Conversations with Sarah Snider

Today we’d like to introduce you to Sarah Snider.

Hi Sarah, so excited to have you on the platform. So, before we get into questions about your work life, maybe you can bring our readers up to speed on your story and how you got to where you are today. 
The idea for Poetess And Stranger started mostly as a little daydream about a place where I could sell oddities, practical things, beautiful things, the things in a style I just couldn’t find locally. I set the thought aside, honestly, until 2021. I was working overnight, working myself to death, and I started thinking about this place, and I couldn’t stop. I focused my concept with a template for building a business plan, met with our local SCORE chapter briefly, and was put in touch with a local banker that helped me secure a loan from Northern Initiatives. I took everything I had learned about retail over the last 26 years and built my own place from the ground up. Being a small business owner is not easy; I didn’t come into it with a fantasy of instant success. What I did find was a curious community, one that found a way to see themselves in my shop and connected enough to my vision that when I need them, they are willing to come and support what I’m trying to build in Petoskey. I’ve learned over the last 2+ years of operation the importance of quick thinking, cornerstone products, a revolving inventory of interesting goods, and the ability to pivot in a timely manner to capture a trend. Through all that, I’m discovering how the twists and turns of climate change and economy affect business in a community that has both year-round residents and an influx of seasonal tourists. It is a pleasure for me to find ways to show our year-round community how valued they are, as well as delighting visitors with a unique experience. 

Can you talk to us a bit about the challenges and lessons you’ve learned along the way? Looking back, would you say it’s been easy or smooth in retrospect?
Owning your own business means that when you are confronted with challenges in your own life, managing a business on top of it becomes complicated. In the summer of 2022, my father died, working and running a new business while grieving was incredibly difficult. I was still technically within my first year of operation and found navigating the details of both my life and my business overwhelming. The first summer of being open, I found that visitors to Petoskey were directing their dollars more toward gas/travel, lodging, and dining, as well as experiences rather than shopping. My first summer was a success, but not quite what I had envisioned as far as summer tourism goes. The holiday season of 2022 was amazing, and I felt confident rolling into 2023. I noticed in January of 2023 that I had miscalculated drastically and needed the help of the community to help keep my head above water. I was grateful to have so many people come in and do what they could to help me survive as a business. The summer of 2023 was another year of unexpected lows. A couple of businesses on my block have gone out of business. Losing our major anchor store, JC Penney’s, was difficult, as it brought customers toward our section of town. As of right now, there are 7 empty storefronts on the block where my business is located, making my shop a “destination” and not a convenience. Additionally, many of the other storefronts are occupied by services like banks, yoga studios, or restaurants. My hope is that more businesses will be lured down to this part of our shopping district to help round out the experience on our block. 

Alright, so let’s switch gears a bit and talk business. What should we know about your work?
Aside from being a business owner, I am also a poet. This is one of the reasons why my shop is called Poetess And Stranger. I love poetry, and I look forward to bringing more opportunities for poetic togetherness to our community. I have been writing poetry for most of my life, but in 2022 I began writing more seriously, and then in 2023 started submitting my work to be published. I am honored to be able to say that in my first year of submitting, I landed a difficult-to-achieve publication with Rattle.com and then another with The Dark Mountain Project out of Oxford, England. For those 2 accomplishments, please believe that the rejections were far greater; that’s the way it works! In 2023 I started a weekly donations-based poetry club called “Alive Poets Society” in which I curate a selection of previously published poetry, and members come together as readers to explore and express our thoughts and opinions on the pieces. I believe that being a good reader of poetry helps to make a better poet, and I have noticed a difference not only in my writing but also in the writing of those who attend regularly. I also started a monthly donations-based Poetry Open Mic; every third Monday we gather to read original works to an encouraging (non-critical) crowd of excellent human beings. I’m trying to foster a community of poetry togetherness, to achieve that I want to make a safe space to express ourselves in our truest and most vulnerable ways. Because I believe that poetry can be a life story in a bite, I know it can be used to help connect people who would not normally seek out someone outside of their perspective; it’s important that we start seeing each other as human beings, each of us living our lives the best that we can. Poetry can give us this glimpse, that is why I offer these engagement opportunities on a donations-based level. I also host poetry workshops throughout the year, and those workshops have fees to honor the time and value of the content offered. They have been wonderful workshops, and I look forward to their success! 

Have you learned any interesting or important lessons due to the COVID-19 crisis?
As a business starting during the beginning of the endemic phase of COVID-19, my challenges have been different from those open during the onset of the crisis. The largest impact that it has on my business is that the pandemic had probably the most adverse economic effect on my primary demographic shopper. People that work in the service industry have seen very little in way of higher wages or any other kinds of financial support. Working with the public means that they are at a higher risk of developing illness, and if sick, there is very little opportunity to make up lost wages. There’s no safety net for the bulk of my customers, and because of this, their access to money that can be spent outside of the cost of living is very precious. Inflation has drastically impacted my customers’ ability to spend, so I’ve created a broader selection of lower-priced items in my shop and made it clear that $5 is just as precious as $500 to me. Businesswise, any federal or local financial support to see a company through a financial crisis associated with the pandemic has dried up. We’re on our own on that front, even though the impact is still present on a day-to-day basis. 

Contact Info:

• Website: https://www.poetessandstranger.com/
• Instagram: @thepoetessandstranger
• Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/POETESSANDSTRANGER