We recently connected with Stephanie Young and have shared our conversation below.

Stephanie , thanks for joining us, excited to have you contributing your stories and insights. We’d love to go back in time and hear the story of how you came up with the name of your brand?

With a love for traveling, I would always gravitate towards local, unique, and well made items to bring back that would have a place in my home. For me each item is a souvenir of sorts and a fond memory. I would tell friends and family, “I just like to wander around” to find those small shops maybe not on the tourist lists even if it was twenty minutes outside of where I lived or on the other side of the world. The word ‘wander’ means to roam, to walk, and be leisurely in your movement. It’s a state of mind and sometimes doesn’t take planning once you start. I have to thank my parents who I was able to travel with quite a bit with for giving me the lust for discovering new places and all that that encompasses. And so, with a culmination of those things, W A N D E R S T A T E was born. It’s the overarching name for my mercantile and my home design business. The shop is filled with socially conscious, intentional, well made goods from artists and brands across the United States and abroad. On the home design side, I try to incorporate the clients travels, trinkets, and special moments into their spaces.

As always, we appreciate you sharing your insights and we’ve got a few more questions for you, but before we get to all of that can you take a minute to introduce yourself and give our readers some of your back background and context?

I started W A N D E R S T A T E CO. after ten years in the fashion industry, working for TOMS Shoes and a few other fashion lines as a sales representative and consultant. After the transition, I started building my home design business first and then built the mercantile by doing pop-ups around Atlanta for about a year. I took the leap of faith and opened my brick and mortar store front just this last month. Yay!

Beautiful, functional, and smart design inspired by architecture and different cultures is at the core of what draws me to the interiors world. And this translates so easily into my Mercantile as well- providing customers and clients with well made, eco, and socially conscious home goods, provisions, and self care items. With my work and travel experiences, I knew I could contribute to that ‘form and function’ ethos that I am inspired by for my clients.

I am proud I took the leap of faith and started a business on my own. It wasn’t without struggle, late nights, literal sweat and tears, and a lot of note taking the last ten years to get to this point, but I am hopeful I can be an asset to my community.

Can you tell us about what’s worked well for you in terms of growing your clientele?

I started out doing pop-ups in the Atlanta area to gauge interest in the products, price points, etc. I would connect with people on Instagram and ask if I could do a pop-up at their coffee shop, brewery, or storefront to get my name out there and test the market. The key is to not be scared to put yourself out there and ask for help! Friends and family are eager to help you succeed and build connections! Followers were gained from those in person experiences (and I’m honestly still working on gaining traction with all the social media channels).

Can you talk to us about how your funded your business?

I was fortunate enough to have some small savings from my previous job but I did go out and get a business line of credit to help with rent and utilities. My advice is to go to a few banks, sit down with associate, and ask all the questions before committing to one route.

Contact Info:

• Website: www.wanderstatemercantile.com
• Instagram: @wanderstateco
• Facebook: W A N D E R S T A T E CO.
• Linkedin: Stephanie Young
• Other: www.wanderstateco.com

Image Credits
Rebekah Downs Cristi Moscoso