it takes a village

I started this post a year and a half ago about the village behind Circa Dee.  I figured it was high time I put it out there.  I’ll be breaking it down into a series throughout the summer.  Here goes…

People always ask me how I got into this business.  I followed this little dream of mine from an early age.  I am not exactly sure when it started but I know I was born a creator and have always dabbled in designing and selling things.  My earliest memory of this is actually from when I was a child selling flowers door-to-door in my neighborhood.  Cute?  Not really.  The “flowers” were actually weeds picked from my yard and I sold a few for pennies each.  Perhaps this led me to pursue my degree in horticulture a dozen years later.  I wound up in a corporate gig refining my sales skills while all along dabbling in design mostly as a hobby.  Floral design.   Invitation design. Furniture design.

I remember just 5 years ago claiming that one of my lifetime goals was to be an antique dealer.  I shortly realized that was an attainable goal and set up shop in an antique co-op.  As time evolved, I learned what I really liked and wanted to sell was vintage and repurposed finds for the home that I could style.  With that came more ideas, more labor and more support…and definitely more shops.

My family & friends have been there for me every step of the way.  They’ve encouraged me to follow my dreams and have assured me that passion and hard work will pay off.  The funny thing is that this is certainly the hardest work that I’ve ever done, yet it never seems like work at all because I simply love it.

Prior to me finding “my passion”, I would go to indie craft shows and antique shows and not think too in-depth about the “behind the scenes”.  I never thought about how much time and energy went into setting up those 10×10 “shops” for a day, what time the proprietors must have woken up that day and how much preparation went into it for the days and weeks leading up to that day.  I am 100% in support of buying local or handmade, especially those made of reclaimed items that have been saved from a landfill.

So I gave you all of that history to get this…it takes a village to make the simplest popup shop or co-op shop happen.  I still find it unbelievable but this summer, in no particular order, I’d like to introduce you to the village behind this little venture I call Circa Dee…

Let’s start with Jake since today is his birthday!

Jake is my little brother, err, younger brother.  He is hands down the most enthusiastic about all things Circa Dee. He brakes when he sees furniture curbside with faith that I can bring it back to life.  Jake’s title is actually Mantiques Manager here at Circa Dee.  He finds the most random old manly things that give just the right wow factor.  I like to think that I’ve trained him to see things not for what they are but for what they can be.  For example, vintage tire chocks turned bookends.  Very cool!

He volunteers to attend every market.  Well actually just about everyone volunteers but Jake signs himself up to schmooze customers and carry large pieces to their car all while instagramming the day’s events.  He loves fraternizing with the customers and giving him his opinion whether solicited or not. In fact, he’s joked about launching his own business…Circa Jay.  Watch out!

And most recently, Jake become my official Brooklyn Flea Philly partner.  You can find us at the Piazza again next Sunday, June 30^th.  I can’t wait to see what treasures he turns up next.

Happy weekend!