We recently connected with Carmen Corsi and have shared our conversation below.

Carmen, looking forward to hearing all of your stories today. We’d love to have you retell us the story behind how you came up with the idea for your business, I think our audience would really enjoy hearing the backstory.

I have always been thrift minded. Even as a child, I learned to love bargain shopping and was happiest when I knew I was getting a deal. I started thrifting over 30 years ago and never looked back. But thrifting wasn’t cool back then. I wanted to tell everyone that I paid $1 for my new dress, but I was afraid they’d think I was cheap or wore garbage. Thrift stores were few and far between back then, and going to the mall was the popular thing to do.

Things are very different now. I have come to the point in my life where almost everything I have in my home and in my wardrobe is thrifted. It’s just become a way of life for me. All I wanted to do was talk about thrifting, tell everyone about my amazing finds, and encourage others to try thrifting out. I realized that I was lucky to have so many great thrift stores in my immediate area, so in March of 2021, I started a basic blog called Loudoun Thrift ( I live in Loudoun County VA).

While blogging about thrifting was fun (and gave me a great excuse to go thrifting “for content” every weekend), I still wanted to do more with this. And while people love to hear about thrifting, they are still nervous or overwhelmed to actually GO thrifting. How could I help them?

While scrolling Instagram, I came upon a thrift tour service in NYC. Now, I know that Manhattan is much different than Loudoun County, but still, why couldn’t I do this here? So phase 2 of Loudoun Thrift has launched. The social media is still there, and I will always scour the thrift stores to provide my weekly updates. Now, I can help others thrift and save money, provide guidance and personal shopping services, support sustainability, and give back to the many non profits that many thrift stores support.

Carmen, before we move on to more of these sorts of questions, can you take some time to bring our readers up to speed on you and what you do?

When I was young, around 10 years old, we had a chain of stores in my hometown area called Gabe’s. Back in the early 80’s, these were discount stores- they would take the overstocks or damaged goods from other stores to sell. You had to really check the clothing over for tears, missing buttons, etc. But the bargains were amazing! My mom would take us, and I thought this was the best place ever! As all things, Gabe’s evolved over time, but this would be the basis of how I got into thrifting.

In high school, there was a St Vincent De Paul thrift store about half an hour from my house. My mom first took me (she was my original thrifting partner!). Shirts were a quarter, dresses maybe $1. Believe it or not, the store is still open and the prices aren’t much different today! I was completely hooked on this. I remember buying all my suits for a $1 each in college for my student teaching.

My whole lifestyle has become about thrifting (or clearance, bargains, etc). I’m always looking for the best deal, how to put an outfit together for less than $10, or decorate my house with mostly secondhand items.

Any insights you can share with us about how you built up your social media presence?

I knew absolutely nothing about social media when I started Loudoun Thrift. I knew I’d have to use it to gain a wider audience and spread my message. I literally had to google how to do an Instagram post (and I still google a lot to find out how to do some things!). My best advice is to stay at it. Connect with others in your niche. I have found an amazing community of thrifters, resellers, and small business owners that I love to follow. Stay connected with your followers. You don’t need to spend hours a day on this- maybe just take 15 min a day, and connect on IG.

But really, If I could do this, anyone can. Watch You Tube videos on how to make reels, and don’t be afraid to make them. I now cringe at the first one I ever made, but at that time, I was just so excited that I had actually done it.

How’d you build such a strong reputation within your market?

Networking. Again, this was something I had never had to do before. I realized that social media isn’t everything. There is still a human aspect to life. I joined a few different networking groups and got myself out there. This was even in the very beginning stages of Loudoun Thrift, but I had a message, I had the passion, and I wanted to out there and meet other local small biz owners.

Contact Info:

• Website: www.loudounthrift.com
• Instagram: instagram.com/loudounthrift
• Facebook: facebook.com/loudounthrift

Image Credits
Samialynn Design for art graphic Graphics By JG for logo graphic