Conversations with the Inspiring Lexi Wilson

Today we’d like to introduce you to Lexi Wilson.

Lexi, can you briefly walk us through your story – how you started and how you got to where you are today.
Lexi Goes Thrifting began as a distraction from life, really. A passion for thrifting and searching for the best vintage pieces in the most surprising places fueled me to open my Etsy shop in the late summer of 2014. I had just completed college and moved to a new state to teach 4-5th-grade special education full time. Unfortunately, due to struggles with my mental health, which resulted in a psychiatric hospital stay in January of 2015, I decided to leave my teaching career behind. My Etsy shop became a place to drive my time and energy into, while I was still trying to figure out my mental health, and really, the next step in my life. I also began using Instagram to showcase the process behind running an online vintage shop, as well as a place to connect with others on how to manage running a business while dealing with several mood disorders. I decided to start blogging about my experiences as well, starting lexigoesthrifitng.com. I began meeting more and more like-minded individuals with a love for vintage, thrifting, and a not-so-traditional career path. Connecting with others through Instagram, led me to seek out other shop owners right here in Denver, to create a strictly-vintage market, to support the amazing amount of vintage small-business owners we have in Denver. With the help of 3 other online-vintage boutique owners, we created the Old School Cool Vintage Market and held our first show in February of 2018. It has only grown since now hosting over 50 vendors.

Overall, has it been relatively smooth? If not, what were some of the struggles along the way?
Although I have been struggling with clinical depression and anxiety most of my life, it wasn’t until I was 27 years old that I was diagnosed with ADD. Receiving this diagnosis changed my life, and made so many past struggles make so much more sense. My greatest advice for young women starting their journey is to advocate for yourself! You know yourself better than anyone. For YEARS I knew something was off, and I struggled so intensely with such minor tasks. One to-do list would make me literally crumble to the ground in overwhelm. Knowing what is actually happening in my mind so I can better adjust how, where, and when I work, has made a world of difference in my ability to make things happen. You know yourself best, and you shouldn’t ever feel bad advocating for what you need.

What should we know about Lexi Goes Thrifting Vintage & Old School Cool Vintage Market? What do you guys do best? What sets you apart from the competition?
My work is sort of divided up into three different things; my blog, my vintage shop, and the vintage market I run with my friend Emma, of Sweet Bean Vintage, another online vintage shop. My style is diverse, colorful, and eclectic—I’m always outsourcing new goods so the shop stays interesting (and because the searching part is obviously my favorite part ). Through all of my work, I hope to turn new customers on to shopping vintage and secondhand as a lifestyle choice. There is so much waste in the fashion industry, I want people to understand they can incorporate shopping secondhand into their daily lives, even if it isn’t necessarily their “thing.” My second goal is to encourage my customers to discover their own personal style, and celebrate it! Thrifting and shopping vintage has allowed me to develop a personal style that is uniquely ME. I think ignoring labels and trends, and just letting your heart speak to you and what you want to wear results in INCREDIBLE style. I want to encourage everyone to be uniquely themselves.

Do you have a lesson or advice you’d like to share with young women just starting out?
It can be YOU. If there is anything at all you are dreaming up in your head- IT IS POSSIBLE! Having a thriving vintage market in a big city like Denver is a dream come true. And if you had told me I would have been doing it even five years ago, I wouldn’t believe you. We are truly the only ones stopping ourselves from achieving the next step. Believe that you can do it and put in the work to make it happen, and I think you’ll surprise yourself. You can be the one!

Contact Info:

• Website: lexigoesthrifting.com
• Phone: 5173883559
• Email: lexigoesthrifting@gmail.com
• Instagram: instagram.com/lexigoesthrifting
• Facebook: facebook.com/lexigoesthrifting

Image Credit:
Ash Taylor, Emma Williams, Cody Bristor, Sanjana Stein, Ben Epstein, the rest are just my own

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