My Story
I came into the world as a surprise…
An early “present” my grandmother would say as she was not aware that her teenage daughter was having a baby. Shortly after being born, I was adopted by my grandparents a few days before Christmas.
My grandmother played the role of my mother creating a childhood that made me feel different.
As a shy kid…
My grandmother tried to break me out of my shell by keeping me busy through a variety of experiences that ranged from soccer, to t-ball to bowling.
Despite her best efforts, life at home had often been filled with conflict, fighting, alcoholism and chaos.
As a teenager, I knew I wanted out and something different for myself.
Leaving home at 17 years old
changed the trajectory of my life when I left to attend Bentley College. Living on my own shaped me in a positive way and prepared me for the independent life I was seeking.
After graduating, I went on to work in Finance, but soon realized I hated the corporate world.
I was miserable and completely unfulfilled with the work. Changing roles, moving companies, and a return to graduate school left me with the same dissatisfied feeling.
I knew I wanted to be an entrepreneur after living through the fall out of the 2008 Financial Crisis after being disheartened by the job losses, market crash and the mortgage crisis.
Finding a creative outlet, opened up a whole new world.
While planning my wedding on sites like like Etsy & Pinterest I fell in love with the elements of design and DIY projects. It was during this time, that a friend had shared a hand-knit scarf she made… I prompted me to say,
“This is beautiful! I’d buy this. I’ve never seen anything like it.”
My business spark began
when it dawned on me, “What if we could make these and sell them?”
Soon after I called every yarn store and bought a ton of yarn on my credit card. Soon after, a business partnership was formed and Third Piece began.
I took the first leap by taking out a personal loan for $20K & hiring a local woman from a yarn store to help design & knit scarves, hats & mittens.
Orders soon came in from renowned retailers such as Henri Bendel, Bergdorf Goodman, Shopbop and other boutiques across the US and Canada.
The concept expanded into short and long term pop-ups around Boston and I was hiring knitters in the Boston area to fulfill all of the orders that were coming in, creating a modern day cottage-industry style operation of local women.
A few of the original Third ‘Piece Makers’ that helped bring our hand-knit collections to life and original concept off the ground.
These talent of these women inspired me and I fought hard to keep the production locally-made with their help.
I found myself doing everything I could to make this local production happen. It was an element to the business that became integral in my learning to knit and the powerful connections this craft created.
Taking the leap into a storefront.
A failed business partnership left me moving forward alone and I went all in opening a retail store in Boston’s historic South End. Despite later having to close its doors as a fall out of the pandemic, this little shop served as a healing space for myself, my customers and community that walked through our door.
It was here that I truly saw the transformative powers of knitting and how it more that just a craft.
Try, Fail, Pivot & Rebuild
Third Piece has evolved to be much more than the small hand-knit fashion label it started as. Being an entrepreneur has always been about creating the life that I want to live. It was my small way of leaving a positive impact on the people, my community and world around me.
Welcome to my personal website where I share my life as an entrepreneur, founder and mother that is working to build the next sustainable fashion brand, Third Piece.
