We recently connected with Taylor Woodard and have shared our conversation below.

Hi Taylor , thanks for joining us today. Let’s start with the decision of whether to donate a percentage of sales to an organization or cause – we’d love to hear the backstory of how you thought through this.

When I opened The Shop my sole purpose was to make a difference. Our mission is to change the way people style their lives to help combat fast fashion and fast furniture. I saw a gap in the marketplace for a well curated vintage store, and consciously curated interior design services, that could demonstrate to customers that you don’t have to sacrifice style for sustainability. And since our ethos are rooted in change I wanted to give back to the community that was supporting us. It felt only appropriate that we would become members of 1% for the Planet, but I still thought we could do more, so we decided to donate an additional 5% to local charities. My favorite part is we rotate our charity selections based on customer feedback and input. It is so exciting to discover incredible organizations in our neighborhoods, develop relationships with each and be able to make a financial impact on the work they are doing.

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.

Absolutely. My name is Taylor Woodard and I am the owner and principal curator of The Shop. We are a vintage+ western boutique as well as interior design studio. As I mentioned, we are on a mission to change the way people shop and style their lives. We believe you do NOT have to sacrifice style for sustainability and we are here to help show you the way!

I was lucky enough to grow up with very strong creative AND frugal figures in my life who taught me the value of great design, great products / manufacturing, as well as a respect for women and human rights – all of which are being tested in our current global climate. When I realized it was hard to find a well curated shopping experience that wasn’t NEW items piling onto the growing waste epidemic, I knew I wanted to give it a whirl. I personally had no previous retail experience other than going with my grandmothers to work at “The Shop” when I was younger (our logo is theirs but with a slightly updated twist ;-)) but I knew we could do better and I was willing to try my best to make a difference.

With that, I opened the doors to The Shop Mercantile about a year and a half ago. Our Western boutique is comprised of only pre-loved, vintage and antique clothing, jewelry, furniture, curios, adornments and more. In addition to being able to shop our western wear, we feature a capsule collection every few months that is comprised of totally different styles. Our current capsule collection is “Spring Fling”.

What I wasn’t expecting was the incredible support from our community and the excitement for our interior design services: The Shop Design Studio. By offering clients an alternative to the traditional interior design model we are making a huge impact on the planet by only sourcing antique, vintage or pre-loved pieces and working with local craftsman and artisans to re-imagine our clients homes. It is insane to see how quickly we can transform spaces when working with items that already exist.

Conversations about M&A are often focused on multibillion dollar transactions – but M&A can be an important part of a small or medium business owner’s journey. We’d love to hear about your experience with selling businesses.

n a former life my husband and I owned an advertising agency. We honestly never really had a long term vision for the company and were solely focused on creating great work that we were super proud of and could have a good time along the way. Someone suggested to us one day that we we should think about selling…we started pondering the idea and as soon as the thought was out into the universe we were approached by 2 different companies looking to acquire us.

When pandora’s box was opened we started on this incredibly intense journey. I won’t bore you with a ton of details but here were my big takeaways:

1) Follow your gut – you know better than anyone who you jive with, who is going to respect your baby that you have created, who is going to honor it and cherish it and celebrate it. I would also say talk to mentors, friends, family – get feedback and insight and then access accordingly.

2) Write out a pro’s & con’s list – we wrote ours at dinner one night on a napkin (we still have the napkin framed) and be very honest about the con’s. Think through the worst case scenarios and how that will feel / look and affect your daily & future life.

3) Do your due diligence!! Talk to everyone and anyone you can (without breaking any NDA’s of course) about the individuals you are selling to. Gather as much intel and feedback so that you can collect data, access and ensure you have dotted your i’s and crossed your t’s and there are no surprises. Remember knowledge is power.

4) Be freaking PUMPED that you are even in this position in the first place. This means that you have created something that someone loves enough to pay their hard earned money for – celebrate celebrate celebrate that you have made it to this milestone.

How did you build your audience on social media?

I feel as though I am a cobbler with no shoes…after running an ad agency for 20+ years all of a sudden I was on an island and doing it all myself. Remember that whole “frugal” thing that runs in my family ha ha – well I just keep thinking I can just do this on my own. So I am. I had personally been off of social media for 4+ years before I opened The Shop but when I did, I realized if I had a retail store I probably needed to get back into the scene.

So I begrudgingly started my page and got to it. It was pretty humbling starting with 1 follower (being my husband of course) and it was a slow go and I have done it organically. It isn’t the prettiest, it would never hold a candle to the standards I have had for my clients over the years but the more and more i do it I realize that it is mine, all mine. If it doesn’t look great, it doesn’t look great. I am doing my best to not compare myself to others and just post what feels right. I am a mom and juggling so many things so I try not to be so hard on myself and just hope that others appreciate the raw and sometimes poorly designed posts. When I think about the big picture my mission is all that matters and I hope that shines through the most.

Contact Info:

• Website: shoptheshop.com
• Instagram: totheshopwego
• Other: Google / The Shop

Image Credits
https://vsco.co/brooketinsman/gallery