Second Hand Stories | First Hand with Small Business Owner Christen Lawrie from Childrens Orchard and The Closet Trading Co

SCV Connected

Grab your coffee, tea, wine, or mocktail and pull up a seat, and let's chat. Unfiltered - because that's when the greatest connections happen. When a group of women gets together, lets their hair down, and shares their purpose and passions that's when ALL the magic happens.
If Brené Brown says vulnerability is our most accurate way to measure courage then our guest today is both BRAVE and FEARLESS. Our guest today, Christen Lawrie, believes you have earned the right to hear her open up as she shares her experiences and feelings on family, life, running 3 small businesses, and the pursuit of the good life here in sunny Santa Clarita, California.
A little bit about Christen in her own words
" I am a registered nurse who became a bit burnt out a few years ago. My family and I have some goals and dreams that we just weren’t able to reach on our W-2 jobs. Our faith has always informed what we do, and so looking at income options, it seemed the best way forward for our family, and to make a bigger impact in our community was through business ownership. The opportunity to purchase Children’s Orchard came up in 2019 and we made the leap for the first two years, I worked at the hospital and ran the store with my husband. I would go into the store at 5 AM before a shift, scrubs, and all then run to the hospital work my 12 hours and come back to the store to finish up whatever loose ends there were for the day. That became unsustainable, and so we made the decision to be “all in” with our business. We have always wanted Children’s Orchard to be a refuge of sorts. To use the space as a safe place for kids and families, as a place to provide needs and also joy. We are still in the process of figuring out how to do that more, but that’s the heart behind what we do.
Then, in 2022 we purchased two additional businesses- The Closet Trading Company.
Our goal now is to utilize our business resources as a platform to contribute to our community- we’ve partnered with a local organization, Saving Innocence, to support their work in rescuing kids from trafficking.
Stay tuned- we have BIG plans in the works!"
Fair warning - you might walk away from today's conversation admiring Christen's courage to show up to our interview and be seen.
Her energy is infectious and it's a vibe I'm so proud to have in our community, Santa Clarita, CA.
Show Notes & Links:
The Closet Trading Co- Woodland Hills, CA
https://www.theclosettradingco.com/pages/woodland-hills
Store Phone: [phone]
Insta: thecloset.woodlandhills

The Closet Trading Co- Santa Monica
https://www.theclosettradingco.com/pages/santa-monica
store phone: [phone]
insta: thecloset.santamonica

Children's Orchard Santa Clarita
https://santaclaritaca.childrensorchard.com/
Store Phone: [phone]
Insta: childrensorchardsantaclarita

Questions? OR if you or someone you know might be interested in sharing their story with this space please email me at [e-mail]
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Until next time...it's worth it to be ourselves and to connect with others. Don't make it awkward - go talk to your neighbor, have a little fun, & stay connected!