Hey everyone!

We’ve been slowly sharing some of what we’re creating downtown and want to give you more background on who we are, what we’re doing, and how you can get involved.

The short version: we are three women joining forces to bring you Wayward Trading Co., Ketchikan's newest spot to shop, sip tea, attend a workshop, and get cozy with a pop-up tea lounge. We are looking to raise money to help cover start up costs: renovations for the shop space, commercial kitchen appliances, supplies for hosting events for locals that we aim to keep affordable for all, and other initial startup costs (sooo many permits!).

The slightly longer version: Wayward is a brick-and-mortar shop that is home to: Mudlark Vintage (owned by Jillian Pollock), Salty Sisters Designs (owned by Kellie Mogg and her sister), and Wild Child Tea Co. (owned by Keriann Uno).

Our shared goal is to curate a cozy space to shop, grab your morning beverage, take a workshop, learn a little more about the plants and world around us, support local artists, listen to music, or just sit and be together while sipping something yummy.

In addition to our shared shop space, Wayward is also somewhat of a liminal space- a spawning ground for new ideas, collaborations between local businesses, and a driving force for some of the changes that you all have been asking for in Ketchikan’s historic downtown.

Folks have been dreaming up more third spaces- especially ones that center wellness & connection.

One such dream is a late night tea lounge where a rotation of hosts can explore their own creative concepts. Other folks have been dreaming of a cozy, mindful space for music where artists can experiment and collaborate.

We heard these asks and are offering up Wayward’s first collaborative experiment—The Empourium. We are so excited to bring this pop-up tea lounge concept to the community as a launching pad for new connections. We will continue to explore new ideas for this series and opportunities to offer third spaces for youth programming in collaboration with community partners.

When we (Jillian, Kellie, & Keriann) started talking about collaborating last summer solstice, we were ready to take on this project and its expenses ourselves. In one of our recent meetings, we discussed how supportive our community is and how many people have shown interest in Wayward as creating something that this town needs.

We are realizing that this project is bigger than the three of us- it’s something that is already being created by the community, and something that we want to offer back up to the community. So let’s build this together.

Any amount of donation is significant, and any help getting the word out is so appreciated. Every dollar will go back to the community through the shop & events. Please reach out to us if you'd like to collaborate in some other way whether now or in the future.

Thank you for taking the time to read this, donating, and helping us spread the word. Most of all, thank you for helping us dream this into being. Let’s keep the dream going.

With love,

Wayward