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

Alright, Shannon thanks for taking the time to share your stories and insights with us today. Risk taking is something we’re really interested in and we’d love to hear the story of a risk you’ve taken.

Opening MALOFTA VINTAGE in a physical space was a big risk for me. I did not think I was ready and I have always been oh so very risk averse. Certainty, guaranteed income, safety – I love those things. I was currently working a full time job at a place I had spent 14 years and my vintage business was primarily through Etsy – just a side hustle. Still, it was growing and so I was curious: how much would it cost to open a space? It was my dream. I just wanted information.
What ended up happening is my information hunt turned up a once in a lifetime opportunity to open a space in Ann Arbor. Not in a year or so, but ASAP. So even though I was still full time at my other job, I decided to go for it. I opened my little vintage shop in Kerrytown Ann Arbor and worked both jobs through the holidays, totally spent, but full of hope.

Fast forward a few months and…I ended up getting FIRED from my old job (my absolute worst case scenario at the time). They did not like my admittedly divided attention and they let me go. It was a blow. I was terrified. So there I was. No guarantees to speak of, no certainty, no regular paycheck. But now I had all the time I needed to channel all my energy into MALOFTA. It was like getting pushed into the deep end of the pool and I just had to figure out how to swim. It was a really raw and beautiful time. I can say that now that I’m looking back!

Fast forward again, and we have now moved to a larger space and are growing. I won’t say it’s been easy. It has been a lot of work and continues to be a lot of work. Taking this risk has forced me to face a lot of long held fears. First of all, that I, Shannon, am not good enough (why do we all think that?). It’s just not true and not a belief to build any good thing on.
Also, that failure is the worst possible thing that could happen to me. Failure seems never far away as a small business in interesting economic times, but failure is NOT the end of me. It is a teacher, a sign giving me direction, an opportunity to pivot and learn. And it might not feel good. I have lots of small failures all the time. I buy a sofa that is in worse condition than I thought. I think a table is so cool, but no one wants to buy it. But these “failures” are not the sole defining moments of my life. They are teaching me, refining me, helping me see better.

The result of taking this risk has changed my life. It’s one of the endeavors I am most proud of. No matter what MALOFTA’s timeline is, I will always carry this story with me and the moral is that it actually did work out.

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.

My name is Shannon and I created MALOFTA VINTAGE because I love vintage furniture and design. My true love is interior design. Making a space feel like a home is my preferred mode of artistic expression. It has always been that way since I was a kid with a bedroom that was my little cocoon. The vintage part came in when I started thrifting things for the many homes I have lived in. Vintage was what I could afford. And it was so interesting. I do not like a bland, cookie cutter kind of space. Vintage items can be surprising, weird, heartbreakingly beautiful, haunted, chic and so very cool. And vintage things already exist so they don’t contribute to the sad waste of fast interiors and fashion. It’s a wild world of endless opportunity.
I soon discovered that these vintage items are often pretty valuable. I started selling easily shippable things like clothes and home goods on Etsy in 2015. Furniture was my great love though.
In the current form of MALOFTA, we carry vintage furniture, home decor, clothing and a selection of small brands making cool things. I don’t focus on designer vintage so much as things that just resonate with me. As a person who has never had a lot of money, a lot of designer pieces, though gorgeous, are out of my range. As a business owner, I want to offer a lot of items that are beautiful and cool, but accessible to people like me. So while occasionally you might see something higher end come through our doors, most of the time I use my powers of seeing beauty everywhere to bring well priced, beautiful and sometimes weird, unusual, and rare pieces to everyone.
At the end of the day I feel good about having a business that is good for the environment and not so elitist that it only caters to those with deep pockets.

We’d love to hear the story of how you built up your social media audience?

The MALOFTA VINTAGE Instagram page was originally my personal account that focused on pictures of my home (again, I am an interior design nerd). Over time, it gradually changed to things I had for sale and eventually I changed the name and let it become a business account. I actually put a lot of effort into instagram today, but I would not say I have tremendous growth as far as followers. It’s slow and steady growth and that works for me. It’s been an unbelievably valuable tool for communicating with my audience and selling outside of the physical space and also bringing people into it.
Aside from Instagram, I also have a website. I used to use Etsy to sell online, but I slowly phased it out in favor of the website. It’s more streamlined for me and I just like simplicity. We do sell some rare or collectible items on eBay.

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

Pricing has been a tricky thing to figure out. While I am proud to offer affordable items, I used to price things way too low. Customers would tell me themselves that my prices were too low haha. I realized that I had this belief that while others could sell things at high prices, I could not. This goes back to the “I am not good enough” lie. So that needed to be unlearned.
Now, I am more confident in my pricing. I do a lot of research, often repair, always clean things and drive all over the place to get them. When I price something it is with my necessary margin in mind and also the current market. I no longer price things lower than I can afford.      

Contact Info:

• Website: www.maloftavintage.com
• Instagram: @maloftavintage