Dear readers,
I wanted to take a few minutes to write a brief blog post about who Paisley Lion is and how we started.
My name is Michelle Perkins (one of the owners of Paisley Lion) and I have been selling fashion since 1998.
I was at work one day and got a call that there had been a family emergency. I dropped everything, went home and found out that I needed to care for my 9 month old niece, and both of my 4 and 6 year old nephews. I had exactly one night to figure out how the heck to be a mom. Within about a month, I lost my job due to the inability to focus on work after this huge change. At the time, my husband was a submariner and was out to sea, so I had to figure it all out by myself...
One day, my neighbor asked me if I had heard about this new trend: eBay. She spent several hours with me to explain how to use the website. I found it to be pretty easy, and so that same day, I started purging my entire home, selling anything and everything I could to replace the income from the job I had just lost.
Not much after that, I had sold all of my unwanted items, but I still needed more. I Very quickly, I discovered yard sales, estate sales, etc. I even became friends with a store manager who begged me to relieve her of all of the old clothes nobody wanted. Let me tell you, by old, she meant from the 50s and 60s, vintage.
I found that it was the same at yard sales. People sitting around with garages jam packed full of fashion and pleading with me, "please take it all; nobody wants this stuff".
I went all in. I converted a part of our home into a full blown eBay warehouse. Since then, with the help of my family, I've opened my own thrift shop, Paisley Lion.
Reselling has given me the opportunity to care for my niece and nephews.
Reselling has allowed me to earn a living while going through the diagnosis of autism in my oldest son.
Reselling has allowed me to have no employer judging me for my hardships.
Reselling has allowed me to lay sick in bed when I just need a break.
Reselling has let me wear my favorite set of pajamas to work.
Reselling has let me be home to greet my two boys as soon as they get off the school bus.
Paisley Lion has given me a new sense of purpose, and I hope that you have enjoyed getting a glimpse into who we are and how we got to where we are today.
Thank you for reading,
Michelle