Today we’d like to introduce you to Laura Distin.
So, before we jump into specific questions about what you do, why don’t you give us some details about you and your story.
In 2011, as a new mom with what seemed like a lot of time on my hands, I decided to start writing a blog. I discovered the world of blogs and found there were a lot of women out there doing what I had been doing for years, which was transforming/refinishing furniture and their homes, and they were making a successful living at it. On my blog, I would share before and afters of my furniture transformations and the trials and tribulations of turning a 1967 tri-level ranch into a home with farmhouse style, long before farmhouse style was even a term. In 2012, the owner of Nellie’s Barn Sale in Illinois, sent me an email asking if I would like to sell my furniture at her sale. The thought that someone would want to buy my furniture had never even occurred to me. But through encouragement from my husband and friends, I went and sold out of everything I brought with me. While selling the furniture and my wares was obviously wonderful, there were two things that I discovered during that sale that are pivotal to why I launched my business: (1) I loved meeting the people. After working in the legal field for almost 15 years, working behind a desk, I thrived on this new interaction with the customers and getting to hear their stories and about their lives. People are inspirational to me and my life was enriched by meeting people from all walks of life; and (2) I learned I loved to teach. I had an antique, burgundy buffet that I didn’t have the chance to refinish prior to the sale, and we all know burgundy is not the most popular color, so I asked Ann, the owner of the sale, if I could refinish it during the sale and invite people to watch me and ask questions. It was a live painting demo before live demos were popular. I wanted to share everything I learned so I could save someone time and money by sharing my tips and advice. It became a beautiful give and take as my business expanded into full-blown workshops and a brick and mortar retail business. To this day, my favorite aspect of owning a small business was the people I served. I learned more through them than they ever learned through me.
Great, so let’s dig a little deeper into the story – has it been an easy path overall and if not, what were the challenges you’ve had to overcome?
It wasn’t always a smooth road, I doubted myself many times, especially since I had no retail experience, but what I did have was a drive and heart; a heart for the people and the community I served. Getting to see people walk in nervous, exclaiming “I’m not creative”, and then leave feeling confident in their abilities was absolutely what kept me going every step of the way.
One of the other challenges was life balance. I opened our first brick and mortar location when our kids were 3, 2 and 1. Before I knew it, I was drowning and I knew something needed to change. I felt that I was becoming mediocre in many of the hats I was wearing, and in mediocrity was not how I wanted to live. I knew something needed to give after 3 years, at the height of my business, I made the very tough decision to sell our store so I could focus on my 3 little souls at home who didn’t need me to be teacher, stylist, customer service representative, bookkeeper, CEO, et cetera anymore. They just needed me to be Mom.
The Ironstone Nest – what should we know? What do you do best? What sets you apart from the competition?
The Ironstone Nest was a vintage home décor store that specialized in furniture refinishing supplies and classes. Our store focused mainly on refurbished furniture, antiques, and wares from other small businesses. We were, and still are, a very big supporter of small mom and pop shops, as they are the very foundation upon which our country was built, so to include other small businesses within ours was, and always will be, a part of our mission.
What I am most proud of are the speaking engagements I’ve done in Wisconsin, Illinois, Indiana, Michigan and Georgia, and being on the talk show “Girl Talk” as their monthly antique and paint expert. In those talks, as well as in the classes I taught, I could break down the process of furniture refinishing and repurposing for people little by little. I could get up close and personal with people to look them in the eye and encourage them to step into what makes them uncomfortable and then encourage them to go for it anyway. “Every expert was once a beginner” was a tag line I used then and to this day. People were always afraid they would “mess it up”, they’d tell me, but I would say: we don’t always need to know every step of the way, we just need to start.
What moment in your career do you look back most fondly on?
I’m not sure that I have had my proudest moment yet, but I am proud every time I show to do a speaking engagement and I see my name on a billboard or a marquee or a sign. I’m honored that I’ve touched people enough to invite me to continue to speak and share what I know, in the hopes it may inspire or encourage someone. It’s truly the greatest honor to be in that position and I don’t take it lightly.
Contact Info:
- Website: www.theironstonenest.com
- Email: theironstonenest@yahoo.com
- Instagram: @lauradistin360
- Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/LauraDistin360/
- Twitter: @LauraDistin360
Getting in touch: VoyageATL is built on recommendations from the community; it’s how we uncover hidden gems, so if you know someone who deserves recognition please let us know here.
