Today we’d like to introduce you to Andrea Brockson.
Hi Andrea, so excited to have you with us today. What can you tell us about your story?
Well, let’s see. I can start at the very beginning – my childhood was filled with fun, creativity, thrifting and antiquing. My mom was a full-time restaurant server, but her part-time passion was in making our 1920 home look like some kind of historical museum. Growing up outside of Philadelphia, my 4 sisters and I took part in many of my mom’s trips to barn sales, thrift stores and antique shops. She started selling some of her beautiful relics on the side and called it Nancy’s Nifties. I honestly didn’t realize just how creative she was until I was much older. All of the Halloween costumes hand-made or thrifted, the curated window displays on the holidays and the overall look of our home was definitely eclectic yet thoughtfully curated.
At 14, she got me my first sewing machine and I was up and running in creating my own looks and just a few short years later, I landed at Parsons School of Design. During my sophomore year, my mom was diagnosed with cancer and we lost her just 2 months later. That was the hardest thing I ever had to go through – losing her and trying to continue with the rigor of an intense art school. I took a much needed hiatus and returned to school to graduate in 2006. That same year I got married and had my son.
We moved to San Diego and I starting working at the San Diego Hat Company as a Design Assistant and was eventually promoted to Associate Designer. I later left and started working in the action sports world for almost 5 years and returned to the hat company because I missed working in women’s fashion. (During this time I had 2 more babies – both girls and my love for fashion was reinvigorated.)
Along the way, I have always thrifted the majority of my own clothing, furniture and home decor for a number of reasons – I love the look of mixing unique vintage finds, being a young family new clothing and goods can be very expensive and ultimately wanting to save perfectly good items from a landfill. As I thrifted, I amassed quite a collection of vintage clothing, accessories and home decor and decided a few years ago to share some of my finds just as my mom had. I decided to name my business Pachi Collective. Pachi (puh-chē) was my dad’s nickname for my mom.
Today, I sell mostly at Vintage and Makers Markets in and around San Diego, and can be found on Instagram and Facebook. I hope to have my website go live this Fall at www.pachicollective.com.
We all face challenges, but looking back would you describe it as a relatively smooth road?
Losing my mom at 20 was the biggest struggle. I was living in New York City going to Parsons, but I fell in to a pretty deep depression after I lost her. My effort was just not there in life and in trying to keep up with my studies. I decided to move back to Philly and reevaluate my path. I had the support of my family especially my dad and that was huge. I spent time with friends and family, worked, did yoga, traveled and decided after 6 months to move back to New York and finish out college.
When my mom was sick, I heard her voice on the phone telling me to keep pushing. She was having her own battle with terminal cancer and was telling me to keep after it. As I now move through the balancing act of running a small business and being a wife and mother to 3, I still hear my mom telling me to keep after it.
Alright, so let’s switch gears a bit and talk business. What should we know?
One area of the business I take pride in, is making sure I am using sustainable and eco-friendly business practices where I can. For me this means, using recycled paper for my hang tags and bags, up-cycling newspaper for breakable items at markets or when shipping, as well as using existing cardboard boxes. This year, I also plan on looking in to returnable and re-usable means of shipping and moving away from single use packaging.
While sourcing my goods, I don’t shy away from picking up flawed vintage garments – I take items to a local tailor to have them mended or zippers replaced if I can’t fix them myself. I am also very proud to say I donate a portion of my proceeds to the Fallbrook Animal Sanctuary. The Fallbrook Animal Sanctuary is the only no-kill, non-profit animal rescue group in North San Diego County operating solely on donations. We adopted a kitten from them a few years ago and it was very eye-opening to see just how many animals are in need of our help!
Where we are in life is often partly because of others. Who/what else deserves credit for how your story turned out?
There’s a few people that played important roles in my growth as well as my business – my dad has always been there as a positive driving force in life and in offering words of wisdom surrounding work. I’ll share a little about my dad to give you context. Here’s a man that left Argentina in his early 20’s with about 200 bucks in his pocket. He played a little soccer eventually worked on cars, bought and sold them, and chauffeured a limo for years.
When I think of the word hustle, I immediately think of him. Right now, he’s 75 and stays with my family half of the year and returns to Argentina for the other half. As I branch out to take part in more markets this year, my dad has helped by loading and unloading my car, tearing down my booth after shows, keeping me organized and has just been there to offer encouraging words.
I also can’t fail to mention my family’s role. My husband and 3 kids have been extremely supportive and patient as I navigate this fairly new venture.
They help me photograph, clean and tag items, load and unload my car and on occasion help me sell at markets. This has become a total family effort and I’m extremely grateful that I have that support.
Contact Info:
- Email: andrea@pachicollective.com
- Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/pachicollective/
- Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/pachicollective/
Image Credits:
Susie Fiebich
