Help Rose Keep The Crow's Nest Thriving

Hello everyone!

My name is Rose Hutson, I'm 28 years old, and in 2023, I put everything on the line—my savings, my career, my education—to finally jump headfirst into opening my own business; a dream I've carried with me since I was only seven years old!

Upon opening in December of 2023, I had absolutely no idea what to expect when it came to the success of my business. I had projections, estimates, I did my market research, of course. But like any business, I made sure not to go into this with unobtainable assumptions. Since my grand opening, I've made sure to take each day as it comes and find gratitude and humility in every sale and every interaction I'm gifted while working the store.

But as I mentioned, I'm relatively young to be a first-time business owner. And finding banks who were willing to back me and support my goals proved rather quickly to be quite impossible. Which I can understand. My business is centered around a niche market in a town that's never had a store quite like mine before! And though I was able to start with a decent amount of funds, now only a few weeks away from hitting my one-year mark, I'm realizing that the money I started with hasn't left me with a good enough cushion to truly keep my business growing in the way I desire.

Now, a little more about how I got started:

I should preface this by saying that I was raised by grandparents, and that I honest to God don't think I'd be who I am today without their unwavering love, safety, and support.

In the beginning of 2022, my grandfather—who, as a business owner himself of 32 years, inspired me to pursue my entrepreneurial dreams—suddenly got very sick, very quickly. Living in a different state, for about seven months, I was constantly driving back and forth from NM to TX to help my grandmother with his growing list of medical needs. Watching him go from the strongest man I've ever known to the almost comatose state he ended up in by the end of his painful journey was one of the hardest things I've ever had to do; and though he fought as hard as he could for as long as he could, unfortunately, my grandpa passed away in August of 2022—inevitably changing the lives of everyone in my family forever.

A few months after he passed, I was told my grandfather left me a little bit of money—about $37,000; that of which I originally planned to use to go to grad school. But during the year and a half after he passed, my desire to open my shop started to grow exponentially. It was becoming clear that this dream of mine was what I was supposed to do with my life; and with the incredible support of my grandmother and my insane dream of opening an oddities shop, I decided to say "F*** it!" and dive into opening shop in October of 2023—and after 3 months, somehow, I successfully opened!

Let me make one thing clear: Opening my oddities shop wasn't an idea I pulled out of a magician's hat; this store has helped me encompass everything I've ever loved into one, and it's changed me in ways I never could have imagined. I've been involved and held a passion for the paranormal ever since I was a child—my mother, being a popular Psychic-Medium in Texas for many years during my childhood. Since opening, I've held events, fundraisers, parties, art openings, book readings, etc.—all things which have helped me support and uplift the artists in my community in incredible ways. Something I hope to continue doing for many years to come!

While I'm proud of the success I've managed to produce during my first year of business, at the end of the day, I have embarked on this journey on my own. Though I'm grateful for the support of my grandmother and my wonderful partner, after everything I've had to invest in order to get started—inventory, POS, insurance, supplies, rent, utilities, advertising, marketing, etc.—I'm slowly running out of money. It's hard to keep my head above water. It's hard to find breathing room. I was only able to pay myself about $900 this entire year. And as much as it pains me to ask for help—especially from strangers—this business is my future. It's my family's future. And I'll do anything I need to do to make it as successful as possible.

Just so people don't think I've jumped on here without trying to seek other forms of financial assistance, I want to list everything I've tried thus far in order to fund my own business:

The main reason institutions have decline assistance in the past is due to my age, the length of time I've been in business, and the niche nature of my business—and Oddities and Curiosities Shop in Santa Fe, NM.

While it’s true that this is my first time ever owning or operating my own business, on more than a few occasions, I have run and operated other businesses just fine. At the age of sixteen, I was promoted to Housekeeping Manager at an RV Park and Resort in Canyon Lake, Texas after just three months of employment. It was here where I first learned inventory, ordering, and management skills. From 2015-2017, I worked as an independent, high-commission sales employee for a luggage store called Le Bon Voyage—located in Santa Fe, New Mexico—where I worked alone and completed responsibilities such as key holding, visual marketing, merchandising and inventory, ordering, and money handling. As a child, I grew up in my grandfather's business where I learned inventory, ordering, and merchandising at a relatively young age. For about three years during the pandemic, I worked as an independent contract baker for several locations in town, such as Fruit of The Earth and Dulce Capitol Bakery, where most of my work was independent and self-scouted.

So while I may be inexperienced at owning a business, I am certainly not inexperienced at business overall. Not in any way, shape, or form. In fact, I am rather incredible at it. I just needed to be given the chance to prove it. And now that I have, I'm determined to keep this going. To keep growing and expanding and learning for as long as I can in order to provide the future for myself I've always envisioned.

What is The Crow's Nest?

The Crow’s Nest is an Oddities and Curiosities Retail Store, featuring products both of the strange and extraterrestrial variety, as well as everyday spiritual delights—such as tarot cards, crystals, pendulums, books, and so much more. My shop offers a wide selection of products—aiming to support local female artists but also, artists and vendors from all over who specialize in the weird, wild, and spooky!

Located in the heart of beautiful Santa Fe, New Mexico, just minutes from downtown, The Crow's Nest Oddities Store strives to provide customers with an enchanting and immersive shopping experience, unlike anything this town has yet to offer!

Conclusion:

While there's so much I could say, I'm trying to make this as brief and relatively intriguing as I possibly can! I’d like to express my gratitude in advance for those who take the time to review my story. I also want to take the time to thank those who have already supported me on this journey, and who continue to give me encouragement every single day.

The funds will be used to help cover things such as:

Below, I'll attach links to my socials and website! Feel free to take a look if you have a moment:

Website: https://www.thecrowsnestoddities.com/

Instagram: @thecrowsnestoddities

Tiktok: @thecrowsnestoddities

Thank you again. I'm eternally grateful for any and all support.

Have a wonderful day.