Here I am, fresh faced, semi rested and the new owner of a consignment store at the ripe age of 20. Yes you are reading that correctly I was allowed to buy a store and actually be responsible for employees before I was legally able to drink. Shocking I know, but no more shocking to anyone but myself about 6 months after I purchased the stores. I was 20 years young, almost finished with a dual degree in collage and fresh out of a high school sweetheart break up. If I am being completely honest while at the time the break up devastated me I also think it was the push that let me throw caution to the wind and take the leap.
I got a call on a Thursday afternoon that a store I had never heard of, visited or seen in person was for sale and was I interested. To give you little background I was almost done with school and was dreaming of being a creative director in New York. I didn’t care that I would live like a rat, take years to struggle and start from the bottom that was my dream and I was desperate to fulfill it. It was the driving force behind me for as long as I could remember. I wanted to be successful, financially stable enough to never have to worry about utilities bills ever again and be free to explore the world. This vision, dream kept me focused and driven during thousands of hours of work, driving back and forth all over Atlanta and pushing to better myself on my portfolios. Two weeks from the day I got that phone call I signed a lease on an apartment in Norcross and bought a store I had seen 1x at this point.
The real question is what was I thinking and everyones favorite topic is always what was my business plan. To this day I still don’t have one and the answer to the original question was – I wasn’t thinking. I was acting impulsively and felt that if it didn’t work I could just move on and do something else. I’d love to say it was daisies and flowers and white picket fence but I would be lying. It was the most grueling, humiliating, humbling and exhaustive year of my life. I never knew adults could be so mean, aggressive and hostile. I was used to working 23 hours a day and even though the store closed at 5pm, I stayed till midnight many nights working. To say I was OCD would be an understatement. I would not leave until all the racks were straightened, colorized, and all things for the next day were done. I think it was the one small thing I could control in my life so I took full advantage of it.
I bought a pre-existing store and while that may seem glamorous I think it was a double edged sword. The customers and employees loved the old owner and saw any change I made as an insult to her and her memory. It was like a shrine that I was trying to in a gentle and respectful way to make small adjustments to in order to update and move forward. I didn’t want to fire any of the employees because I felt that it was wrong to eliminate their jobs because of change of ownership. (I know stop laughing I was young) I didn’t need to, only 2 employees of almost 17 were left standing after the first 2 weeks and the customers were intense to say the least.
In the 2 years I was in that building I think the number one thing I learned was that you have to stand up for yourself and not allow or give people the room to attack or degrade you. I had to find my voice and as a non confrontational person this was incredibly hard. I kept a running prayer going all day with God about every little thing. I also think it was the year I was the closest to God and spoke to him hourly, I relied on his ever lasting presence and peace to carry me through days I didn’t think I would make it. I also cried EVERY single day that year, every one. I think in retrospect its why I don’t cry now and why I have learned to bottle my feelings up. Im not saying that is healthy, Im simply stating why I think I am the way I am – amongst other life excitements.
After a year of being in that location – in old town Lilburn – I decided I wanted to make some improvements to the building and to purchase it. To make a very long, dramatic story short – I had the building assessed, made a worthy offer to the building owner. She accepted the offer on Friday then called me on Monday and said she had found a better offer and I had 2 weeks to vacate. I found a space, double the rent, but available – went to move and she threatened to sue me for the remainder of the lease. After having my first panic attack, I proceeded with the move 1 day before the roof of my building callopsed and she was forced to sell my store for half of what I had offered her. Thus began my adventure at my new location but that is for another day.
MAM 