Being a business owner with an online presence has given us the gift of connection with so many inspiring entrepreneurs and mamas who generously share their time with us and our community! We recently have gotten to know the lovely Mariah Sanders, owner of home decor thrift retail shop The Sanders Abode.
Mariah started her passion project six years ago and has maintained and grown this expertly curated shop through two pregnancies and early motherhood as she raises her babies in Virginia. Read on to learn more about Mariah's journey and some special hacks for finding a bit of balance in a busy day and pushing past creative blocks. We are so honored to have had the chance to connect with and feature her here!
Q: Can you share a bit about what your family looks like as well as your work as an entrepreneur? How and when did your journey as a mother and business owner start?
A: I get to do life with my best friend, David, and we are parents to two lovely kiddos: Olivia (age 4.5 years) and Alder (16 months). We live in a little fixer-upper in Virginia and have been slowly renovating it for almost seven years now. I own The Sanders Abode, which is a curated vintage home decor and furniture shop online.
I opened my shop back in July 2019, two weeks after quitting my full-time social work job. Thrifting was something I had always done with my mom growing up (but it wasn’t cool back then) so when working my social work job, I would often escape to the thrift store after work to decompress.
My collection of things started to grow and I knew I didn’t have the space for all of it in our small home. I stood in the aisle of a Goodwill one day and opened the Instagram app - I created my shop page and posted a few items for sale later that day. At first my shop was a way to re-home my thrifted finds, but I quickly discovered it was much more than that. It was a creative outlet for me; it helped give me purpose through pregnancy, postpartum, the pandemic, etc.
Q: Do you have any favorite childhood toys, games, activities or even spaces that stand out to you?
A: Growing up I loved playing Barbies and American Girl Dolls with my older sisters. I am one of eight children (six girls, two boys) so we played our fair share of dress up. My mom had an antique trunk filled with my great grandmother’s old clothes: vintage silk slips, lace gloves, the most amazing hats. We would dress up and my mom would take photos of us; it was like our own homemade photo shoot.
Q: What is hardest for you to juggle or balance right now? Have you found any hacks that are helping?
A: The hardest thing to juggle right now is just time and energy for my shop. Having my son in September 2023 really changed the dynamic of our household and it is a lot of hard work to go from one child to two! I really value having healthy meals made each day and keeping a tidy home, so I end up putting a lot of effort into those things - which I don’t regret at all. It just leaves very little time for managing my shop.
My ultimate mom hack is a pretty simple one: meal prep / begin to make dinner during nap time. It may sound crazy but starting dinner early, while I still have the energy, really helps my end-of-the-day self feel so much less stressed. I also swear by this little hack: pack a lunch for you and the kids whenever you are planning to go out and run errands in the morning or have a playdate. Outings ALWAYS go longer than expected, so I like to have some packed food (not just snacks) for my kids when the morning get-togethers quickly run over into lunch time. We’re also way less likely to buy food out when we do this.
I am very blessed to have family nearby, so I have learned to ask for help on weeks when I need to dedicate focused time to my shop.
Q: Do you have any advice for an aspiring business owner who is stuck and doesn’t know where to start?
A: I would say just create. Usually when I feel “stuck” it’s because I am doubting or comparing myself. Nothing good comes from that place. Recently I’ve been finding inspiration from: discovering new designers that have a unique style, checking out a home decor book from the library, or perusing Pinterest. I am often surprised by what I can create when I allow myself to just make something without judgement.
Q: One thing that has helped my state of mind is focusing on gratitude daily. What are you grateful for?
A: I am so grateful for my friends. It has taken many many years to establish solid friendships (why is that so hard as a married adult?!) My friends are some of the most kind, thoughtful people. I really couldn’t do motherhood without them!
Q: When you were little, what did you want to be when you grew up?
A: I wanted to be famous! I had dreams of being an actress or singer (I still love to sing to this day!)
To learn more about Mariah and her beautiful shop The Sanders Above, head over to https://www.thesandersabode.com. You can also see more on her Instagram account over at https://www.instagram.com/thesandersabode/.