We’re excited to introduce you to the always interesting and insightful Jodi Norgaarden. We hope you’ll enjoy our conversation with Jodi below.

Hi Jodi , thanks for joining us today. Have you ever had an amazing boss? What did you learn from them? Maybe you can share a story that illustrates the kind of boss they were or maybe you can share your thoughts on what you think made them an awesome person to work for?

The best boss I ever had taught me to believe in myself. He believed every person he hired was a homerun hitter. Having someone trust and believe in you that much makes you work hard and believe you can do anything. He was fair, honest, hardworking and open about the business’ successes and failures. Everyone’s opinion mattered. The position I had was selling over the phone and he let me run my accounts as I saw fit, which taught me a lot about running a successful business. Most of all he led by example and was the hardest working person in his business. When I started my own business, first and foremost I wanted my employees to know they are an important part of the business and I trust and believe in them. I share with them how the store is doing and try to make sure they know I am proud of the work they do to help us be successful.

Jodi , love having you share your insights with us. Before we ask you more questions, maybe you can take a moment to introduce yourself to our readers who might have missed our earlier conversations?

In 2017, I found myself again at a weird crossroad in my journey of life and I was having to decide what to do with my life. I fell and broke my hip. Nine months later, after months of pain, the new hip failed, and I had another surgery. I did not want to go back to the place where I had fallen, and I had to decide what to do with myself. I love creative, resourceful people who go after the things they believe in. I also fell in love with a little river town, near our home. The downtown was going through some changes and a revival of its own. The more research I did, the more I realized this little town was where I wanted to start a store that featured local artists, authors, inventors, musicians, and other talented people who pursued their dreams and passions and shared them with others. Out of these ideas, Quaint & Quirky was born. Why Quaint & Quirky? I wanted a unique playful name and almost went with Whimsy. I then realized there were too many Whimsy’s on the internet. Quaint and playful is the definition of whimsy and out of that came Quaint & Quirky. It is why some people come in the door. They wanted to know what is “quirky” in the store and of course, I show them.

I started with money from my retirement fund and was determined not to take out a loan. I did not want to strap my new business with lots of debt. I decided on a sales model of consignment vendors and items I purchase. I was hoping this would give us enough capital to work with and inventory to fill the store. My husband, daughter and son-in -law helped me set up furniture, computers and displays. We went to thrift stores, estate sales and other affordable places to buy props, shelf displays, and items to house or store inventory.

When I started, the goal was to feature as many different art forms as possible, including visual artists, authors and musicians. I was also going to feature a small flower shop and balloons. I quickly realized having a perishable product like flowers would require more money and staff to market, design and promote that side of the business and I just didn’t have the time or capital. Without flowers, balloons didn’t seem to fit so I discontinued selling balloons as well. However, I did continue to sell plants and started propagating succulents.

I currently have 80-90 visual artists in the shop and 40-50 authors. Customers are both men and women and the store seems to appeal to all ages. Lots of pre-teens and teens come in to buy gifts for friends and family and single men come in to buy sports decor for their new homes. Quaint & Quirky offers art to create collections and one-of-a-kind pieces that cannot be duplicated. I wanted to find some kind of niche that would encourage people to come into the store year-round and not just in the summer or for holidays. This niche became greeting cards. The handmade frameable cards the store sells are unique and loved and appreciated by all. Particularly the quilling cards which feature rolled paper art. Wood frames are available for purchase to highlight these unique pieces. More than 10 artists provide our unique cards, and I am always adding more.

I was surprised when paintings and photography did not do well in the store. However, metal laser cut art quickly became the top selling consignment art in the store. Some items like pottery took a while to catch on but are easily in the top 5 of products sold today. Because we are “Quaint & Quirky” more whimsical and fun items sell better than black and white or more ordinary items. People expect fun and colorful from us, so we deliver.

In addition to the art in the store, I feature book signings. demonstrations, creator’s markets and local musicians. This year several artists started teaching classes. I am always trying to come up with something new and fun to highlight the talented small businesses I work with.

Two things I am most thankful for are that the store survived the “covid years”. I had hoped we would be thriving by now, but I am thankful to God for our survival. Secondly, I think one of the greatest gifts you can give another person is a chance to smile, laugh or have a bright moment in their day. When someone walks past the racks of funny towels or magnets or funny ceramic birds and laughs or shows one to a friend, I smile and think maybe in some very small way their day became a little brighter because of something fun they saw in QQ that made them smile. That is a gift I am thankful for.

Can you share a story from your journey that illustrates your resilience?

When I began my business in June 2018, I financed it from my retirement savings. It was important to my husband and I to not have another loan or payment to make. The first year and a half this money helped me keep going each month as I continued to grow. I was pleased by the 25% growth the store started experiencing in the second year of business. When covid hit and we shut down for two months, we started selling cards and puzzles like crazy. We focused on posting items on social media and marketplace and we set up an online store. I applied for every government program I saw and fortunately, we did receive some help. Before covid, I was trying to look ahead three to six months and plan what I would purchase, bills that would be paid each month, events I would sponsor and products I would bring in to help us grow. Suddenly, my plan became month to month. – How do I create enough cash each month to pay my bills? At first, I was looking ahead too far, I was trying to figure out how I would survive the next 3 to 6 months. This was very stressful. Then I realized, I just needed to be in survival mode. I needed to make enough to survive one month at a time and that was it. While it left little room for planning for the future, it became my main survival technique. How could I work on the short-term future, if I didn’t survive the immediate future?

I am happy to say Quaint & Quirky is still here. We celebrated our 5th birthday on June 1, 2023, I would like to say we are financially thriving, but that continues to be a challenge. I would like to get back to some future planning to enhance our growth. (I have lots of ideas) but the economy continues to slow down the spending of my customers. Lots of people are out and about but they are very cautious about their money. I will have to again figure out, what the next step should be for QQ

Have you ever had to pivot?

I feel like most of my personal career life has been about pivoting and changing directions. Explaining it all is better saved for another time, but ever since I was in college, I feel like my life was about figuring out what I wanted to do, what career path I wanted to take. For a long time, I thought my career path was pick a career, go to college, get a job in that career, advance in that career etc… My trajectory was never the straight path and when I started taking the paths before me instead of the ones I thought I should take, I learned a lot, had great experiences, made some money, made very little money, met some amazing people–and each of these paths taught me acceptance, the ability to embrace change, a new skill, and strengths that brought me to the day I said, “I want to run my own business.” Without all the paths I took along the way, and the ability to embrace change, not fear it, I would have been less prepared for running my own business. I know this is exactly what I should be doing right now. While my business continues to struggle at times, I won’t give up until it is thriving. I know I am on the right path at the right time.

Contact Info:

• Website: www.quaintandquirkygifts.com
• Instagram: @quaintandquirkygifts
• Facebook: Quaint & Quirky Gifts
• Other: Phone 651-246-3233
• Email : [email protected]

Image Credits
Picture of me and my daughter and granddaughters was taken by a family friend, Bob Whalley