Meet Hallie Knudsen

 

We were lucky to catch up with Hallie Knudsen recently and have shared our conversation below.

Hi Hallie, really appreciate you joining us to talk about a really relevant, albeit unfortunate topic – layoffs and getting fired. Can you talk to us about your experience and how you overcame being let go?

I used to get fired A LOT!

I spent 10 years working in startups before opening my gift shop Wally’s Corner. I specialized in building customer service departments for companies that were 0-5 years old. Generally, I would be brought in when morale was low, workloads were overwhelming & there was a lot of turnover on the team. During that time, I would build processes, hire staff & keep an enthusiastic energy on the team that would spread like wildfire. Once things were falling into place, I’d soon get let go because I was hired to fix problems and overall, those problems were fixed. It was hard not to take it personally in the moment, but given some time to reflect on the good I had done and the excitement of new opportunities on the horizon, I was able to move forward and continue on my startup path. That was until 2021. Within a 6 month timeframe, I had been let go of 2 different roles and for me, it was hard to return to my old enthusiastic self.

I found myself feeling burnt out and not able to get excited about any new opportunities. Two months before the last layoff, my husband and I wandered across the street to meet our neighbors in our new Vermont town. We had been there 6 months and never saw anyone at the house, so when a car was in the driveway one afternoon, we ran over to say hi. Turns out, it wasn’t anyone’s home, but rather, an antique store that had been closed for about 2 years. During a 20 minute conversation, the owner mentioned that they were looking to sell. Next thing we knew, an offer slipped out of our mouths, to which the owner said “we accept”. We weren’t going to do anything with the property for a while, but when that last role ended, my husband looked at me and said “why don’t you see what you can do with the store? If it doesn’t work, you can find something else in tech, but in the meantime, let’s see what comes of this.” And with those words, I was able to leave the startup world to start my own fresh, new business! It has been the happiest and saddest two+ years of my life. We opened December of 2021, were broken into and robbed Christmas of 2022, had a baby in May of 2023, lost the store to a flood in July of 2023 & moved into a new, upgraded space in September of 2023. Thanks to my family, neighbors & the kindness of strangers, I’ve been able to make my dream a reality in owning a country gift shop focusing on maple syrup, local & handmade goods, home decor, & craft food & beer.

Thanks, so before we move on maybe you can share a bit more about yourself?

As the owner of a small town gift shop, every sale makes me overjoyed to be helping small, local brands get in front of customers that will love what they make. I work with over 80 vendors, many of whom are a single individual or small families. Shopping with us is directly impacting people in our town, county & state and I couldn’t be more proud of that fact.

Besides our shop, we work a booth at festivals such as the Best of Vermont Summer Festival 8/24/24-8/25/24 in Ludlow, VT, as well as Tap to Table: An Autumn Market 10/6/24 in Cuttingsville, VT. After we moved into The Olde Barn in Cuttingsville, we got very lucky that Tap to Table is right on our front lawn, so we no longer have a booth, but rather, people stop into our shop on their way into the festival, as it’s right at the entrance.

If you had to pick three qualities that are most important to develop, which three would you say matter most?

1. Do your best to be resilient & persevere through any challenge thrown your way.

We could’ve given up after the first 6 months where weeks would go by and we saw not a single person. We could’ve given up when Christmas day of 2022, our door was smashed in & somebody robbed us. We could’ve given up when the flood in July of 2023 rushed through and collapsed our back exterior wall, ruining my newly furnished baby nursery & all of our one of a kind antiques & handmade items. But by believing in our business and taking every opportunity that came our way, we are flourishing in a way that I could’ve only imagined.

2. Say “yes” to help.

We can’t do everything alone, so if help is offered, swallow your pride and accept it.

3. Believe in what you are doing.

I think a lot of what has pushed me over the last few years is an undeniable belief that what I’m doing is helping people & that it makes me happy to do it. If I made a billion dollars & never had to work again, this is the job I’d pick. Understanding how lucky I am to get to do this every day, makes me want to not waste a single minute.

Tell us what your ideal client would be like?

My ideal client is one who likes things that are locally sourced, high quality and/or handmade. Vermont is well known for incredibly talented artisans who make products from scratch and I’m honored to be able to showcase their work. Whenever I travel, I look for small gift shops that have products that you can’t find anywhere else. That is what we offer to our clients & in a world where everything is mass manufactured, we’ve found a perfect niche in the market that we hope to hold onto for a long, long time.

Contact Info:

Image Credits

Lauren Gorish

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