We caught up with the brilliant and insightful Chloe King a few weeks ago and have shared our conversation below.
Hi Chloe , really happy you were able to join us today and we’re looking forward to sharing your story and insights with our readers. Let’s start with the heart of it all – purpose. How did you find your purpose?
When you’re a self-declared treasure seeker, finding ones purpose is all about the hunt. Though I take great joy in searching for unique vintage art and objects, it does take a massive amount of dedication. I spend hours every week, shlepping from one estate sale to another. If I find a special something on say, Facebook Marketplace, I often travel great distances to gather it up. I have become both the buyer, mover/lugger, self-promoter, accountant and business woman all in one. Unlike with my day job as a writer for film and television, I revel in being my own boss! There’s no making decisions by committee in this paradigm. Nope, I either sink or swim, win or fail based on my own gut instincts. Am I able to sell everything I roll the dice on? Nope. I have acquired duds, but they are blessedly few and far between. And though it is not always glamorous job I’ve created for myself, to say the least, the thrill of finding that special something is always endlessly satisfying. Seeing that piece live on in another’s home or collection is the veritable icing on the cake.
Great, so let’s take a few minutes and cover your story. What should folks know about you and what you do?
Although I am a writer by trade, the hunt for treasure has always been the pursuit that has given me the most joy. When I say treasure, I do realize that this is relative notion. “One mans trash is another’s treasure,” and all that. But it’s true. I can’t begin to list the amazing finds I have found in another’s trash, dumpster (yes, I love dumpster diving!), garage and estate sales. I love resurrecting what has been discarded, forgotten about, or simply no longer appreciated. As the daughter or two artists and avid collectors, my first memories were being dragged through flea markets and antique stores. These excursions acted as a veritable education in all things unique and curious. As I got older, and my taste grew more discerning, I began collecting for myself. Vintage paintings and objects, from the refined to the strange and wonderful began to fill my home. When I would share these finds with friends and family, I began to hear a lot about how cool my eye is. Soon, others were asking me to source treasure for them. They would give me an idea of, say, the kind of painting they were looking for to adorn a room, or a piece of unique furniture, and I would go about finding it. After much success on that front, it began to occur to me that I could parlay this passion into a side-hustle business for myself. And so, Chloe Collects was born. I began with a website (Chloecollects.com) and an Instagram page (@chloecollectsla). Almost daily now, I post a recent acquisition. At the same time, I decided to take over my very large garage and create shop right here at home. I call it The Chloe Collects Garage Shoppe. This three car garage is now loaded top to bottom with pieces from my collection. Always a consummate entertainer, I decided to use that particular skill set to get others to visit the space. From this was born the group sales that I host five to ten times a year. I now take great joy in inviting other collectors, vendors and artists to show their wares with me. Through they are sales for sure, they end up feeling more like a party with music and drinks and food. Bottom line, a really, really fun way to shop. The challenge now is keeping up with demand. Which means frequenting multiple estate sales and garage sales a week. My only hard and fast rule… I never buy something that has already been curated by someone else. So where my childhood was an endless stream of antique stores and flea markets, I no longer attend them. Finding something that has been overlooked until now is paramount. And a never ending passion play for sure!
If you had to pick three qualities that are most important to develop, which three would you say matter most?
Looking back on my journey to this point, I believe that the early education I received in all things art history was most impactful to my current business. A year spent in Florence, Italy at 19, studying art and its history certainly helped. It’s crucial in this kind of business to be able to have a broad knowledge of art in general. Being able to discern a print from a painting, a watercolor from a lithograph, brass from bronze, different kinds of marble, as well as the different movements… Art Deco, Art Nouveau, Mid-Century, Post Modern, and the list goes on and on, is paramount. One man’s trash might be another’s treasure, but if you don’t have the basic skills to be able determine an actual treasure (no matter how relative that notion may be) from an every day dud, you’re likely in the wrong lane. To this end, educating ones self is really truly the most important thing when honing ones eye.
Who has been most helpful in helping you overcome challenges or build and develop the essential skills, qualities or knowledge you needed to be successful?
My mother in particular was my North Star when it came to my education in all things unique and beautiful. Along with being a prolific collector, she was also a brilliant sculptor and painter. Seeing her passion and her dedication to all of the above, was the greatest gift I could have been given. From her passion, did my passion grow, and I will always be grateful for that. Though she did not live to see this new business born from all that she taught me, I know just how much she would appreciate me pursuing my bliss on this front. And each and everything that I buy and post is something that I think she too would appreciate. And that is golden. And in some ways, it keeps us connected in a way I never could have imagined.
Contact Info:
- Website: ChloeCollects.com
- Instagram: @Chloecollectsla
Image Credits
Chloe King
