May 23, 2025 • 50 mins
Featuring: Beth McElhiney, owner of the magical vintage shop Wonderland in Easthampton.
Step into a world where objects tell stories and intuition leads the way.
In this episode, I sit down with Beth to explore how she uses her inner wisdom to guide the curation of her vintage collection—from choosing pieces that "click" to sensing the energy they carry. We talk risk-taking, storytelling through objects, and the powerful pull between people and the pieces meant for them.
Whether you're a vintage lover, a creative entrepreneur, or someone curious about trusting your gut, this episode is full of rich insights and soulful takeaways!
Find me on Instagram @ToHumisHuman and www.sonorouslight.com
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Transcript
Episode Transcript
Available transcripts are automatically generated. Complete accuracy is not guaranteed.
SPEAKER_01 (00:06):
Hi friends, it's me, Donna Bell, your host of another
episode of To Hum is Human, thepodcast where we explore the
transformative power of tuninginto our intuition to express
our passionate purpose.
In this episode, the role ofintuition in decision-making,
we're diving into the art ofintuitive curation.
(00:30):
Whether you're a vintageenthusiast, a creative
entrepreneur, or someonenavigating how to trust yourself
more deeply, you are going tolove this conversation.
I'm so excited to introduce mynext guest.
Beth McElhenney is the owner ofthe Enchanted Vintage Shop
Wonderland in East HamptonWelcome Beth! Hi! I absolutely
(01:15):
love your shop and you alwayshave the most unique and
beautiful items, especially onthe street.
They're always eye-catching.
Absolutely.
But your journey here wasn't adirect one.
In fact, you were quite thetraveler and seeker.
(01:36):
So I wondered if you could takeus back to the time when you
first felt the pull to explore.
Well, I'm from New Yorkoriginally.
I'm a master silversmith.
I have been in high-end retailon Madison Avenue.
And when I was about 30, I kindof burned out on New York and
(02:00):
went on a journey to Peru with anative elder that I had been
studying with for years in NewYork doing shamanic work.
And I went there with her, spenta little over a month trekking
around Peru and doing amazingceremonies and meeting beautiful
(02:21):
people everywhere we went.
And I came home to New York andit was like culture shock.
I could not fit back in at allin any way.
I can't imagine.
Yeah.
It was like energy, like bolt,you know, like slam me down.
And I ended up going to Martha'sVineyard for a weekend with my
herbal master that I workedwith.
(02:43):
And she was doing a workshop onherbals medicine.
I went for the weekend and assoon as I stepped off the ferry
onto the earth there, I turnedto her and said, I'm staying.
And she was like, what?
I'm like, yeah, this is where itmeant to be next.
And I washed ashore and I didn'twash out for 18 years.
Oh my goodness.
(03:04):
Yeah.
So I built my business there, myjewelry business, my retail
store there.
I was a firefighter on theislands.
I was very- Wait, wait, wait,wait, wait, wait, wait.
Back up.
Firefighter.
Yeah.
I'm a volunteer firefighter.
So how did you, this is going tobe an interesting conversation.
So how did you get intovolunteer firefighting?
(03:24):
I had been in the firedepartment since I was young.
My dad was a firefighter.
He was a captain.
My grandfather was a chief.
I'm half Irish.
It kind of goes with the blood.
I was always the only woman inthe fire department.
And when I joined a Martha'sVineyard, I again was the only
woman, but they had had a womanbefore in the department I was
in because I was very hesitantabout doing it because back in
(03:46):
New York, I knew all the guys Igrew up with them.
It wasn't a big deal.
You know, going into a brand newdepartment, there's a lot you
have to deal with as a woman anda lot of, you know, mess,
misogyny and macho guys.
And, but I can pull weightbetter than any of them.
(04:07):
And after a couple of drills, Irealized I knew what I was doing
and I got accepted right in as Iwas, as if I was family that had
grown up with them there.
So it was great.
And I loved it.
I did it until I had my kneereplacement and then I had to
retire because I couldn't crawlanymore.
I couldn't do a lot with my newknees.
So I did that on the island fora long time.
(04:29):
And it was interesting because alot of times on the vineyard,
especially in the winter, ourcalls would be house fires and
often they'd be in the middle ofthe night.
Chimney fires and stuff,candles, heaters would spark
things off.
And you're out in the middle ofthe night, adrenaline rush,
right?
I get back to the house and Iwas still like jittery, like
(04:50):
adrenaline jittery.
So I learned to go out and takewalks.
It didn't matter if it was threeo'clock in the morning and it
was the vineyard, so it wassafe.
But I always wore a long whitegown.
People probably thought I was aghost because I literally would
walk around all of West Hisburyin the middle of the night, just
getting my adrenaline groundedback in, getting myself grounded
(05:10):
back in, getting my bloodpressure down so I wouldn't get
long-term...
Thank you so much for joiningus.
(05:35):
In 2008, my landlord for thestore that I owned and for the
house that I lived in, twodifferent landlords, in the same
week told me they needed to, onewas selling the property, so I
had to close my store, and theother needed to move into the
house I was living in, so I wasout of housing.
And I was just like, okay, it'stime to go.
Message heard loud and clear.
If both come in the same week,it's time to leave the island.
(05:57):
So I did, and I moved here toEast Hampton.
And I have never regretted it.
You know, I still get to go backa lot and you have a lot of
friends and a lot of clients outthere.
I go back in the summertime anddo shows again now after my
accident.
So yeah.
Oh my gosh.
Well, and I know you came tothis area because you wanted to
be in sort of arts community.
(06:19):
Tell us about that.
And I wanted to be in the dancecommunity.
There's a very strong dancecommunity or was before COVID in
North Hampton doing ecstaticdance and dance spree and drum
and dance and all that kind ofstuff.
I studied Gabrielle Roth's workfor 30 years.
So I very much wanted to bemoving and dancing and I used to
(06:40):
come to those before I movedhere, so it was like the perfect
place.
And I found Eastworks, which iswhere I live, and it's a big
arts mill building full ofamazing people and amazing
neighbors.
Yeah.
SPEAKER_00 (06:52):
I love it
SPEAKER_01 (06:53):
here.
I absolutely love it.
I miss the ocean, but I have themountain.
I have the ponds and the lakes.
Well, I think that it's the bestof both worlds.
And if you wanted to go into thecity, you could go within a
short period of time.
Much easier than having to get aboat ride.
Right.
Well, I want to go back to yourshop because, first of all, it
(07:14):
sounds like you started off as asilversmith.
But what compelled you toactually run a retail shop?
Because that's a whole otheradventure.
Well, I've been doing retail mywhole life.
And when I had my store,Martha's Vineyard, it was my
jewelry and decorative artsantiques.
So I've always mixed the two.
I've always mixed antiques.
(07:34):
And a lot of my jewelry designshave a very kind of talismanic
style, antique style to them.
When I moved out of New York,all of my stores that I
personally owned and didn't runfor other people were about
that.
And here in East Hampton, Iopened the store.
I used to do arts festivals alot.
in the summer and into thespring and fall, but had a very
(07:57):
bad accident on Martha'sVineyard seven years ago now in
the middle of the season when Ifell down the stairs and got
mid-flighted to Boston.
And they saved my life and theysaved my leg, but I was in a
wheelchair for a long time, thenonto crutches and a walker.
And yeah, it's been a longprogress.
I'm still considered disabledbecause I can't walk very far.
(08:18):
But once I was on the walker andgetting around again, my partner
Jeff said, you need a storeagain because I couldn't do
shows anymore.
And so that was when I decided,yes, I want a store here.
I want it in East Hampton.
I want it on Cottage Street.
And I put that out into theworld.
And literally within a week, afriend of mine called me and
(08:39):
There was a store that was herethat friends of hers had just
bought and were gut renovatingand needed a tenant.
And she knew that I wanted astore and she put us together
behind the scene.
It never went on the market.
They had never owned a retailspace before.
We all worked together andcreated this beautiful space
that I have.
And I had been doing vintageclothing all along also.
(09:02):
And I had been doing trunk showsout of my loft at Eastworks.
SPEAKER_00 (09:06):
And
SPEAKER_01 (09:06):
so when I did the store, I wanted to really focus
more on to vintage clothing andjewelry and accessories, lighter
things, smaller things.
And of course my enamelwarethat's actually behind my
shoulder on the shelves overthere.
I still do that.
So yeah, the store, I opened up10 months before the COVID
shutdown, which was verychallenging.
(09:29):
After already having like gottenthrough a major physical
challenge, then all of a suddenI had my store have to go to
through the economic challengeof staying open.
And good thing is you're stillopen and you're doing amazing.
And, you know, it's nice to seethat when the moment was right
(09:50):
for you to open the shop, thingsjust sort of happened freely and
easily.
And that's got to feel like,okay, this is the right thing to
do.
Because most of the time whenthings are such a struggle,
you're like time to go, time tomove on or just time to pivot.
And I mean, that must have beena really easy decision for you
despite what happened later.
(10:11):
But it sounds like it'ssomething that you're obviously
meant to do.
Now, I'm curious what yourinterest is in vintage items.
They were made a lot better.
They're beautifully designed.
The clothing nowadays is suchjunk and it goes straight into
the landfill.
(10:31):
I have items in my store thatare 75, 100 years old and look
brand new because they're madeof really quality fabrics.
They were treated properly.
They were sewn.
with strong thread, all of that,you know, it lasts, it survives.
And of course it all hasstories, which I love, you know,
it's just like some of thestories I know.
And so I just make up in myhead.
(10:54):
I get told by the family thatpasses it to me.
You know, I do.
I get a lot of my items out ofestates and auctions and a lot
of people that just come to menow because I've been here for
quite a while and they call oremail and say, I have my
grandmother's estate.
I have my mother's estate.
And, And then I do find out someof the stories, which is really
(11:14):
fun.
Like what this person wore thisto.
And I have a whole collection ofvintage wedding gowns that I'm
going to be doing a big eventwith.
I'm doing a vintage bridal promand formal wear event.
So that's fun to like find thepeople that they pass to.
Certain pieces I call Cinderelladresses because they're so
specific in their sizing thatthere are very few people that
(11:35):
will they can find to wear them,especially the very old 1930s,
1940s pieces.
But I have some clients that arevery tiny and very petite and
love vintage because it fitsthem like it was made for them.
Oh my gosh.
It's really fun to like pair thepiece up with the person and the
style of the person and whatdecade they like.
And yeah, it's, it's a challengeand I love it.
(11:58):
And I love like styling people.
I always have.
UNKNOWN (12:02):
Yeah.
SPEAKER_01 (12:02):
It's like matchmaking too.
You're just like, oh, well, thisis you and this is totally you.
And let's see what that lookslike together.
Yeah.
Sort of like my dresses andstuff are like, well, she went
to so-and-so.
To me, they really havepersonalities.
They're like, they're almostliving because they've survived
longer than I have so far.
Well, it's almost like you're acaretaker to some degree of
(12:24):
these items.
Yeah.
So here's a question about howyou source your items, because
it sounds like some peopleactually...
let you know about it, which Ilove.
I love that your reputation isso great.
They're like, I need to getthese to Beth, which is
fantastic.
But also too, it's like, are youlooking for something specific
when you choose items?
Like what guides you when youchoose some of this?
(12:45):
Well, I like true vintage.
I don't want stuff from 1990sand 2000 to me.
That's, already junk basicallyin the fabrics and stuff.
So I usually say no when peopleare bringing me that kind of
stuff.
I go, I specialize from like1900 to the 1970s.
I love the turn of the century,1910s, 20s, 30s, 40s are like my
(13:07):
favorite.
I can never find anything inthose sizes for me, but I find
the right people for them.
And I'm, I'm definitely morelike, Nice, fine clothing.
I don't do grunge.
I don't do torn jeans andt-shirts and that kind of, it's
just, that's not my style.
There's other people that dothat.
And I always refer people to theother dealers that do that
because I know them.
(13:28):
But I'm, I'm more about likebeautiful treasures, you know,
heirlooms that they'll pass tothe next generation.
There's something about that.
There's something aboutlongevity when you're thinking
about items that you're seeking.
Now, do you remember the firstitem that you purchased that you
(13:48):
were like, this is going to setthe stage?
Actually, it wasn't an item Ipurchased.
When I was still in college, soI went to Parsons and FIT in New
York.
And when I was at Parsons, I hada friend who, who was like my
mother's age.
I assisted her with a collectionof jewelry that she wanted to
put out.
(14:09):
And her mother passed away.
So that would have been mygrandmother's age, right?
And she invited me into thehouse to go through the closet
and it was basically all like1940s and a lot of beautiful
suits that you'd picture AudreyHepburn in or something.
And back then I was a fit sizesix and I, they all fit me
(14:29):
perfectly.
And she just gave them all tome.
So while everybody else iswearing like, wow, crazy punk.
I mean, I had my punk face, but,but like, I was wearing 1940s
like suits to school and stuff.
So I'm sure that was like, Thatmade you so unique compared to
what everyone else was wearing.
I didn't really care about that.
(14:50):
It's just I loved that.
I wasn't really into the punkclothing and the safety pins.
And I did have a pink mohawk atone point, but I didn't really
love all that.
I'd rather have gone back intime and worn the beautiful old
pieces.
Those were the first pieces Iowned that were really true
vintage.
(15:10):
You know, I've try on my mom'sstuff every once in a while, but
my grandmother really didn'thave anything.
There was nothing nice in thefamily.
We weren't, we weren't likewealthy at all.
So that was the first time I gotto like handle and see really
beautiful clothing and wear it.
And it was, it's me.
So I didn't have to figure outhow I was going to pay for it.
Well, it's almost like donning acostume in some way.
(15:34):
It very much is.
And I change my look.
I'm like, I'm a chameleon withmy style.
Every day, I look totallydifferent.
I love that.
I always have done that.
It's just like shapeshiftingwith my fashion.
Oh my gosh.
Well, that goes back toshamanism, I'm imagining too.
Yes, yes, yes, yes.
Well, do you ever take risks andget something that you're unsure
(15:56):
about just because somethingspeaks to you and then...
It may or may not be well in theshop all the time.
What usually happens
SPEAKER_00 (16:04):
to those
SPEAKER_01 (16:04):
pieces?
Some pieces are still in thecloset, in my storage closet.
And I know eventually they'llfind the right person.
I'm building some collectionsright now, things that I've
invested into that areexquisite, like Pucci, Emilio
Pucci from the 1960s.
I've been buying, when I canfind it, dresses.
And I just got a scarf.
So all that's actually goingaway into my storage until I...
(16:27):
do one of the higher end showslike a Manhattan show or
something.
The clientele for that in thisarea really isn't here because
it's too high cost for most ofmy clients.
I try to keep my prices veryaccessible, like under a hundred
dollars for almost everything inthe store.
There are some pieces that are alittle bit higher.
(16:47):
And if they are, they're likereally high end designers, you
know, but there's still like aquarter of what it would be in
New York or Boston.
Yes, we're lucky to be in thisarea to be able to get some of
those pieces.
And I've seen you posting someof the pieces that you have, and
they are like works of art.
And, you know, sometimes I thinkyou posted a photograph of a
wedding dress that looked likeit was in such a horrible state.
(17:11):
but then somehow you managed torevive it in a way.
And it looked like brand new.
Like, how do you have the visionto see the potential in a piece
when it's so not at its best?
Well, I've been, I've beencleaning and washing and mending
stuff for years.
So I get it.
Some people bring me stuff andI'll just say, look, there's no
(17:31):
way I can repair this.
I can't bring this back, youknow?
And some, I just don't know.
And I'll take a risk.
And sometimes it works.
Sometimes it doesn't.
Most of the times, I've gottento the point where I know what
to use on different things anddifferent stains and how to mend
things.
And then if something's reallyextensive, I have people I can
give it to that will help mewith seams or whatever it is
(17:54):
because I'm I my skills only goso far in the sewing world it's
very limited so I can onlyimagine I'm not real good at
darning I've only done it acouple times eventually I'll
I'll really learn how to do thatbut I haven't my old assistant
who's excellent at darning sowhen it comes to that kind of
thing I'll pass it to her to dofor me but yeah I have I have
(18:16):
some crazy things like whatplease do tell in the middle of
covid i think the store wasstill closed because we got
completely shut down for threemonths we weren't even allowed
to open our doors we weresupposed to not even come into
our spaces i'm like you've gotto be kidding there's nobody in
there but me like why can't iaccess something in my store to
(18:37):
ship it so forget that one i'mcoming in the back door and i'm
getting whatever i need in mystore that was ridiculous but
anyway I was looking for ajewelry showcase and I didn't
want a heavy, you know, plainrectangle showcase.
I'd wanted something with likelegs that like could dance in
the story.
And there was a Facebookmarketplace post for an Oak
(18:59):
antique jewelry case.
And it was in the hill towns.
I don't even remember the nameof the town, but it was up in
the hill towns.
So I messaged back and forth andI made arrangements to come up
for this jewelry showcase.
And it was in an old schoolhouse.
I wish I remember the name ofthe town, but I don't remember.
And I walked in the door and thewhole place was filled with
(19:21):
clothes, like crazy clothes,costumes.
And I'm like, what is going onhere?
So I met the woman that had putthe post up and I'm like, okay,
forget the jewelry case for amoment.
what's up with the clothes?
And it turned out to be aBroadway costume designer that
has a house in the Hilltownsthat was supposed to open a
(19:44):
Broadway museum.
Oh my gosh.
Up there in the Hilltowns.
And he had bought theschoolhouse from the town for a
dollar years before, accumulatedall these beautiful antique
display cases, showcases, andwas storing all the costumes and
clothing for the Broadway shows.
Wow.
in the hill towns and wasbringing him back and forth.
But of course it's COVID.
(20:04):
So none of the shows were on.
And he had to clear theschoolhouse out because the town
wanted it back because he hadn'tmade the museum.
I went back and forth threetimes filling my car with
clothing from this Broadwaycostume designer who I don't
really feel comfortable sayinghis name.
But out of that, let me see if Ican turn this around.
(20:25):
So you have to see.
The headdresses?
UNKNOWN (20:28):
Yes.
SPEAKER_01 (20:28):
Yes.
Oh, my goodness.
So those were both.
And there's also a big fan nextto the mirror.
Yes.
All of that was from La Cage aFall on Broadway.
Oh, you're kidding me.
Those were the first pieces Ibought from him and then went
back and got a lot more stuff.
So down in my basement, I havesome wacko costumes from
(20:50):
Broadway shows.
And those pieces, which peopleare constantly trying to buy
from me, I'm like, nope, they'renot for sale.
There's very few things in thestore that are not for sale, but
those are not for sale.
Those are like a lifetime find.
You do not ever give up.
It's true.
But I'm curious what you'regoing to do with those costumes.
Will they see the light of day?
Well, they're here in the storeall the time.
(21:11):
So we talk about them all thetime.
But the red headdress one, Iwanted to create a Firebird
costume for Halloween, you know,Tchaikovsky Firebird Suite.
SPEAKER_00 (21:21):
So I wanted
SPEAKER_01 (21:22):
to do a Firebird costume, but of course, after
COVID, none of the big, hugeparties came back.
There used to be an amazingparty in Holyoke at a club
there, and they had this amazingHalloween party every year.
And I wanted to like wear it forthat and make a whole costume,
but someday, someday, ifsomebody has a really incredible
(21:43):
event, That red one's going onmy head with a whole costume and
I will be like entering as thefirebird.
Well, speaking of spotlight, Iimagine there's a certain
rotation going on in your space.
And I'm wondering how youspotlight particular items or
sort of keep things in storagefor a while.
(22:05):
Like how does that work?
I just changed the whole storeover to spring.
So basically everything in thestore is fresh.
I took a whole week, all thewinter went away into storage.
All the spring, summer came out.
I had to change everything onthe, on the rail racks and the
shelves.
And then I just, as I'm, youknow, every few days, I just
(22:25):
feature something on Instagramor Facebook.
If somebody buys a piece andthey look fabulous in it and
they agree to let me photographthem, then I post that on the
page so that people can see thatlike anybody can find something
in here.
I want people to see the varietyof what's here and the diversity
of my clientele so they feelcomfortable and welcome to walk
(22:47):
in.
I have all kinds of clients.
I have college kids and I havewomen in their 70s going to
galas and artists going togalas.
And I have one client that goesto...
North Adams.
What's it called?
Oh, Mass Mocha.
Mass Mocha.
She's a featured artist thereusually every year.
(23:08):
And she goes to this big galaand she's gotten multiple
dresses from me for that.
I post her on it.
I post when people find a bridaldress.
So after my event, I'll beposting people in wedding gowns.
So, you know, it's, it's, I tryto keep it interesting.
I'm not great at it.
I'm not.
You know, a 20-year-old thatgrew up on social media, that's
a big challenge for people myage in this industry because
(23:31):
everybody grew up with it.
So they built these hugefollowings.
I don't have that.
Alice, my cat, has morefollowers than I do.
You should start modeling someclothes for Alice.
I know, right?
I need nice gala clothes.
She likes to put little glasseson her.
She likes to put hats on her forthe holidays and stuff.
(23:52):
She had a...
A little flower crown for springon her that I put on.
Oh my gosh.
She's very good.
I don't think she'd let me put adress on her.
Well, yeah.
Cats, maybe dogs.
I don't know.
I'm curious because I know someof it is a particular time
(24:13):
period that you're interested inwhen you're choosing your
vintage items, but you also havepersonal taste.
So How do you balance yourpersonal taste and what you
think customers will connectwith?
I can often tell when somebodywalks through the door a little
(24:33):
bit about their style, and thenI ask a lot of questions.
And usually have to domeasurements because most people
do not, especially women, don'tknow their measurements at all.
And I have such a wide varietyof pieces, anywhere from black
tie to just everyday skirt andblouse sets and stuff like that.
So it's more like just having aconversation with the people
(24:55):
that walk through the door, youknow, greeting them, making them
feel comfortable, and thenasking if they're looking for
something specific.
And if they're not, they justbrowse the website.
the racks and they find thingsand they try them on and they
look good or they don't, youknow, I never force anything on
somebody.
I want them to love it.
If they're hesitant, I tell themto wait, come back and try it on
(25:17):
again and make sure you love itbecause I want them to have the
right pieces for that.
I don't want them to just gointo a closet and never be worn.
These needs to be shown off.
Well, would you say that that'sway of, running your shop and
sort of how you build things inyour shop.
Like you've got to love it toinclude it.
(25:38):
Like it's not something you'relike, would you take something
that you sort of like, or it'sonly because you love it.
I definitely go with my owntaste and my own style.
When we opened up the store, Ididn't know if it was going to
work because it's like all of mydisplays are white because I
love color and patterns.
clothing.
So I didn't want my displays andmy walls to clash with what was
(26:03):
on the racks.
I wanted the pieces to be thestars of the show.
So when we first opened up, Iwas still on the walker.
So I had a lot of friendshelping me paint all of these
cabinets I got off of Craigslistand Marketplace for almost free.
They're all TV entertainmentunits that I stripped out,
sanded down, and we paintedwhite.
(26:24):
So it all looks like customcabinetry, but it's just
inexpensive pieces that Ipainted white, you know, but it
looks beautiful.
And I also like when people walkin, they, they think it feels
clean in here.
It doesn't smell musty.
It doesn't smell like a thriftstore because I'm not a thrift
store.
I need to make them realize whenthey walk through the door that
(26:48):
I'm not a regular vintage store.
That's not how I operate.
And so I, There's no sticks.
There's no bricks.
There's no Pioneer Valley, likeearthy, crunchy design in my
store, which is great for thosestores, but it's not me.
SPEAKER_00 (27:03):
So I just said, I'm going to do it my way and I hope
it works.
SPEAKER_01 (27:06):
And yes, you know, I think you've got a good thing
going.
Yeah.
Well, and when you think aboutvintage, all of these pieces are
no longer made and they're sounique.
The beauty of it is that you'llfind something there and someone
else is not going to be wearingthe same thing as you.
Right.
None of it.
And none of this is it's all oneoff.
(27:27):
You know, people can come in forlike the same event.
if somebody's locals having awedding or something, or if
there was a big city event, likewhen we had the event at
Eastworks in the downstairsspace, and we did a big ball for
the anniversary of Old TownHall.
And a lot of people came in toget gowns from me for that.
And the theme was like 1920s,1930s, 1940s.
(27:50):
And every person ended up with adifferent piece and they all
looked fabulous.
And they had so much fun becausethey felt really special that
night.
And so I like that.
I have parties all the time.
And I want people to findopportunities to dress up and
celebrate life.
(28:11):
Even in our current environment,we need to find those times and
those places to celebrate andrealize why we're actually here
and not just stay in the...
a negative depressed state.
Don't just wear sweats all thetime.
Put on something nice and go outon a date.
(28:32):
Yes, please.
And have some fun.
I think what people forget intimes of uncertainty is that we
can still have joy.
Like it's okay to experience joyand do joyful, happy things.
And even if it is just wearingsomething fancy for a few hours,
it sort of takes you outside ofyour daily routine and it kind
of puts a little magic andwonder in your life.
(28:55):
And so I'd like to know aboutthe name, like how the name for
your shop came to you um i lovealice in wonderland i love the
book i love all of the littlequips out of it and the layers
of that book of all the booksand i and i wanted to create a
place of wonder and magic andlike also like a sacred
(29:16):
container you know like thisspace is a space for you
everybody to come in and feellike they're being treated a
little extra special and they'regoing to find extraordinary
treasure.
And they cut down the rabbithole with me.
And that was when we got, whenwe got my little kitten.
She'll be four in May when wehave her birthday party.
(29:37):
When we got her, she was arescue from South Carolina and a
friend of mine found her hikingin the mountains down there and
they don't have rescues.
They only have kill facilitiesthere.
SPEAKER_00 (29:47):
So I got a
SPEAKER_01 (29:48):
text, do you want a kitten?
And I'm like, well, I alreadyhave two very large cats at
home, like large cats.
he sent me the next text was apicture of her little face.
And I'm like, okay, that's allyou had to do.
And, um, and so I had to bringher to store with me immediately
because she had to keepseparated from the other cats.
(30:10):
And I lived in a big open loftwith no doors or rooms closed
off.
So I just brought her to thestore with me.
And, um, it was funny.
Actually, we put it on Facebookfor my customers to help me name
the kitten and, And the firstperson said, well, it has to be
Alice.
And I'm like, oh, my God.
I could not believe I didn'tthink of it myself.
(30:31):
But as soon as that person wrotethat, I'm like, you're right,
it's Alice.
So she's been Alice inWonderland the whole time.
And she sits on the counter orshe'll sit in the window
displays and people come tovisit her all day long.
Never buy anything in the storeand that's perfectly fine
because she's East Hampton'stherapy cat now.
I mean, the amount of peoplethat come just to visit Alice
(30:53):
every day is so beautiful.
Even the mayor loves her.
Oh my gosh.
Oh, God.
Well, it's the next best thingto a cat cafe, I suppose.
Absolutely.
And I've been in those in Japan.
But more are opening aroundhere.
I mean, more have opened inMassachusetts.
Cat cafes are now inMassachusetts.
Wow, that's true.
(31:13):
Well, Beth, I'm curious aboutthe more esoteric part of your
journey.
Because I know you mentionedearlier, you had traveled to
Peru and traveled with theshaman.
And you also were interested inherbal medicine.
I'm curious how, if any of thoseaspects come into how you move
(31:34):
through your everyday life andin your business.
Well, it's part of who I am andit's part of my intuition and
how I choose to do things andlisten to what messages I'm
receiving and stuff.
I don't, I don't think, well, itdoes, it goes into my jewelry
for sure.
And do you still create yourjewelry?
(31:54):
Are there still pieces therethat you continue to...
I still have a collection of myjewelry in the store.
I'm not doing a lot of itbecause I got involved into the
enamelware behind me and thenthe store.
So I've kind of like put that onhold on the side for a while.
But my goal for this next year,I want to start making new
(32:15):
pieces.
And that's what I was wonderingif you had anything on the
horizon that you're lookingforward to.
Yeah, I do.
All right.
Well, you're going to have tokeep us posted on that.
I know as an intuitive thatsometimes objects carry energy
from their, from their owners.
Now, do you get a sense of thatas you're sourcing your
materials?
Have you ever wanted to buysomething?
(32:37):
You're just like, Hmm, this onejust doesn't feel right.
Yeah.
I say no.
You definitely say no.
I definitely say no to things.
Yeah.
Yeah.
Yeah.
It might be the piece itself.
It might've been the space itwas in.
Sometimes when I'm in a,especially a house that doesn't
have like the really goodpositive energy.
(33:00):
When I buy items, I always cleanthem.
Everything gets clean when Itake it home.
And sometimes I just likeliterally will leave it in
moonlight or something to helpdispel any energy that got
attached to the, to any of theitems, whether it's the clothing
or jewelry or regular antiques,you know, because sometimes I,
(33:20):
There's one house I have in mindin particular that was very,
very neglected and had had a lotof damage to the house and some
trauma to the family from thathouse.
So I just felt like this neededextra cleansing before I would
bring it into the store.
You know, I am really careful tokeep the energy of the store
(33:42):
balanced.
Well, I imagine with all thedifferent time periods, all the
different households and peoplewho have kept these beautiful
items, like it goes back to youbeing the caretaker, like you're
a caretaker of the space.
And it's wonderful to know thatit's just kind of this cleansed
space of beautiful energybecause you can sort of see it
behind you, just the care thatyou've put into this beautiful
(34:06):
shop.
And people know and theyprobably can feel that as they
walk into the room, just how youcreate this sort of caring and
support space and inclusivespace.
Like, you know, you want, youwant everyone to come in and
hopefully find something thatresonates or not, but just like,
welcome come in.
Yeah.
And I say hello to people assoon as they walk through the
(34:27):
door.
That's, you know, sometimesthat's fair.
That's in the back, like readinga book or on their computer,
ignoring the people that justwalk through the door.
It's just not the way I dobusiness.
It's like, you know, I'm like,hello, welcome.
And then let me know if you needhelp with anything, but I don't,
hover over people.
I don't pressure anybody.
I want them to be comfortable.
(34:48):
And sometimes I can read thatsomebody doesn't want to
interact at all.
And I just let them be, do theirthing, you know?
And if you have any questions,let me know kind of thing.
Yeah.
I mean, I've been in retail forso long and in so many different
sides of it, especially MadisonAvenue where I had like major
wealthy people, celebrities,like, but it's funny because I'm
(35:12):
not good with names and I don'thave a good memory.
And with my injuries, I've hadmultiple brain injuries, so I'm
not good about rememberingpeople.
But when I was on Madison Avenuebefore my brain injuries, I
didn't watch TV.
I hadn't owned a TV in years,like 30 years, you know?
And I had people walk throughthe door and I'd work with them
in my store and they'd leave.
(35:33):
And my assistant would turn tome and say, you have no idea who
that was, do you?
I'm like, No, who is that?
And then I'd find out they'relike the major star in some
television program.
I won't use any names, but oneperson I became very good
friends with because I treatedhim just like a regular person.
And he really enjoyed that.
I'm like, honestly, I had noclue who you were when you came
into the store.
(35:54):
You know, I amused a lot of mycustomers on Madison Avenue.
It's like, I have no idea whoyou are.
You're just a person to me.
And I cut that though, becauseyou treat everyone the same.
Like it's like, I'm sorry.
Money to me means nothing justbecause you're rich.
Doesn't mean you're a goodperson.
Doesn't mean you're a badperson.
It's how you behave.
(36:15):
You know,
SPEAKER_00 (36:15):
even on
SPEAKER_01 (36:16):
the vineyard, I have a lot of celebrity clients out
there and they're incognito onthe Island.
They don't want to be followedby paparazzi and they don't want
to be fawned over.
They just want to be regularpeople at their summer home.
And that's good with me.
You know, I don't, care who youare outside of this conversation
and this connection we're havingright now, you know?
(36:38):
Well, and you also mentionedtoo, that you're interested in
building community.
How do you see your shop in thebigger scope of Cottage Street
or East Hampton?
How do you see it fitting in?
Well, when I opened up thestore, I went door to door and I
did this when I opened up aMadison Avenue too.
I went door to door and I talkedto the other businesses and
introduced myself to everybodybecause that's what I do.
(36:59):
And here on Cottage Street, Idid the same thing.
And I just started talking topeople and most of the people
had never talked to each other.
So I started a merchantsassociation.
I'm like, what do you think?
Should we do it?
And they're like, yeah.
So we started a cottage streetmerchants association and then
we started doing events togetheras a group on the street.
(37:21):
So instead of me just having myown little event on that
evening, there might be fiveother events happening.
So people could come in and theycan go store to store and have
all these different thingshappening.
And yeah, have different treatsin different stores and get
their girlfriends together.
And as a group, just have adrink at the bar and then go
shopping, you know, or just goand explore and have fun.
(37:43):
So we do that a lot.
We've been doing that now forsix years.
Yeah.
Oh my gosh.
Is there a certain...
time of the month that you dothis regularly so people can
look forward to it?
Well, we have Art Walk, which ison Saturday of each month now.
So a lot of people do that.
But then we plan events togetherfor different events and
holidays.
(38:03):
And we're doing the sidewalksale.
You know, we do cultural chaos,obviously, in June.
We have the holidays.
We have late night shoppingevents, two of them before
Christmas, where we go all outon and we're planning a really
fun one this year for Christmas.
Oh, I can't wait.
I can't wait for that.
We're going to Whoville onCottage Street.
It's going to be really fun.
Oh my gosh.
(38:25):
I think we decided we're callingit Christmas in Whoville.
That sounds so amazing.
Dr.
Seuss theme and we'll have theGrinch again.
And yeah, so it's fun because weall plan different things and,
you know, we pick a date, wepick a topic for that event and
then we all tie into it and weshare our social media to up
business.
(38:45):
I'm all about working togetherso everybody's business comes
up.
Yes.
Not competition.
When I started the MerchantsAssociation in New York on
Madison Avenue, everybody waslike, there is no way you are
going to get Barneys to workwith Armani's, to work with
Ralph Lauren, to work with thelittle jewelry store.
They're not going to do it.
I was like, watch me.
And I was only in my 20s.
(39:06):
And I went store to store and Istarted talking to everybody.
And there was a very bad elementon Madison Avenue at the time
where there was a lot ofrobberies.
in the stores, like armedrobberies of the stores.
There were a lot of shutteredstores.
There were a lot of vagrants.
There was garbage everywhere.
It was a time in New York thatthey cut back on police funding.
(39:29):
They cut back on everything.
And like, it was not a goodscene on Madison Avenue or Fifth
Avenue at the time, you know?
And so we formed a merchantsassociation and started with a
walkie talkie system going allthe way up Magnus Avenue from, I
think we started at 60th and wewent up to 82nd Street and we
cleaned up the street.
(39:50):
We cleaned up the crime becausewe worked with the police
department and we were the eyesand the ears for the beat cops.
Basically, we only had two forthe whole street.
We started participating increating change for ourselves,
not expecting the city to do itfor us, but to help us in
partnership.
And we did it.
And like in a year, it was likea transformation.
(40:12):
So that's always been my thingof like, if we all work
together, we can change.
create change.
If it's one person up against alot of things, it's very hard.
But if you share a same goal orintention and you do it as a
group, just like in energy workand shamanic work, it changes.
Things change.
Change is constant.
(40:33):
You just have to create it.
Create it.
And how beautiful to bring incommunity in different ways.
I love the whole communityversus competition.
Because if we lift each otherup, it's just a stronger, more
beautiful, diverse community.
And wow, that's incredible.
I use an example of 47th Streetin New York, which is the
(40:55):
jewelry district where I workedfor a while.
You have two streets there thathave hundreds of jewelers,
hundreds of little tinyjewelers.
And yet it thrives.
People come from all over theworld to go there because
they're The access to so manydifferent people and so many
different styles and skills andthe ways of working, they
(41:17):
literally, they all succeed.
SPEAKER_00 (41:19):
And
SPEAKER_01 (41:20):
they're in this little tiny section of New York
City.
So it's the same kind of thingbecause you gather together, you
know, people come more and more.
Especially here on CottageStreet in East Hampton.
East Hampton is huge.
Like in the last 10 years, it'sreally blown up.
It's bustling.
It's bustling.
Really different.
I love it.
(41:41):
Well, if one of our listenersthat come here to get some
advice about how to run theirbusiness, is there anything you
would impart from yourexperience?
I would say do not open,especially retail business or
any small business until you'vedone some workshops.
You've spoken to other businesspeople.
(42:02):
You've done a business plan.
You have a clear vision of whatyou want to do.
Don't go into a lease without alawyer looking at it.
I've had a lot of spaces andI've helped a lot of people in
their businesses, but a lot ofpeople are very naive.
Oh, I'm going to retire and I'mgoing to open up this little
store without any clue of whatit entails.
And people like, Even my ownfamily would say to me, oh, you
(42:25):
can go help with that becauseyou work for yourself.
So you could take time off.
I'm like, excuse me?
No.
Because I work for myself, Iwork two times as hard as
anybody else.
If you're clocking in from nineto five in a corporation at a
regular job, I'm not.
I'm working all the time.
You know, my days off are notdays off.
(42:45):
There are days to go do otherthings for my business.
You have to be willing tounderstand that if you're going
to thrive, if you're going tosucceed, it's going to have to
consume all parts of your lifeand things are going to have to
go on hold at times.
Um, or like for me, I doBrimfield.
So the store gets closed forthat week.
I go out to the vineyard forJuly.
(43:06):
So the store gets closed forthat week.
And I sent a lot ofcommunications out to my clients
so that they know that they'renot going to get disappointed
because they could come and I'mclosed because they know I'm
going to be closed because Isend them emails, you know?
And communication is really keyto all of it too.
Just like you, you have to stickto your hours that you say
you're going to be open and youhave to stick to what you tell
(43:28):
you're going to people you'regoing to do for them.
So that grows a good reputationtoo.
Like people will recommend youbecause you follow through on
stuff for them.
Yes.
Yes.
Well, and how about trusting theprocess?
Is that something that youwould?
Yeah.
I mean, it's always, especiallyfor us women, a lot about gut
instinct.
You know, it's like for me, whenI saw this store space, I'm
(43:49):
like, this is the space.
When I saw Eastworks, I'm like,this is where I'm living next.
But I listen.
If I'm coming up against a lotof walls, I'm like, nope, nope.
I don't want to do that.
I don't want to work with thatperson.
I'm not going to do this thing.
I'm overextended right now.
I can't be on that committee.
You know, I get myself sayingyes to too many city committees.
(44:14):
I'm starting to learn boundariesand that, like say, no, if I
want my business to thrive, Ineed the time to put in that and
not be giving away my energy somuch because a lot of stuff I'm
part of, I volunteer.
And so just knowing what yourlimitations are of how much
energy you can expend in otherdirections is really important,
you know, for all of us in somany ways, whether it's your
(44:36):
family or school or whatever itis, you have to really like, if
you don't nourish yourselffirst, you're going to fail, you
know, whatever it is, whateveryour, your situation is that
you're trying to manifest, youknow?
Um, It starts at home.
It literally starts at homefirst.
And listen to your instincts.
(44:56):
The few times I've ignored them,I went to do a big show in Texas
a couple of years ago.
It's a big show and I've donethe show before, but not for
years.
I was excited to do it.
But from the moment I startedpreparing for it, things went
wrong.
The day we were leaving Texas,Things went wrong with the bus
(45:18):
with like smoking breaks andthings breaking and having to go
back to mechanic and snowstormcoming in.
We had to outrace.
And then like, literally like itwas a miracle.
We even made it to Texas with mybus.
I did the show.
It was horrific.
I made no money until the lastday I was breaking down.
The show was over already.
(45:38):
And somebody wandered in whothought the show was that next
day and it wasn't.
And I was one of the only peopleleft and she spent money with
me.
So it paid for the expenses ofthe show and everything.
And then we're leaving and wedrove through two shootings
along the way and we threw thisand that.
And I get back, get all the wayfrom Texas back to Eastworks and
I pull my bus into the parkingspace and Jeff's like, you're
(46:00):
leaking fluid.
I'm like, what?
And we get out of the bus and mytransmission had gone.
It got me to my parking space atEastworks and said, I'm done.
I'm never doing that trip again.
Boom.
That's not a sign.
I don't know.
I know, right?
It was like the whole trip wassigns.
And I should have just turnedaround from when we left to hit
(46:23):
the road.
And we hit three things at once.
I should have just listened.
But I had invested into theshow.
I had invested in my energy andmy money and my passion.
my preparation for my image,like I'd invested so much.
It's hard to give something upif you've got that much into it
ahead of time.
And I never should have done it.
And Jeff and I looked at eachother and said, we're never
going to Texas again.
(46:45):
Well, lesson learned.
I guess the whole point was alesson.
A very long lesson.
Very long lesson, but youremembered it, right?
Now you remember it and you'relike, boy, I really should have
trusted that.
Absolutely.
Well, Beth McElhenney, you areclearly someone who has
succeeded successfully workedwith trusting your gut and
(47:06):
running a successful vintageshop.
I mean, it's just such abeautiful sanctuary just to be
in that space, let alone then beable to take something home.
It's kind of like a treat,right?
I've had people say, I used tohave a lot of antiques in here
also, and I used to have peoplesay, It's like a museum in here,
but I can buy it.
(47:29):
Well, isn't that, I mean, that'skind of a really special thing.
It's really sweet.
Yeah.
I just love that.
So how do folks connect with youif they want to know more about
Wonderland or if, if there's anyway they can follow the shop?
I'm on Instagram and I'm onFacebook.
I'm on Instagram.
(47:49):
Facebook, it's Wonderland413,because there are other
Wonderlands, obviously, and 413is our area code.
And on Instagram, it'sWonderBoutique413.
And then Alice has her ownInstagram account.
What is that?
AliceInWonderland413.
Oh, my gosh.
You might as well follow all ofthem.
(48:12):
I'd love it.
I love it.
I sell on Etsy.
And it's Wonderland 413 as well.
And I have pieces in the Etsystore that aren't on the racks
in the store because they'reantique pieces.
I do have a whole collection ofVictorian and my oldest piece,
which actually doesn't getdisplayed at all.
Only if I'm doing like a reallyspecialized show is from 1840.
(48:35):
Oh my goodness.
Yeah.
But those kinds of pieces can'tbe exposed to a lot of light or
handled a lot.
So they don't come out.
People don't get to see those,but I have them.
A lot of the antique pieces thatdon't go on the rack in the
store because it can't be likemoved and handled and ice cream
fingers on them and stuff likethat.
Right, right, right.
So that's on Etsy.
Is it also under Wonderland?
(48:56):
Wonderland 413.
Wonderland 413.
Beth McElhenney, I'm so glad wecame together and had this
amazing conversation.
And I hope people check you out.
No, you make it easy.
But I just, you know, it'sbecause you love what you do and
you can feel the passion and thecare and the love and what you
have created in East Hampton.
(49:17):
So I hope people check outWonderland.
It's right on Cottage Street.
And just look around, say hi toAlice and see if there's
something there that pulls you.
Exactly.
If not, just come visit and sayhi.
Just say hi.
So thank you so much for joiningme today.
Have a good one.
Thanks so much for tuning intoday.
(49:39):
I'm so glad you spent this timewith me.
If something in this episoderesonated, feel free to share it
or pass it along to someone whomight need that little spark.
Until next time, keep humming.
Hi friends, it's me, Donna Bell, your host of another
episode of To Hum is Human, thepodcast where we explore the
transformative power of tuninginto our intuition to express
our passionate purpose.
In this episode, the role ofintuition in decision-making,
we're diving into the art ofintuitive curation.
(00:30):
Whether you're a vintageenthusiast, a creative
entrepreneur, or someonenavigating how to trust yourself
more deeply, you are going tolove this conversation.
I'm so excited to introduce mynext guest.
Beth McElhenney is the owner ofthe Enchanted Vintage Shop
Wonderland in East HamptonWelcome Beth! Hi! I absolutely
(01:15):
love your shop and you alwayshave the most unique and
beautiful items, especially onthe street.
They're always eye-catching.
Absolutely.
But your journey here wasn't adirect one.
In fact, you were quite thetraveler and seeker.
(01:36):
So I wondered if you could takeus back to the time when you
first felt the pull to explore.
Well, I'm from New Yorkoriginally.
I'm a master silversmith.
I have been in high-end retailon Madison Avenue.
And when I was about 30, I kindof burned out on New York and
(02:00):
went on a journey to Peru with anative elder that I had been
studying with for years in NewYork doing shamanic work.
And I went there with her, spenta little over a month trekking
around Peru and doing amazingceremonies and meeting beautiful
(02:21):
people everywhere we went.
And I came home to New York andit was like culture shock.
I could not fit back in at allin any way.
I can't imagine.
Yeah.
It was like energy, like bolt,you know, like slam me down.
And I ended up going to Martha'sVineyard for a weekend with my
herbal master that I workedwith.
(02:43):
And she was doing a workshop onherbals medicine.
I went for the weekend and assoon as I stepped off the ferry
onto the earth there, I turnedto her and said, I'm staying.
And she was like, what?
I'm like, yeah, this is where itmeant to be next.
And I washed ashore and I didn'twash out for 18 years.
Oh my goodness.
(03:04):
Yeah.
So I built my business there, myjewelry business, my retail
store there.
I was a firefighter on theislands.
I was very- Wait, wait, wait,wait, wait, wait, wait.
Back up.
Firefighter.
Yeah.
I'm a volunteer firefighter.
So how did you, this is going tobe an interesting conversation.
So how did you get intovolunteer firefighting?
(03:24):
I had been in the firedepartment since I was young.
My dad was a firefighter.
He was a captain.
My grandfather was a chief.
I'm half Irish.
It kind of goes with the blood.
I was always the only woman inthe fire department.
And when I joined a Martha'sVineyard, I again was the only
woman, but they had had a womanbefore in the department I was
in because I was very hesitantabout doing it because back in
(03:46):
New York, I knew all the guys Igrew up with them.
It wasn't a big deal.
You know, going into a brand newdepartment, there's a lot you
have to deal with as a woman anda lot of, you know, mess,
misogyny and macho guys.
And, but I can pull weightbetter than any of them.
(04:07):
And after a couple of drills, Irealized I knew what I was doing
and I got accepted right in as Iwas, as if I was family that had
grown up with them there.
So it was great.
And I loved it.
I did it until I had my kneereplacement and then I had to
retire because I couldn't crawlanymore.
I couldn't do a lot with my newknees.
So I did that on the island fora long time.
(04:29):
And it was interesting because alot of times on the vineyard,
especially in the winter, ourcalls would be house fires and
often they'd be in the middle ofthe night.
Chimney fires and stuff,candles, heaters would spark
things off.
And you're out in the middle ofthe night, adrenaline rush,
right?
I get back to the house and Iwas still like jittery, like
(04:50):
adrenaline jittery.
So I learned to go out and takewalks.
It didn't matter if it was threeo'clock in the morning and it
was the vineyard, so it wassafe.
But I always wore a long whitegown.
People probably thought I was aghost because I literally would
walk around all of West Hisburyin the middle of the night, just
getting my adrenaline groundedback in, getting myself grounded
(05:10):
back in, getting my bloodpressure down so I wouldn't get
long-term...
Thank you so much for joiningus.
(05:35):
In 2008, my landlord for thestore that I owned and for the
house that I lived in, twodifferent landlords, in the same
week told me they needed to, onewas selling the property, so I
had to close my store, and theother needed to move into the
house I was living in, so I wasout of housing.
And I was just like, okay, it'stime to go.
Message heard loud and clear.
If both come in the same week,it's time to leave the island.
(05:57):
So I did, and I moved here toEast Hampton.
And I have never regretted it.
You know, I still get to go backa lot and you have a lot of
friends and a lot of clients outthere.
I go back in the summertime anddo shows again now after my
accident.
So yeah.
Oh my gosh.
Well, and I know you came tothis area because you wanted to
be in sort of arts community.
(06:19):
Tell us about that.
And I wanted to be in the dancecommunity.
There's a very strong dancecommunity or was before COVID in
North Hampton doing ecstaticdance and dance spree and drum
and dance and all that kind ofstuff.
I studied Gabrielle Roth's workfor 30 years.
So I very much wanted to bemoving and dancing and I used to
(06:40):
come to those before I movedhere, so it was like the perfect
place.
And I found Eastworks, which iswhere I live, and it's a big
arts mill building full ofamazing people and amazing
neighbors.
Yeah.
SPEAKER_00 (06:52):
I love it
SPEAKER_01 (06:53):
here.
I absolutely love it.
I miss the ocean, but I have themountain.
I have the ponds and the lakes.
Well, I think that it's the bestof both worlds.
And if you wanted to go into thecity, you could go within a
short period of time.
Much easier than having to get aboat ride.
Right.
Well, I want to go back to yourshop because, first of all, it
(07:14):
sounds like you started off as asilversmith.
But what compelled you toactually run a retail shop?
Because that's a whole otheradventure.
Well, I've been doing retail mywhole life.
And when I had my store,Martha's Vineyard, it was my
jewelry and decorative artsantiques.
So I've always mixed the two.
I've always mixed antiques.
(07:34):
And a lot of my jewelry designshave a very kind of talismanic
style, antique style to them.
When I moved out of New York,all of my stores that I
personally owned and didn't runfor other people were about
that.
And here in East Hampton, Iopened the store.
I used to do arts festivals alot.
in the summer and into thespring and fall, but had a very
(07:57):
bad accident on Martha'sVineyard seven years ago now in
the middle of the season when Ifell down the stairs and got
mid-flighted to Boston.
And they saved my life and theysaved my leg, but I was in a
wheelchair for a long time, thenonto crutches and a walker.
And yeah, it's been a longprogress.
I'm still considered disabledbecause I can't walk very far.
(08:18):
But once I was on the walker andgetting around again, my partner
Jeff said, you need a storeagain because I couldn't do
shows anymore.
And so that was when I decided,yes, I want a store here.
I want it in East Hampton.
I want it on Cottage Street.
And I put that out into theworld.
And literally within a week, afriend of mine called me and
(08:39):
There was a store that was herethat friends of hers had just
bought and were gut renovatingand needed a tenant.
And she knew that I wanted astore and she put us together
behind the scene.
It never went on the market.
They had never owned a retailspace before.
We all worked together andcreated this beautiful space
that I have.
And I had been doing vintageclothing all along also.
(09:02):
And I had been doing trunk showsout of my loft at Eastworks.
SPEAKER_00 (09:06):
And
SPEAKER_01 (09:06):
so when I did the store, I wanted to really focus
more on to vintage clothing andjewelry and accessories, lighter
things, smaller things.
And of course my enamelwarethat's actually behind my
shoulder on the shelves overthere.
I still do that.
So yeah, the store, I opened up10 months before the COVID
shutdown, which was verychallenging.
(09:29):
After already having like gottenthrough a major physical
challenge, then all of a suddenI had my store have to go to
through the economic challengeof staying open.
And good thing is you're stillopen and you're doing amazing.
And, you know, it's nice to seethat when the moment was right
(09:50):
for you to open the shop, thingsjust sort of happened freely and
easily.
And that's got to feel like,okay, this is the right thing to
do.
Because most of the time whenthings are such a struggle,
you're like time to go, time tomove on or just time to pivot.
And I mean, that must have beena really easy decision for you
despite what happened later.
(10:11):
But it sounds like it'ssomething that you're obviously
meant to do.
Now, I'm curious what yourinterest is in vintage items.
They were made a lot better.
They're beautifully designed.
The clothing nowadays is suchjunk and it goes straight into
the landfill.
(10:31):
I have items in my store thatare 75, 100 years old and look
brand new because they're madeof really quality fabrics.
They were treated properly.
They were sewn.
with strong thread, all of that,you know, it lasts, it survives.
And of course it all hasstories, which I love, you know,
it's just like some of thestories I know.
And so I just make up in myhead.
(10:54):
I get told by the family thatpasses it to me.
You know, I do.
I get a lot of my items out ofestates and auctions and a lot
of people that just come to menow because I've been here for
quite a while and they call oremail and say, I have my
grandmother's estate.
I have my mother's estate.
And, And then I do find out someof the stories, which is really
(11:14):
fun.
Like what this person wore thisto.
And I have a whole collection ofvintage wedding gowns that I'm
going to be doing a big eventwith.
I'm doing a vintage bridal promand formal wear event.
So that's fun to like find thepeople that they pass to.
Certain pieces I call Cinderelladresses because they're so
specific in their sizing thatthere are very few people that
(11:35):
will they can find to wear them,especially the very old 1930s,
1940s pieces.
But I have some clients that arevery tiny and very petite and
love vintage because it fitsthem like it was made for them.
Oh my gosh.
It's really fun to like pair thepiece up with the person and the
style of the person and whatdecade they like.
And yeah, it's, it's a challengeand I love it.
(11:58):
And I love like styling people.
I always have.
UNKNOWN (12:02):
Yeah.
SPEAKER_01 (12:02):
It's like matchmaking too.
You're just like, oh, well, thisis you and this is totally you.
And let's see what that lookslike together.
Yeah.
Sort of like my dresses andstuff are like, well, she went
to so-and-so.
To me, they really havepersonalities.
They're like, they're almostliving because they've survived
longer than I have so far.
Well, it's almost like you're acaretaker to some degree of
(12:24):
these items.
Yeah.
So here's a question about howyou source your items, because
it sounds like some peopleactually...
let you know about it, which Ilove.
I love that your reputation isso great.
They're like, I need to getthese to Beth, which is
fantastic.
But also too, it's like, are youlooking for something specific
when you choose items?
Like what guides you when youchoose some of this?
(12:45):
Well, I like true vintage.
I don't want stuff from 1990sand 2000 to me.
That's, already junk basicallyin the fabrics and stuff.
So I usually say no when peopleare bringing me that kind of
stuff.
I go, I specialize from like1900 to the 1970s.
I love the turn of the century,1910s, 20s, 30s, 40s are like my
(13:07):
favorite.
I can never find anything inthose sizes for me, but I find
the right people for them.
And I'm, I'm definitely morelike, Nice, fine clothing.
I don't do grunge.
I don't do torn jeans andt-shirts and that kind of, it's
just, that's not my style.
There's other people that dothat.
And I always refer people to theother dealers that do that
because I know them.
(13:28):
But I'm, I'm more about likebeautiful treasures, you know,
heirlooms that they'll pass tothe next generation.
There's something about that.
There's something aboutlongevity when you're thinking
about items that you're seeking.
Now, do you remember the firstitem that you purchased that you
(13:48):
were like, this is going to setthe stage?
Actually, it wasn't an item Ipurchased.
When I was still in college, soI went to Parsons and FIT in New
York.
And when I was at Parsons, I hada friend who, who was like my
mother's age.
I assisted her with a collectionof jewelry that she wanted to
put out.
(14:09):
And her mother passed away.
So that would have been mygrandmother's age, right?
And she invited me into thehouse to go through the closet
and it was basically all like1940s and a lot of beautiful
suits that you'd picture AudreyHepburn in or something.
And back then I was a fit sizesix and I, they all fit me
(14:29):
perfectly.
And she just gave them all tome.
So while everybody else iswearing like, wow, crazy punk.
I mean, I had my punk face, but,but like, I was wearing 1940s
like suits to school and stuff.
So I'm sure that was like, Thatmade you so unique compared to
what everyone else was wearing.
I didn't really care about that.
(14:50):
It's just I loved that.
I wasn't really into the punkclothing and the safety pins.
And I did have a pink mohawk atone point, but I didn't really
love all that.
I'd rather have gone back intime and worn the beautiful old
pieces.
Those were the first pieces Iowned that were really true
vintage.
(15:10):
You know, I've try on my mom'sstuff every once in a while, but
my grandmother really didn'thave anything.
There was nothing nice in thefamily.
We weren't, we weren't likewealthy at all.
So that was the first time I gotto like handle and see really
beautiful clothing and wear it.
And it was, it's me.
So I didn't have to figure outhow I was going to pay for it.
Well, it's almost like donning acostume in some way.
(15:34):
It very much is.
And I change my look.
I'm like, I'm a chameleon withmy style.
Every day, I look totallydifferent.
I love that.
I always have done that.
It's just like shapeshiftingwith my fashion.
Oh my gosh.
Well, that goes back toshamanism, I'm imagining too.
Yes, yes, yes, yes.
Well, do you ever take risks andget something that you're unsure
(15:56):
about just because somethingspeaks to you and then...
It may or may not be well in theshop all the time.
What usually happens
SPEAKER_00 (16:04):
to those
SPEAKER_01 (16:04):
pieces?
Some pieces are still in thecloset, in my storage closet.
And I know eventually they'llfind the right person.
I'm building some collectionsright now, things that I've
invested into that areexquisite, like Pucci, Emilio
Pucci from the 1960s.
I've been buying, when I canfind it, dresses.
And I just got a scarf.
So all that's actually goingaway into my storage until I...
(16:27):
do one of the higher end showslike a Manhattan show or
something.
The clientele for that in thisarea really isn't here because
it's too high cost for most ofmy clients.
I try to keep my prices veryaccessible, like under a hundred
dollars for almost everything inthe store.
There are some pieces that are alittle bit higher.
(16:47):
And if they are, they're likereally high end designers, you
know, but there's still like aquarter of what it would be in
New York or Boston.
Yes, we're lucky to be in thisarea to be able to get some of
those pieces.
And I've seen you posting someof the pieces that you have, and
they are like works of art.
And, you know, sometimes I thinkyou posted a photograph of a
wedding dress that looked likeit was in such a horrible state.
(17:11):
but then somehow you managed torevive it in a way.
And it looked like brand new.
Like, how do you have the visionto see the potential in a piece
when it's so not at its best?
Well, I've been, I've beencleaning and washing and mending
stuff for years.
So I get it.
Some people bring me stuff andI'll just say, look, there's no
(17:31):
way I can repair this.
I can't bring this back, youknow?
And some, I just don't know.
And I'll take a risk.
And sometimes it works.
Sometimes it doesn't.
Most of the times, I've gottento the point where I know what
to use on different things anddifferent stains and how to mend
things.
And then if something's reallyextensive, I have people I can
give it to that will help mewith seams or whatever it is
(17:54):
because I'm I my skills only goso far in the sewing world it's
very limited so I can onlyimagine I'm not real good at
darning I've only done it acouple times eventually I'll
I'll really learn how to do thatbut I haven't my old assistant
who's excellent at darning sowhen it comes to that kind of
thing I'll pass it to her to dofor me but yeah I have I have
(18:16):
some crazy things like whatplease do tell in the middle of
covid i think the store wasstill closed because we got
completely shut down for threemonths we weren't even allowed
to open our doors we weresupposed to not even come into
our spaces i'm like you've gotto be kidding there's nobody in
there but me like why can't iaccess something in my store to
(18:37):
ship it so forget that one i'mcoming in the back door and i'm
getting whatever i need in mystore that was ridiculous but
anyway I was looking for ajewelry showcase and I didn't
want a heavy, you know, plainrectangle showcase.
I'd wanted something with likelegs that like could dance in
the story.
And there was a Facebookmarketplace post for an Oak
(18:59):
antique jewelry case.
And it was in the hill towns.
I don't even remember the nameof the town, but it was up in
the hill towns.
So I messaged back and forth andI made arrangements to come up
for this jewelry showcase.
And it was in an old schoolhouse.
I wish I remember the name ofthe town, but I don't remember.
And I walked in the door and thewhole place was filled with
(19:21):
clothes, like crazy clothes,costumes.
And I'm like, what is going onhere?
So I met the woman that had putthe post up and I'm like, okay,
forget the jewelry case for amoment.
what's up with the clothes?
And it turned out to be aBroadway costume designer that
has a house in the Hilltownsthat was supposed to open a
(19:44):
Broadway museum.
Oh my gosh.
Up there in the Hilltowns.
And he had bought theschoolhouse from the town for a
dollar years before, accumulatedall these beautiful antique
display cases, showcases, andwas storing all the costumes and
clothing for the Broadway shows.
Wow.
in the hill towns and wasbringing him back and forth.
But of course it's COVID.
(20:04):
So none of the shows were on.
And he had to clear theschoolhouse out because the town
wanted it back because he hadn'tmade the museum.
I went back and forth threetimes filling my car with
clothing from this Broadwaycostume designer who I don't
really feel comfortable sayinghis name.
But out of that, let me see if Ican turn this around.
(20:25):
So you have to see.
The headdresses?
UNKNOWN (20:28):
Yes.
SPEAKER_01 (20:28):
Yes.
Oh, my goodness.
So those were both.
And there's also a big fan nextto the mirror.
Yes.
All of that was from La Cage aFall on Broadway.
Oh, you're kidding me.
Those were the first pieces Ibought from him and then went
back and got a lot more stuff.
So down in my basement, I havesome wacko costumes from
(20:50):
Broadway shows.
And those pieces, which peopleare constantly trying to buy
from me, I'm like, nope, they'renot for sale.
There's very few things in thestore that are not for sale, but
those are not for sale.
Those are like a lifetime find.
You do not ever give up.
It's true.
But I'm curious what you'regoing to do with those costumes.
Will they see the light of day?
Well, they're here in the storeall the time.
(21:11):
So we talk about them all thetime.
But the red headdress one, Iwanted to create a Firebird
costume for Halloween, you know,Tchaikovsky Firebird Suite.
SPEAKER_00 (21:21):
So I wanted
SPEAKER_01 (21:22):
to do a Firebird costume, but of course, after
COVID, none of the big, hugeparties came back.
There used to be an amazingparty in Holyoke at a club
there, and they had this amazingHalloween party every year.
And I wanted to like wear it forthat and make a whole costume,
but someday, someday, ifsomebody has a really incredible
(21:43):
event, That red one's going onmy head with a whole costume and
I will be like entering as thefirebird.
Well, speaking of spotlight, Iimagine there's a certain
rotation going on in your space.
And I'm wondering how youspotlight particular items or
sort of keep things in storagefor a while.
(22:05):
Like how does that work?
I just changed the whole storeover to spring.
So basically everything in thestore is fresh.
I took a whole week, all thewinter went away into storage.
All the spring, summer came out.
I had to change everything onthe, on the rail racks and the
shelves.
And then I just, as I'm, youknow, every few days, I just
(22:25):
feature something on Instagramor Facebook.
If somebody buys a piece andthey look fabulous in it and
they agree to let me photographthem, then I post that on the
page so that people can see thatlike anybody can find something
in here.
I want people to see the varietyof what's here and the diversity
of my clientele so they feelcomfortable and welcome to walk
(22:47):
in.
I have all kinds of clients.
I have college kids and I havewomen in their 70s going to
galas and artists going togalas.
And I have one client that goesto...
North Adams.
What's it called?
Oh, Mass Mocha.
Mass Mocha.
She's a featured artist thereusually every year.
(23:08):
And she goes to this big galaand she's gotten multiple
dresses from me for that.
I post her on it.
I post when people find a bridaldress.
So after my event, I'll beposting people in wedding gowns.
So, you know, it's, it's, I tryto keep it interesting.
I'm not great at it.
I'm not.
You know, a 20-year-old thatgrew up on social media, that's
a big challenge for people myage in this industry because
(23:31):
everybody grew up with it.
So they built these hugefollowings.
I don't have that.
Alice, my cat, has morefollowers than I do.
You should start modeling someclothes for Alice.
I know, right?
I need nice gala clothes.
She likes to put little glasseson her.
She likes to put hats on her forthe holidays and stuff.
(23:52):
She had a...
A little flower crown for springon her that I put on.
Oh my gosh.
She's very good.
I don't think she'd let me put adress on her.
Well, yeah.
Cats, maybe dogs.
I don't know.
I'm curious because I know someof it is a particular time
(24:13):
period that you're interested inwhen you're choosing your
vintage items, but you also havepersonal taste.
So How do you balance yourpersonal taste and what you
think customers will connectwith?
I can often tell when somebodywalks through the door a little
(24:33):
bit about their style, and thenI ask a lot of questions.
And usually have to domeasurements because most people
do not, especially women, don'tknow their measurements at all.
And I have such a wide varietyof pieces, anywhere from black
tie to just everyday skirt andblouse sets and stuff like that.
So it's more like just having aconversation with the people
(24:55):
that walk through the door, youknow, greeting them, making them
feel comfortable, and thenasking if they're looking for
something specific.
And if they're not, they justbrowse the website.
the racks and they find thingsand they try them on and they
look good or they don't, youknow, I never force anything on
somebody.
I want them to love it.
If they're hesitant, I tell themto wait, come back and try it on
(25:17):
again and make sure you love itbecause I want them to have the
right pieces for that.
I don't want them to just gointo a closet and never be worn.
These needs to be shown off.
Well, would you say that that'sway of, running your shop and
sort of how you build things inyour shop.
Like you've got to love it toinclude it.
(25:38):
Like it's not something you'relike, would you take something
that you sort of like, or it'sonly because you love it.
I definitely go with my owntaste and my own style.
When we opened up the store, Ididn't know if it was going to
work because it's like all of mydisplays are white because I
love color and patterns.
clothing.
So I didn't want my displays andmy walls to clash with what was
(26:03):
on the racks.
I wanted the pieces to be thestars of the show.
So when we first opened up, Iwas still on the walker.
So I had a lot of friendshelping me paint all of these
cabinets I got off of Craigslistand Marketplace for almost free.
They're all TV entertainmentunits that I stripped out,
sanded down, and we paintedwhite.
(26:24):
So it all looks like customcabinetry, but it's just
inexpensive pieces that Ipainted white, you know, but it
looks beautiful.
And I also like when people walkin, they, they think it feels
clean in here.
It doesn't smell musty.
It doesn't smell like a thriftstore because I'm not a thrift
store.
I need to make them realize whenthey walk through the door that
(26:48):
I'm not a regular vintage store.
That's not how I operate.
And so I, There's no sticks.
There's no bricks.
There's no Pioneer Valley, likeearthy, crunchy design in my
store, which is great for thosestores, but it's not me.
SPEAKER_00 (27:03):
So I just said, I'm going to do it my way and I hope
it works.
SPEAKER_01 (27:06):
And yes, you know, I think you've got a good thing
going.
Yeah.
Well, and when you think aboutvintage, all of these pieces are
no longer made and they're sounique.
The beauty of it is that you'llfind something there and someone
else is not going to be wearingthe same thing as you.
Right.
None of it.
And none of this is it's all oneoff.
(27:27):
You know, people can come in forlike the same event.
if somebody's locals having awedding or something, or if
there was a big city event, likewhen we had the event at
Eastworks in the downstairsspace, and we did a big ball for
the anniversary of Old TownHall.
And a lot of people came in toget gowns from me for that.
And the theme was like 1920s,1930s, 1940s.
(27:50):
And every person ended up with adifferent piece and they all
looked fabulous.
And they had so much fun becausethey felt really special that
night.
And so I like that.
I have parties all the time.
And I want people to findopportunities to dress up and
celebrate life.
(28:11):
Even in our current environment,we need to find those times and
those places to celebrate andrealize why we're actually here
and not just stay in the...
a negative depressed state.
Don't just wear sweats all thetime.
Put on something nice and go outon a date.
(28:32):
Yes, please.
And have some fun.
I think what people forget intimes of uncertainty is that we
can still have joy.
Like it's okay to experience joyand do joyful, happy things.
And even if it is just wearingsomething fancy for a few hours,
it sort of takes you outside ofyour daily routine and it kind
of puts a little magic andwonder in your life.
(28:55):
And so I'd like to know aboutthe name, like how the name for
your shop came to you um i lovealice in wonderland i love the
book i love all of the littlequips out of it and the layers
of that book of all the booksand i and i wanted to create a
place of wonder and magic andlike also like a sacred
(29:16):
container you know like thisspace is a space for you
everybody to come in and feellike they're being treated a
little extra special and they'regoing to find extraordinary
treasure.
And they cut down the rabbithole with me.
And that was when we got, whenwe got my little kitten.
She'll be four in May when wehave her birthday party.
(29:37):
When we got her, she was arescue from South Carolina and a
friend of mine found her hikingin the mountains down there and
they don't have rescues.
They only have kill facilitiesthere.
SPEAKER_00 (29:47):
So I got a
SPEAKER_01 (29:48):
text, do you want a kitten?
And I'm like, well, I alreadyhave two very large cats at
home, like large cats.
he sent me the next text was apicture of her little face.
And I'm like, okay, that's allyou had to do.
And, um, and so I had to bringher to store with me immediately
because she had to keepseparated from the other cats.
(30:10):
And I lived in a big open loftwith no doors or rooms closed
off.
So I just brought her to thestore with me.
And, um, it was funny.
Actually, we put it on Facebookfor my customers to help me name
the kitten and, And the firstperson said, well, it has to be
Alice.
And I'm like, oh, my God.
I could not believe I didn'tthink of it myself.
(30:31):
But as soon as that person wrotethat, I'm like, you're right,
it's Alice.
So she's been Alice inWonderland the whole time.
And she sits on the counter orshe'll sit in the window
displays and people come tovisit her all day long.
Never buy anything in the storeand that's perfectly fine
because she's East Hampton'stherapy cat now.
I mean, the amount of peoplethat come just to visit Alice
(30:53):
every day is so beautiful.
Even the mayor loves her.
Oh my gosh.
Oh, God.
Well, it's the next best thingto a cat cafe, I suppose.
Absolutely.
And I've been in those in Japan.
But more are opening aroundhere.
I mean, more have opened inMassachusetts.
Cat cafes are now inMassachusetts.
Wow, that's true.
(31:13):
Well, Beth, I'm curious aboutthe more esoteric part of your
journey.
Because I know you mentionedearlier, you had traveled to
Peru and traveled with theshaman.
And you also were interested inherbal medicine.
I'm curious how, if any of thoseaspects come into how you move
(31:34):
through your everyday life andin your business.
Well, it's part of who I am andit's part of my intuition and
how I choose to do things andlisten to what messages I'm
receiving and stuff.
I don't, I don't think, well, itdoes, it goes into my jewelry
for sure.
And do you still create yourjewelry?
(31:54):
Are there still pieces therethat you continue to...
I still have a collection of myjewelry in the store.
I'm not doing a lot of itbecause I got involved into the
enamelware behind me and thenthe store.
So I've kind of like put that onhold on the side for a while.
But my goal for this next year,I want to start making new
(32:15):
pieces.
And that's what I was wonderingif you had anything on the
horizon that you're lookingforward to.
Yeah, I do.
All right.
Well, you're going to have tokeep us posted on that.
I know as an intuitive thatsometimes objects carry energy
from their, from their owners.
Now, do you get a sense of thatas you're sourcing your
materials?
Have you ever wanted to buysomething?
(32:37):
You're just like, Hmm, this onejust doesn't feel right.
Yeah.
I say no.
You definitely say no.
I definitely say no to things.
Yeah.
Yeah.
Yeah.
It might be the piece itself.
It might've been the space itwas in.
Sometimes when I'm in a,especially a house that doesn't
have like the really goodpositive energy.
(33:00):
When I buy items, I always cleanthem.
Everything gets clean when Itake it home.
And sometimes I just likeliterally will leave it in
moonlight or something to helpdispel any energy that got
attached to the, to any of theitems, whether it's the clothing
or jewelry or regular antiques,you know, because sometimes I,
(33:20):
There's one house I have in mindin particular that was very,
very neglected and had had a lotof damage to the house and some
trauma to the family from thathouse.
So I just felt like this neededextra cleansing before I would
bring it into the store.
You know, I am really careful tokeep the energy of the store
(33:42):
balanced.
Well, I imagine with all thedifferent time periods, all the
different households and peoplewho have kept these beautiful
items, like it goes back to youbeing the caretaker, like you're
a caretaker of the space.
And it's wonderful to know thatit's just kind of this cleansed
space of beautiful energybecause you can sort of see it
behind you, just the care thatyou've put into this beautiful
(34:06):
shop.
And people know and theyprobably can feel that as they
walk into the room, just how youcreate this sort of caring and
support space and inclusivespace.
Like, you know, you want, youwant everyone to come in and
hopefully find something thatresonates or not, but just like,
welcome come in.
Yeah.
And I say hello to people assoon as they walk through the
(34:27):
door.
That's, you know, sometimesthat's fair.
That's in the back, like readinga book or on their computer,
ignoring the people that justwalk through the door.
It's just not the way I dobusiness.
It's like, you know, I'm like,hello, welcome.
And then let me know if you needhelp with anything, but I don't,
hover over people.
I don't pressure anybody.
I want them to be comfortable.
(34:48):
And sometimes I can read thatsomebody doesn't want to
interact at all.
And I just let them be, do theirthing, you know?
And if you have any questions,let me know kind of thing.
Yeah.
I mean, I've been in retail forso long and in so many different
sides of it, especially MadisonAvenue where I had like major
wealthy people, celebrities,like, but it's funny because I'm
(35:12):
not good with names and I don'thave a good memory.
And with my injuries, I've hadmultiple brain injuries, so I'm
not good about rememberingpeople.
But when I was on Madison Avenuebefore my brain injuries, I
didn't watch TV.
I hadn't owned a TV in years,like 30 years, you know?
And I had people walk throughthe door and I'd work with them
in my store and they'd leave.
(35:33):
And my assistant would turn tome and say, you have no idea who
that was, do you?
I'm like, No, who is that?
And then I'd find out they'relike the major star in some
television program.
I won't use any names, but oneperson I became very good
friends with because I treatedhim just like a regular person.
And he really enjoyed that.
I'm like, honestly, I had noclue who you were when you came
into the store.
(35:54):
You know, I amused a lot of mycustomers on Madison Avenue.
It's like, I have no idea whoyou are.
You're just a person to me.
And I cut that though, becauseyou treat everyone the same.
Like it's like, I'm sorry.
Money to me means nothing justbecause you're rich.
Doesn't mean you're a goodperson.
Doesn't mean you're a badperson.
It's how you behave.
(36:15):
You know,
SPEAKER_00 (36:15):
even on
SPEAKER_01 (36:16):
the vineyard, I have a lot of celebrity clients out
there and they're incognito onthe Island.
They don't want to be followedby paparazzi and they don't want
to be fawned over.
They just want to be regularpeople at their summer home.
And that's good with me.
You know, I don't, care who youare outside of this conversation
and this connection we're havingright now, you know?
(36:38):
Well, and you also mentionedtoo, that you're interested in
building community.
How do you see your shop in thebigger scope of Cottage Street
or East Hampton?
How do you see it fitting in?
Well, when I opened up thestore, I went door to door and I
did this when I opened up aMadison Avenue too.
I went door to door and I talkedto the other businesses and
introduced myself to everybodybecause that's what I do.
(36:59):
And here on Cottage Street, Idid the same thing.
And I just started talking topeople and most of the people
had never talked to each other.
So I started a merchantsassociation.
I'm like, what do you think?
Should we do it?
And they're like, yeah.
So we started a cottage streetmerchants association and then
we started doing events togetheras a group on the street.
(37:21):
So instead of me just having myown little event on that
evening, there might be fiveother events happening.
So people could come in and theycan go store to store and have
all these different thingshappening.
And yeah, have different treatsin different stores and get
their girlfriends together.
And as a group, just have adrink at the bar and then go
shopping, you know, or just goand explore and have fun.
(37:43):
So we do that a lot.
We've been doing that now forsix years.
Yeah.
Oh my gosh.
Is there a certain...
time of the month that you dothis regularly so people can
look forward to it?
Well, we have Art Walk, which ison Saturday of each month now.
So a lot of people do that.
But then we plan events togetherfor different events and
holidays.
(38:03):
And we're doing the sidewalksale.
You know, we do cultural chaos,obviously, in June.
We have the holidays.
We have late night shoppingevents, two of them before
Christmas, where we go all outon and we're planning a really
fun one this year for Christmas.
Oh, I can't wait.
I can't wait for that.
We're going to Whoville onCottage Street.
It's going to be really fun.
Oh my gosh.
(38:25):
I think we decided we're callingit Christmas in Whoville.
That sounds so amazing.
Dr.
Seuss theme and we'll have theGrinch again.
And yeah, so it's fun because weall plan different things and,
you know, we pick a date, wepick a topic for that event and
then we all tie into it and weshare our social media to up
business.
(38:45):
I'm all about working togetherso everybody's business comes
up.
Yes.
Not competition.
When I started the MerchantsAssociation in New York on
Madison Avenue, everybody waslike, there is no way you are
going to get Barneys to workwith Armani's, to work with
Ralph Lauren, to work with thelittle jewelry store.
They're not going to do it.
I was like, watch me.
And I was only in my 20s.
(39:06):
And I went store to store and Istarted talking to everybody.
And there was a very bad elementon Madison Avenue at the time
where there was a lot ofrobberies.
in the stores, like armedrobberies of the stores.
There were a lot of shutteredstores.
There were a lot of vagrants.
There was garbage everywhere.
It was a time in New York thatthey cut back on police funding.
(39:29):
They cut back on everything.
And like, it was not a goodscene on Madison Avenue or Fifth
Avenue at the time, you know?
And so we formed a merchantsassociation and started with a
walkie talkie system going allthe way up Magnus Avenue from, I
think we started at 60th and wewent up to 82nd Street and we
cleaned up the street.
(39:50):
We cleaned up the crime becausewe worked with the police
department and we were the eyesand the ears for the beat cops.
Basically, we only had two forthe whole street.
We started participating increating change for ourselves,
not expecting the city to do itfor us, but to help us in
partnership.
And we did it.
And like in a year, it was likea transformation.
(40:12):
So that's always been my thingof like, if we all work
together, we can change.
create change.
If it's one person up against alot of things, it's very hard.
But if you share a same goal orintention and you do it as a
group, just like in energy workand shamanic work, it changes.
Things change.
Change is constant.
(40:33):
You just have to create it.
Create it.
And how beautiful to bring incommunity in different ways.
I love the whole communityversus competition.
Because if we lift each otherup, it's just a stronger, more
beautiful, diverse community.
And wow, that's incredible.
I use an example of 47th Streetin New York, which is the
(40:55):
jewelry district where I workedfor a while.
You have two streets there thathave hundreds of jewelers,
hundreds of little tinyjewelers.
And yet it thrives.
People come from all over theworld to go there because
they're The access to so manydifferent people and so many
different styles and skills andthe ways of working, they
(41:17):
literally, they all succeed.
SPEAKER_00 (41:19):
And
SPEAKER_01 (41:20):
they're in this little tiny section of New York
City.
So it's the same kind of thingbecause you gather together, you
know, people come more and more.
Especially here on CottageStreet in East Hampton.
East Hampton is huge.
Like in the last 10 years, it'sreally blown up.
It's bustling.
It's bustling.
Really different.
I love it.
(41:41):
Well, if one of our listenersthat come here to get some
advice about how to run theirbusiness, is there anything you
would impart from yourexperience?
I would say do not open,especially retail business or
any small business until you'vedone some workshops.
You've spoken to other businesspeople.
(42:02):
You've done a business plan.
You have a clear vision of whatyou want to do.
Don't go into a lease without alawyer looking at it.
I've had a lot of spaces andI've helped a lot of people in
their businesses, but a lot ofpeople are very naive.
Oh, I'm going to retire and I'mgoing to open up this little
store without any clue of whatit entails.
And people like, Even my ownfamily would say to me, oh, you
(42:25):
can go help with that becauseyou work for yourself.
So you could take time off.
I'm like, excuse me?
No.
Because I work for myself, Iwork two times as hard as
anybody else.
If you're clocking in from nineto five in a corporation at a
regular job, I'm not.
I'm working all the time.
You know, my days off are notdays off.
(42:45):
There are days to go do otherthings for my business.
You have to be willing tounderstand that if you're going
to thrive, if you're going tosucceed, it's going to have to
consume all parts of your lifeand things are going to have to
go on hold at times.
Um, or like for me, I doBrimfield.
So the store gets closed forthat week.
I go out to the vineyard forJuly.
(43:06):
So the store gets closed forthat week.
And I sent a lot ofcommunications out to my clients
so that they know that they'renot going to get disappointed
because they could come and I'mclosed because they know I'm
going to be closed because Isend them emails, you know?
And communication is really keyto all of it too.
Just like you, you have to stickto your hours that you say
you're going to be open and youhave to stick to what you tell
(43:28):
you're going to people you'regoing to do for them.
So that grows a good reputationtoo.
Like people will recommend youbecause you follow through on
stuff for them.
Yes.
Yes.
Well, and how about trusting theprocess?
Is that something that youwould?
Yeah.
I mean, it's always, especiallyfor us women, a lot about gut
instinct.
You know, it's like for me, whenI saw this store space, I'm
(43:49):
like, this is the space.
When I saw Eastworks, I'm like,this is where I'm living next.
But I listen.
If I'm coming up against a lotof walls, I'm like, nope, nope.
I don't want to do that.
I don't want to work with thatperson.
I'm not going to do this thing.
I'm overextended right now.
I can't be on that committee.
You know, I get myself sayingyes to too many city committees.
(44:14):
I'm starting to learn boundariesand that, like say, no, if I
want my business to thrive, Ineed the time to put in that and
not be giving away my energy somuch because a lot of stuff I'm
part of, I volunteer.
And so just knowing what yourlimitations are of how much
energy you can expend in otherdirections is really important,
you know, for all of us in somany ways, whether it's your
(44:36):
family or school or whatever itis, you have to really like, if
you don't nourish yourselffirst, you're going to fail, you
know, whatever it is, whateveryour, your situation is that
you're trying to manifest, youknow?
Um, It starts at home.
It literally starts at homefirst.
And listen to your instincts.
(44:56):
The few times I've ignored them,I went to do a big show in Texas
a couple of years ago.
It's a big show and I've donethe show before, but not for
years.
I was excited to do it.
But from the moment I startedpreparing for it, things went
wrong.
The day we were leaving Texas,Things went wrong with the bus
(45:18):
with like smoking breaks andthings breaking and having to go
back to mechanic and snowstormcoming in.
We had to outrace.
And then like, literally like itwas a miracle.
We even made it to Texas with mybus.
I did the show.
It was horrific.
I made no money until the lastday I was breaking down.
The show was over already.
(45:38):
And somebody wandered in whothought the show was that next
day and it wasn't.
And I was one of the only peopleleft and she spent money with
me.
So it paid for the expenses ofthe show and everything.
And then we're leaving and wedrove through two shootings
along the way and we threw thisand that.
And I get back, get all the wayfrom Texas back to Eastworks and
I pull my bus into the parkingspace and Jeff's like, you're
(46:00):
leaking fluid.
I'm like, what?
And we get out of the bus and mytransmission had gone.
It got me to my parking space atEastworks and said, I'm done.
I'm never doing that trip again.
Boom.
That's not a sign.
I don't know.
I know, right?
It was like the whole trip wassigns.
And I should have just turnedaround from when we left to hit
(46:23):
the road.
And we hit three things at once.
I should have just listened.
But I had invested into theshow.
I had invested in my energy andmy money and my passion.
my preparation for my image,like I'd invested so much.
It's hard to give something upif you've got that much into it
ahead of time.
And I never should have done it.
And Jeff and I looked at eachother and said, we're never
going to Texas again.
(46:45):
Well, lesson learned.
I guess the whole point was alesson.
A very long lesson.
Very long lesson, but youremembered it, right?
Now you remember it and you'relike, boy, I really should have
trusted that.
Absolutely.
Well, Beth McElhenney, you areclearly someone who has
succeeded successfully workedwith trusting your gut and
(47:06):
running a successful vintageshop.
I mean, it's just such abeautiful sanctuary just to be
in that space, let alone then beable to take something home.
It's kind of like a treat,right?
I've had people say, I used tohave a lot of antiques in here
also, and I used to have peoplesay, It's like a museum in here,
but I can buy it.
(47:29):
Well, isn't that, I mean, that'skind of a really special thing.
It's really sweet.
Yeah.
I just love that.
So how do folks connect with youif they want to know more about
Wonderland or if, if there's anyway they can follow the shop?
I'm on Instagram and I'm onFacebook.
I'm on Instagram.
(47:49):
Facebook, it's Wonderland413,because there are other
Wonderlands, obviously, and 413is our area code.
And on Instagram, it'sWonderBoutique413.
And then Alice has her ownInstagram account.
What is that?
AliceInWonderland413.
Oh, my gosh.
You might as well follow all ofthem.
(48:12):
I'd love it.
I love it.
I sell on Etsy.
And it's Wonderland 413 as well.
And I have pieces in the Etsystore that aren't on the racks
in the store because they'reantique pieces.
I do have a whole collection ofVictorian and my oldest piece,
which actually doesn't getdisplayed at all.
Only if I'm doing like a reallyspecialized show is from 1840.
(48:35):
Oh my goodness.
Yeah.
But those kinds of pieces can'tbe exposed to a lot of light or
handled a lot.
So they don't come out.
People don't get to see those,but I have them.
A lot of the antique pieces thatdon't go on the rack in the
store because it can't be likemoved and handled and ice cream
fingers on them and stuff likethat.
Right, right, right.
So that's on Etsy.
Is it also under Wonderland?
(48:56):
Wonderland 413.
Wonderland 413.
Beth McElhenney, I'm so glad wecame together and had this
amazing conversation.
And I hope people check you out.
No, you make it easy.
But I just, you know, it'sbecause you love what you do and
you can feel the passion and thecare and the love and what you
have created in East Hampton.
(49:17):
So I hope people check outWonderland.
It's right on Cottage Street.
And just look around, say hi toAlice and see if there's
something there that pulls you.
Exactly.
If not, just come visit and sayhi.
Just say hi.
So thank you so much for joiningme today.
Have a good one.
Thanks so much for tuning intoday.
(49:39):
I'm so glad you spent this timewith me.
If something in this episoderesonated, feel free to share it
or pass it along to someone whomight need that little spark.
Until next time, keep humming.
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