Independents
Years in Tampa Bay
4
Job title
Owner & Chief Yarn Wrangler at the Common Thread
What do you do?
I play fiber matchmaker, helping people find the perfect yarn for their projects, while also organizing our events and classes and managing all the behind-the-scenes operations. And somehow I still find time to make silly social content (I may have recreated Taylor Swift and Travis Kelce’s engagement photos … in yarn).
Why do you do it?
Because nothing lights me up quite like watching people connect over making something with their own two hands. Yarn has this quiet magic: it slows you down, sparks creativity, and brings strangers together. Seeing someone’s face when they finish their first project, or when two people who just met decide to start a stitch night together … that’s why I do it. I wanted to create a space where those moments can happen every day. The café and the yarn shop are just the tools; the real reward is watching community grow, one stitch at a time.
What was your Catalyst? (How did you get started?)
Honestly, the spark came from a mix of nostalgia and noticing a gap. I learned to crochet back in fifth grade – on a long train ride, when a kindly older gentleman showed me a few stitches to pass the time. I’ve been “hooked” ever since. When I moved from San Francisco to St. Pete in 2022, I was instantly taken by the city’s color and creative energy. But as I settled in, I kept thinking: how does a place with such a vibrant arts scene not have a local yarn shop? I missed having that kind of “third space,” a place that isn’t home or work, where people can slow down, make things with their hands, and connect with each other. So I decided to build the place I wanted to hang out in myself: a carefully curated yarn shop and a full-service café where you can sip a lavender lemonade, meet other makers and feel part of a creative community. That combination: my lifelong love of fiber arts and the realization that St. Pete was ready for a space like this was the true catalyst for the Common Thread.
What’s a common misconception or unknown aspect of what you do?
People often picture a yarn shop as a quiet little space filled only with retirees knitting baby blankets, but that couldn’t be further from what we see every day. One of my favorite surprises since opening The Common Thread is how diverse our makers are. We have teenagers and college students who come in to crochet their own clothes, veterans who find the rhythm of knitting meditative, dads making baby gifts, and twenty-somethings who discovered fiber arts through TikTok. People of every background and skill level are falling in love with yarn. And the projects are just as varied: from tiny amigurumi animals to runway-ready garments, from tapestries to bikinis. The possibilities are endless, and it’s a far cry from the old stereotype of “grandma’s hobby.” To me, that’s the magic: yarn connects people across generations and interests, and it proves that making things by hand is as relevant and exciting as ever.
What’s the most challenging part of your work?
The hardest part is juggling a business that wears three hats at once: a café, a retail shop and a community gathering space. Each side has its own needs and priorities, and making sure they all get the attention they deserve (without adding extra hours to the day!) is definitely the biggest challenge. There’s never quite enough time, but the energy of the community makes the hustle worth it.
What’s the most valuable piece of business advice/insight that’s helped you?
The best advice I’ve ever gotten is to choose progress over perfection. When you’re building something with a lot of moving parts (a café, a retail shop, a maker space) it’s easy to freeze if you wait until every detail is flawless. I’ve learned to treat it like a giant sudoku puzzle: fill in one square at a time, trust that the bigger picture will come together, and keep moving forward even if it’s not perfect yet. If I tried to “eat the whole elephant” in one bite, I’d never start. The magic happens when you launch the minimum viable version, listen, adjust and let it grow.
