Today we’d like to introduce you to Sarah Snider.
Hi Sarah, can you start by introducing yourself? We’d love to learn more about how you got to where you are today?
Poetess & Stranger started as a way for me to free myself from working for other people. The older I get the more autonomy becomes important to me. It’s a fact that women make less in every field, are decision enforcers but not decision makers, and hold fewer positions of power. Even though opening my own business was an enormous risk, I felt that I had the energy, inspiration, and institutional knowledge to go out on my own and make something for myself. I come from an ethnic background that comes with enormous privilege, along with creating a solid business plan, I feel that this privilege aided me in getting a loan to start my business. I’ve used the platform I am grateful to have with my shop to find ways to support makers that have been historically excluded from a fair marketplace. This includes people from the BIPOC, Latinx, Queer, AAPI, Veteran, and Disabled communities. Having my own shop means that I can do business my way, which is non-exploitative, inclusive, consciously curated, ethical, sustainable, and practical. While this is a workable business model, it’s not extraordinarily profitable. That being said, I’m in business to make “enough.” Enough to me means that I am able to support myself and my family, and give back as much as I can to my community through affordable prices, free gatherings, free food pantry, free hats/gloves/socks, free harm reduction tools, and a little free library.
Would you say it’s been a smooth road, and if not what are some of the biggest challenges you’ve faced along the way?
Has the journey been smooth!? Absolutely not! Winters in Petoskey are difficult. January to May in northern Michigan is a tough season to survive. It requires our locals to really step up and put their dollars back into the area. I am grateful to say Petoskey’s community steps in and supports its local businesses, and in this sense, $5 is just as precious as $500 to me. I am so lucky to have the community that I have here. In early July of 2024 I learned that my former storefront building was being condemned, at the time I was told that I had 3 days to move out before the move out would be supervised by police (the timing is not typical, but police presence is). I put out a call for help thinking a few people would show up. What happened next still chokes me up today, an entire crew showed up and emptied my shop in 6 hours. The move was so fast and coordinated that it shocked everyone with its efficiency. When it came time to move to my new location a month later, the same people showed up to move me it, one person even renting a moving van as a donation to the cause. Being closed from early July to late August meant that I missed the month long period that typically funds a business through the worst months of the winter. It’s true that I nearly lost my business in the move. I lost, conservatively, about $50,000 of money I couldn’t afford to lose. Over the last year I’ve struggled to return to normal, and am enormously grateful to Huntington Bank for a loan that has helped me to rebuild my business after crisis.
Alright, so let’s switch gears a bit and talk business. What should we know about your work?
Poetess & Stranger is not just a random name for my business. I am a poet. One of the best parts about owning my own business is that I can do what I want during opening hours. Because I’m not proving that I’m worth what I’m paid, I can write, read, study, and in general live my life while I’m working. No one is looking over my shoulder and writing me up for coming up with a snippet of poetry and getting it down before I forget it. Over the last few years I’ve gotten intentional in my writing. Attending conferences, making connections with other poets, finding poetry mentors, holding poetry workshops in Petoskey, hosting a poetry open mic in Petoskey, selling local poets books, and in general, advocating for the power of poetry to connect people in an increasingly busy world. I’m proud to say I’ve been published with organizations like Rattle.com, Dark Mountain Project, Bareknuckle Press, WA Poets, and Walloon Lake Writer’s Review, among others.
What quality or characteristic do you feel is most important to your success?
One of the most important qualities that I’ve had to cultivate to run a small business is grit. To encounter impossible odds and keep going. To be tired, stressed, scared, and uncertain and still show up every day. I think the other quality that is the most helpful in small business is to be flexible, to tolerate imperfection. It’s okay to be good enough. I read in a book by Nan Shepherd, that climbing a mountain was not so much about reaching the peak, but looking down at the spectacular chasms below. I try to live by this, to not lose sight of where I’ve come from to get where I am now. My gratitude is overwhelming, the people, the opportunities, the success, all of them have sacred places in my heart.
Contact Info:
- Website: https://www.poetessandstranger.com
- Instagram: @thepoetessandstranger
- Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/POETESSANDSTRANGER
