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

Brooke , appreciate you joining us today. So, naming is such a challenge. How did you come up with the name of your brand?

It was during Covid – I had recently been laid off and I decided during this time to start my own online boutique business. I had always been in the industry, it was just a matter of continuing to work for corporate/other small businesses, or take the leap of faith and start my own business. I did everything by the book within 3 weeks – including naming my business. That was the hardest part.
I studied word webs, which is where you pick words that stand out to you and also relate to what you are trying to name… a boutique for instance. But nothing came to fruition. I decided then to jot down every word that came to mind when I thought about fashion, boutiques, clothing, etc. I also jotted down every word that came to mind when I thought about women shopping, how I wanted them to feel, etc.
After many, many words and sleepless nights, the business name that I had been trying to fabricate, finally came to mind.
When I thought of “clothing”, I thought of my time in college. I was an apparel design student so my job was to sketch, pattern, cut and then finally sew the clothing. Many times I came home from school covered in thread. It was the aftermath of constructing a design from start to finish.
When I thought about how I wanted women to feel while shopping, I thought about other experiences where I felt welcome. These were mostly days or nights where I would have dinner with friends and family around a table. A place where gathering and conversing replenished my soul. This one was a little more tough but ultimately, “table” came to mind.
And then I had to think of how to word THREAD and TABLE into a phrase or sentence that would catch an individuals attention and make them understand the WHY behind the name.

thread (noun):
a long strand of fiber that collectively clothes a body
table (noun):
a place to gather, to embrace conversation or to cultivate new ideas

Thread & Table.

We serve women who are brave and courageous. We serve women who have a heart to serve others. We serve women who cultivate peaceful homes and curate everlasting style. Women who shop at Thread & Table are not afraid to exist outside the norm. We strive to encourage those women everyday with how they represent themselves through their livelihood and their wardrobe. Women who shop at Thread & Table have an inner peace that outwardly shines, bringing hope to those who feel lost and light to those who feel left in the dark. We serve strong women. But we also serve women who are still trying to figure it out. There is beauty in every step of her journey and no time is ever wasted between point A and point B.

At Thread & Table, we serve the women who lift others up, who encourage times of stillness and whose style centers around the belief that she is known, confident and worthy.

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.

Growing up with an entrepreneurial spirit and a die-hard love for fashion, I always knew I wanted to work with clothing. I graduated in 2019 with a degree in Apparel Design at St. Catherine University in Minnesota, and also studied abroad in London, Paris, and Florence, focusing on international fashion trends. During this time I also worked many differing retail positions.

After graduation I worked for a large franchise for a handful of months. In March, I was let go due to the impact of 2020’s events. I can sympathize with many on this topic and I empathize with those whose situations were much worse. 2020 was hard, but I take it as a blessing.

For months I prayed for my next steps, new job opportunities or fresh ideas of what I could do with my time. I organized my resume to fit a company I wanted to work for, but after months of a “pending” application I decided to let it go. New job opportunities arose and I was set on taking a position after an impressive job offer, but that night I could not sleep. Something stirred within me and the next morning I decided I didn’t want to work for anyone anymore. I didn’t want my valuable time to be determined by corporate hours and requested time off. I didn’t want to lay the bricks of hard work, realizing at the end of the day that it was someone else’s dream I was building – not my own. I was ready to start my small business. Finally!

When people think “fashion industry,” they usually assume Runway or New York. I was never pursuing the Runway or trying to make a name like Chanel or Chloé. I wanted to dive into the industry from where I stood,

Thread & Table is an online women’s clothing boutique – however, we want to stand out a little more than your usual boutique. We don’t just pick random clothing to sell and make a profit without consideration and thought about the current fashion trends, who our target market is and how women will feel when they buy something from Thread & Table. In essence, we don’t take mud and throw it at the wall to try to make it stick. Every detail, every clothing piece, every accessory and even down to the details about how we take photo shoots, post to social media and advertise our business, is not done without thinking of our customers first. Because at the end of the day, or even, the end of a transaction, it’s not about us. It’s about her and why she chose us. It’s about garnering her trust and knowing that she’s buying from a business that truly studies the business. In our case, fashion.

I want women to feel good about why they’re spending money at my boutique and knowing that we’re not here to mass produce your wardrobe. We’re here to make you stand out, to make you unique and to make you feel seen. We’re here to make our space feel like yours, to make lasting impressions and to make lasting relationships.

I’m so proud of how far we’ve come since 2021 (yes, T&T is still a baby!). I know we still have a long run ahead of us. It’s not easy, owning your own business. It’s a rollercoaster of emotions and unpredictable circumstances. Some months are amazing, and some months you question why you started. But overall, it’s a dream that I set out to make a reality and I want it to continue as long as possible! I have goals for Thread & Table I still need to accomplish and I’m determined to do so.

Are there any books, videos, essays or other resources that have significantly impacted your management and entrepreneurial thinking and philosophy?

There’s a book I read a long time ago – before I even thought about what I wanted to do as a career – and it has stayed with me ever since. It’s called, Three Feet From Gold by Sharon L. Lechter and Greg S. Reid. It’s about turning your obstacles into opportunities.

“As soon as you begin to move forward – when you are only 3 feet from gold – there will be an obstacle. Usually, this is a test – will you overcome, or will you succumb to this temporary roadblock and give up? One of the most common causes of failure is the habit of quitting just when the point of success is within arm’s reach (hence three feet or 1 metre). In short, there’s no telling what fortunes or success (‘gold’) we may miss out on by quitting just a bit too early.”

You can’t be naive to the fact that owning a business is hard. There are many moments where I have wanted to give up because of a bad month, a sale gone wrong or lost customers on social media. Social media in itself is literally another business. SO many metrics and data you have to keep track of in order to grow. And don’t get me started on the algorithm. Many of these “roadblocks” are learning opportunities if you choose to look at them that way. It can be defeating watching “overnight successes” or one reel that went viral and now this business has thousands of followers. The competition alone on social media can be harrowing and I can see how so many give up. The solution is to keep going. Keep posting reels. Keep engaging with your customers. You’ll never know when you’re 3 feet from success if you quit too soon.

I’ve learned that owning a business is like a rollercoaster. There are highs and lows, curves and twists, moments of panic and moments of excitement. You either enjoy the ride or you want to get off. I can’t speak for other businesses, but mine is a rollercoaster I plan to stay on, no matter how frustratingly twisted yet fascinating it can be.

Can you share one of your favorite marketing or sales stories?

Honestly my favorite marketing/sale story is the first day I “opened” my online boutique for customers. Before opening my website to sales I was marketing heavily on social media. I paid a photographer and rented a space to shoot a marketing video, talking about Thread & Table and why I started the business. (You can actually find this video on our Youtube channel – Thread & Table Boutique)

I was posting on social media consistently for about 2 weeks before launch day. Posting sneak peeks of clothing and sharing tidbits of what T&T was all about. The night before launch day, I had a dream that I didn’t sell one thing. Which in reality would have been impossible since my mother is my #1 shopper! It was awful. I woke up in a panic thinking this was all a mistake and that no one was going to be interested in shopping my boutique.

I had it all planned out though. On launch day I was going to post orders rolling in to entice viewers to also check out my boutique, which hopefully would generate more sales. My dream from the night before was still looming over me but I knew there was no turning back now.

On March 27, 2021 at 7am, Thread & Table was live. Why I planned a collection drop at 7am I don’t know, but my dream was starting to feel real again. 7:30am rolled around and nothing. 7:50am… nothing. And then my stomach dropped. Shopify’s “Cha-Ching” dinged on my phone at 7:58am, almost an hour into launch. And yes, it was my mother! “I got a sale!”

I sighed a breath of relief knowing that I wasn’t a complete failure even though my mother made her purchase in the next room. But then, “Cha-Ching” 8:04am. “Cha-Ching” 8:07am. “Cha-Ching” 8:12am, and 24 orders later I was overwhelmed with gratitude and feeling on top of the world. I had an outpouring of support from so many friends and family and people I didn’t even know! I felt as though everything I had been working toward was clicking into place. I felt accomplished and proud that I went in the direction of my dream. I was a small business owner!

I surpassed my goal that day and spent the next packaging orders and listening to more “Cha-Chings” roll in. To this day, Shopify’s “Cha-Ching” is my favorite sound and my mother is still the first to purchase when new collections drop.

Contact Info:

• Website: https://www.threadandtable.com/
• Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/threadandtable/
• Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/threadandtable
• Linkedin: https://www.linkedin.com/in/brooke-bromenschenkel-36139788/
• Youtube: https://www.youtube.com/@threadandtable

Image Credits
Images were all taken by me!