An Inspired Chat with Erin Dragoo of Gilbert

We’re looking forward to introducing you to Erin Dragoo. Check out our conversation below.

Good morning Erin, we’re so happy to have you here with us and we’d love to explore your story and how you think about life and legacy and so much more. So let’s start with a question we often ask: Would YOU hire you? Why or why not?
Being a business owner, I’ve found hiring to be one of the most difficult parts of the journey. Nobody loves your business like you love your business. Nobody knows how much money, and sweat, and stress goes into building such a happy place. For employees, this is just a job. It’s not their life — although I will say that I got super lucky finding Sabrina! She loves this place like it was her own.

With that being said, yes. I would hire me. Maybe that’s just the confident leo in me talking, but honestly, I would hire me on the spot. I love to work. I love being given a task and absolutely crushing it. I love impressing people around me. I’m a perfectionist, so I will stay until the job is finished. I always have a million good ideas floating around in my head, but I also know when to stay in my lane. I’m a people pleaser, so customer service is right up my alley. I will always go the extra mile to make people feel special. Aside from the not-so-occasional tardiness, I think I’m basically the perfect employee.

Can you briefly introduce yourself and share what makes you or your brand unique?
My name is Erin Dragoo. I own a little gift shop in San Tan Village called Lunch Money. But I pride myself on the idea that we’re actually a lot more than just a gift shop. We’re a shot of serotonin in the middle of a mundane weekday. We’re the local “happy place.” We’re the first place you wanna come when that paycheck hits. We’re your in-person Pinterest board for Dopamine Decor. And yes, we are the epicenter of gift giving. We have gifts for just about any female you can think of, and we’ll even wrap it for you.

Lunch Money is also an experience. We have a charm bar here where you can make your own charm bracelets, necklaces, purse chains, keychains, bookmarks, phone charms — pretty much anything you can dream up, we can make the magic happen at the charm bar! We also have a pink salon chair where we offer hair tinsel. For $20, we tie in 24 strands of tinsel and it only takes us about 20 minutes! Another way to experience Lunch Money is to take pictures in our pink phone booth. It’s always fun to end the day with a new profile pic.

The name Lunch Money comes from when I was high school. My mom used to give me $20 at the beginning of the week for lunch, but instead of buying lunch with it, I would take that money to the mall and buy accessories, or other little trinkets that brought me joy. So, my store is everything I would spend my lunch money on!

Okay, so here’s a deep one: Who taught you the most about work?
My mom. She was an engineer long before women were prevalent in that field. She worked her way to the top, surpassing her coworkers and later becoming their superior. It actually made a few men angry at the time, which I find to be quite funny. I watched her put on her pantyhose, high heels and expensive women’s suits every morning and drop my sister and I off at the YMCA before school so she could get to work on time. As a child, I didn’t really see just how awesome she was, but now that I’m older, I can really appreciate how hard she worked and it inspires me every day.

What did suffering teach you that success never could?
Humility.

Starting this business, I was really betting on myself. I told everyone around me that I had a great idea, and if I make a super cute and Instagrammable store, people will find it no matter where it is. Word of mouth and social media will make me wealthy beyond my wildest dreams.

None of those things were true.

The location that I had before this one that was in a really obscure shopping center. The only real anchor was a breakfast place, so it was pretty much dead after 2:00. I was tucked away in the back, not street facing. And the landlord knew it was my first time renting a commercial property, so he really took advantage of me as far as rent and utilities were concerned. There was barely any foot traffic. Social media and word of mouth did great for me for about a year. Then the novelty of the colorful new store faded away, and so did my profits. The guy that does my taxes would tell me that if I stay on this path, the government is going to consider my business a “hobby” and I would no longer be able to write anything off. So, when my three year lease was up at that location, and I found a place at San Tan Village Marketplace, I had people asking me, “Are you sure it’s going to be profitable this time?” I didn’t know. But I didn’t want to give up on my dream. So, I would tell them,” Yes! Location is everything, you’ll see.”

Now I’m here, and business is much better! It’s still not perfect, but it’s enough to quiet the nay-sayers and just let me live my happy life in my silly little store.

But that near-failure taught me to not be so cocky and to be thankful that I have a space in an outdoor mall with real foot traffic.

Alright, so if you are open to it, let’s explore some philosophical questions that touch on your values and worldview. Is the public version of you the real you?
Unfortunately, no. As I mentioned before, I’m a people pleaser and I have ADHD on top of that. I often feel as though I’m performing when I’m in any social situation, like I’m wearing a mask. I’m really pretty quiet when I’m alone. It’s not something I’m proud of, but it’s something that I’ve accepted.

Before we go, we’d love to hear your thoughts on some longer-run, legacy type questions. What do you think people will most misunderstand about your legacy?
I didn’t have kids. I think that’s such a shock to people nowadays. I just never felt ready. I never felt mature enough. So, my business is really what gives me a purpose. That’s one of the reasons I try and make everybody feel like a somebody when they come in — because Lunch Money is what I’m “leaving behind.” So I hope I have it for a very long time, and I hope that it just becomes part of Gilbert.

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Erin Dragoo

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