a landfill and I couldn’t dream of that amount of clothes being sent there and just wondering, what gems and incredible pieces are in there! Having those items delivered I knew I needed to find a place to get these items to customers in a brick and mortar store, so Revive was born! I secured a retail building and began setting up Revive!

Have you ever had to pivot?

Being able to pivot is a main requirement in business. Even when things are going good, there will be something that will come up with the economy, your customers needs, etc and you will need to pivot to meet those demands. One recent pivot that we have made at Revive is offering our customers a larger selection of Vintage items. Procuring those items is something we had to research and strategize on, but it was important to do to ensure our business was staying at the forefront of what people are looking for. It took time and effort to pivot, but it was a business decision that made sense for us.    

Contact Info:

• Website: https://www.revivethriftboutique.com
• Instagram: @revivethriftboutique
• Linkedin: Marley McKenna https://www.linkedin.com/in/marleyvorpahl/ Personal Linkedin

Image Credits
Colton Hartvigsen