Kari loves helping others engage their creativity in environmentally sustainable and resourceful ways, building community, and has a knack for efficiency and organization. She is the owner and cofounder of Thistle Creative Reuse, an online and brick and mortar shop that sells pre-loved art, craft, and creative materials with a mission to help others get creative, sustainably.
She comes from a lineage of crafty upcyclers and artists and began working in creative reuse in 2015 after dropping out of audiology school. Her dream is to help make 'creative reuse' a beloved practice of the masses.
Read on to learn more about Kari and Thistle Creative Reuse!
What inspired you to open Thistle Creative Reuse?
We (Kari and Jeanna) opened Thistle because we both deeply value environmental sustainability and creative expression. We opened TCR because Denton lost it’s only creative reuse center to the pandemic, and having worked in creative reuse for many years, we saw a lot of potential in updating and reimagining the business model. We knew Denton needed another creative reuse center (basically a secondhand shop for arts and crafts) and we knew we had to be the ones to do it.
What past experiences helped you get to where you are today as a business owner?
Jeanna’s experience in retail merchandising and creative reuse management combined with Kari’s years of leadership at for profit and nonprofit businesses helped tremendously. We knew exactly what we wanted to do with Thistle and were able to quickly get up and running as a result. We both spent a lot of time honing our vision and analyzing the systems we wanted to perfect and that gave us an incredible clarity when we made the decision to start Thistle.
What would you consider to be valuable traits or qualities for someone looking to start their own business and open up shop?
It seems like a certain willingness to just get up and start is necessary, and maybe a good smattering of ignorance and naivety. Of course planning and preparation is really important, but there are so many factors you will never be able to understand or imagine until you are faced with them. And as trite as it sounds, the ability to be nimble and flexible will only ever serve a business owner.
How have you handled unexpected hurdles or emergencies as related to operating Thistle?
It helped that we set up Thistle after a full year of the coronavirus pandemic, because that factor is still the biggest hurdle in our operations. Managing an in-person shopping experience where we feel responsible for keeping our staff and our customers safe has been a constant learning process. We have to constantly take stock of current threats and weaknesses so we are not blindsided.
What are your goals/hopes for Thistle Creative Reuse in the future?
Our goal is to become the Texas leader in creative reuse and creative reuse education. We want to open multiple locations and be a first stop for anyone looking to get creative. We want people to understand the connection between consumerism and climate change and that shopping secondhand first does so much for the environment.
What’s your favorite thing about your workspace?
The people in it! We have an amazing team and an amazing community of supporters. Our shop is pretty cute, but without the people it would be nothing.
How do you find ways to continuously move forward with your business? What does learning look like as a founder/owner?
We think about where we want to be in 3,5,10 years and then move backward from those goals to lay out a plan and strategy to get there. We make a conscious effort to always question how we are doing something to make sure we are improving wherever it’s possible.
Name a person whom you admire or look up to. Why?
There are so many people I am a super fan of - entrepreneurs, artists, activists! But I am going to say my grandmother. She’s an amazing human, artist, and radical thinker. She has faced a ton of obstacles in her life, but still laughs a lot, doesn’t take herself too seriously and rolls with the punches. She was one of the only women working at a paper-making factory back in the 70s, she taught herself to paint, and she curses like a sailor–I absolutely adore her.
Find Thistle Creative Reuse online at the website and follow them on Facebook and Instagram!