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Meet Kiley Handy of Period Six Studio in Golden Ridge

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Today we’d like to introduce you to Kiley Handy.

Thanks for sharing your story with us Kiley. So, let’s start at the beginning and we can move on from there.
Like the stories of artisans, I tend to gravitate toward, my journey to opening Period Six was born out of things not going according to plan. The plan was to do theatre and I did, for a while. I have BFA in Acting and after college discovered a love for stage management. During this time, I also started working in for an artist who I admired and was surrounded by makers of things that made me feel alive.

So, the plan morphed, aided by a lot of rejection (a word I now use fondly), a bevy of not getting called back, unpaid internships and ‘industry’ jobs left me feeling unsatisfied. I worked in other charming boutiques and galleries that were great but needed a bigger challenge. So I distilled what I thought I “knew” and changed course.

I knew that my theatre-honed skills would never come across on a traditional resume and I knew that nothing made me happier than making sure artists have a place to thrive and tell their stories. The shape of Period Six began to form.

As luck would have it, I had the perfect business partner in mind – my mom, Ann. She is a graphic-designer-non-profit-maven-knows-a-little-about-everything machine… and you know… we have history, we understand each other’s ideas before they’re even ready to workshop. Most importantly, we share a love for making people smile when they least expect to. We combine our powers to curate a store we’d go out of our way to visit.

Has it been a smooth road?
Retail is hard and entrepreneurship can be lonely. You’re suddenly, especially in the beginning, wearing all these new hats. On any given day, you’re the buyer, web designer, sales associate, marketing guru, bookkeeper… even the janitor. Nothing prepares you for all of that. I do think I’m lucky though, doing theatre made me resilient and deliberate. When I’m feeling overwhelmed by this or that I think about what Jerome Robbins told actor Austin Pendleton when Fiddler on the Roof was struggling. A defeated Pendleton asked, “what are we going to do?” and Robbins responded, “10 things a day.”

I come back to this anecdote often as a reminder to break a problem into manageable chunks. Some days it’s not looking at where I want the business to go, but doing a handful of tasks that reflect how proud I am that we are where we are. Just show up and take one step, then another. I’m not sure you ever feel like you know all the choreography (hello imposter syndrome!), but you get a little more graceful with every challenge.

We’d love to hear more about your business.
Period Six Studio is an artisan gift store, meaning we curate a selection of work from local and American artisans. We love greeting cards, jewelry, gifts, furniture, original artwork- really any work where we see reflected the maker and the person who will connect with it. Nothing is cooler than getting to know your customers and artists well enough to feel like you’re playing matchmaker. When someone sees a piece, no matter what size – it can be a card – and tells us, “this is me,” it’s very special to be a part of. I’m proud that as a business Period Six is able to make so many of these human-to-human relationships and make art accessible to a wide range of people.

Is our city a good place to do what you do?
Golden is a wonderful place. The people are active, kind and curious. Their curiosity is especially fun for us because we can take on an educational role and talk to our customers and community about why it’s important to buy handmade, what goes in to the product their holding, and how a small shop like ours can also work with them to find high-quality, beautiful products they’ll truly love.

The struggle of our city is supporting businesses that aren’t on “the main street.” It’s a city with a wealth of ingenuity, spanning all kinds of industries and I’d love to see more of a celebration and pride in all that Golden has to offer.

Pricing:

  • Cards $3.50-$9
  • Art $5-$1500
  • Jewelry starting at $15
  • Good Feels :: FREE

Contact Info:


Image Credit:
Headshot: Keifer Hunniford Photography

Getting in touch: VoyageDenver is built on recommendations from the community; it’s how we uncover hidden gems, so if you know someone who deserves recognition please let us know here.

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