I’m in love with the idea of intentionally creating a unique life- hearing the stories of people who are in the process of creating inspired lives for themselves is fascinating, and always a learning experience for me. I’m excited to share those stories here through my Creative Life interviews

Dear Golden Vintage is one of the most exquisitely curated etsy shops & blogs that I know, and its owner, Lauren Naimola, has been an inspiration to me since I started blogging. Her shop is consistent and fresh, and always topped up with the most gorgeous hand picked garments from the 1920s through the 1980s “for modern girls who aspire to stand out from the crowd in the very best way”. In my mind, Lauren is their perfect role model…

Do you remember one of the first vintage pieces that you really fell in love with?

Sadly, I cannot! I have been collecting and wearing vintage since I was 15. So actually the answer might be this 1940s pale pink gabradine wool suit with trapunto detail that I got in high school, I ended up wearing it for my senior pictures and lord knows I won’t be sharing THAT photo with the internet!

How did you become a vintage seller? Did it start by selling your extras finds, or did you have a vision for Dear Golden would look like from the beginning?

I have been going to estate sales for what seems like all my life. I would buy up entire estate lots of vintage, bring the garments home, clean them, mend them, press them and then since I couldn’t fit in all of them I would just give the clothing away to friends. It just made sense to start a business doing such a thing.

What does a normal working day in your life look like?

As anyone who has their own business knows a normal work day isn’t very “normal”, you never really stop working. I get up early, make a nice coffee and basically start working. I check my shop sales, pack orders, and answer emails for the first part of the morning, then I usually list new pieces in the shop. No two days are the same, some days I go out hunting for vintage, some days I spend just cleaning & restoring garments, some days I am shooting photos…

Finding the beautiful pieces that make it into your shop must be a big time commitment! Do you have any tricks that help you balance between everything Dear Golden requires from day to day and having a full, happy personal life?

Since I love what I do so much it really is just part of my life in general, it’s hard work most days, but loving it makes it easier. I am still pretty bad at finding a balance between Dear Golden and my personal life, but I can say I seem to etch out more “free time” as each year passes.

Did you have an ah-ha moment when you knew that working for yourself was right for you?

It sounds trite, but honestly, the day I started doing this is the day I had the ah-ha moment!

Small business owners can sometimes end up spending a lot of time on their own while they’re working- do you have any favourite things to do while you’re working on Dear Golden?

I listen to a lot of music. Usually classical before noon and then jazz later. I can’t do anything that takes too much of my attention away from working so listening music is about the extent of what I do while I wrok.

It must be at least a little difficult to sell so many beautiful things. Are there any pieces you wish you hadn’t sold, or that you could call back for a night on the town?

Or there are so many. I refrain from looking at my sold items just because it’s sometimes heartbreaking. I really wish I had not sold these shoes…oh boy do I wish…

As a result I now probably keep too many pieces, just to be “safe”!

Thanks so much Lauren!

If you’d like to get more of Lauren head over to her blog, visit her gorgeous etsy shop,
follow her on Twitter or see what she’s loving on Pinterest

{images: Dear Golden blog & etsy shop}