Meet Caitlin Marsh | Co-owner and interior designer / professional schlepper

We had the good fortune of connecting with Caitlin Marsh and we’ve shared our conversation below.

Hi Caitlin, we’d love to hear about how you approach risk and risk-taking
Honest or misguided, I’ve taken risks all my life. I grew up in a household where both my parents had their own businesses, as I think back now being introduced to that at a young age probably instilled in me the drive to do my own thing as well.

My dad used to say I was a rebel without a cause and for a good portion of my life that was very accurate. I questioned all rules, all adult figures, everything and in turn I got myself into a lot of trouble. By the time I was 14 I was drinking daily and on the fast track to a serious drug addiction. It was a long, vicious and lonely road that eventually broke me and brought me to a place of surrender. By the grace of God I got clean and sober a month before my 21st birthday and I’ve stayed on the straight and arrow ever since. People have asked me if I could do it all over again would I change anything and my answer is no. My rebellious, addictive, defiant nature enabled me to learn so much about people and their struggles you might not see, hardships we all face, myself and the misery in which I found myself was all my doing.

For the longest time I couldn’t imagine myself being a normal, productive citizen and it took a tremendous amount of work, humility and tenacity to come out the other side. The old saying of, ‘no risk, no reward’ is true, at least in my case. I literally risked my life, my family, my health, everything and it broke me in a way no one deems possible, but the reward of honesty, dignity, and an authentic appreciation for the little things has outweighed all the shit that came before.

Retail is a risk in itself and adding furniture into the mix only makes our job that much more difficult. There is truly no rhyme or reason in the sales of our business, somedays are great and you think to yourself, this actually might work, while the flip side includes zero dollar days and the stresses of whether or not you can pay the bills. I think in order to take risks you have to have a part of you that is so stubborn, that regardless of your current situation you will see it through just to make a point. My mom and I have certainly done that with lulu’s. People call us crazy for moving 5 times, but we look at it as being tenacious and slightly crazy.

What should our readers know about your business?
The furniture business is very antiquated and we’re right there with them! I wrote this a few years ago and it still rings true.

Do you know lulu’s, I mean really know lulu’s? This crazy venture began sixteen years ago as an absolute last resort and miraculously we are still here.

We would like to think of ourselves as furniture royalty, but in all reality we are furniture schleppers. We are hustlers true and true and while we dress very poorly, we know a thing or two about beautiful spaces. We source merchandise from all over the world and treat every piece that comes through our doors as if it were going in our homes, and when it arrives broken, that is exactly where it ends up.

We believe in authenticity and personality. Our collection covers the gamut of styles, genres, ages and everything in between. Almost everything in our store is produced by an actual human being, not machines, and we strive to avoid anything and everything that is associated with Amazon!

We are not in this business because we love opening thousands of boxes and think the witch hand look is appealing. We simply want your home to spark joy.

While it’s baffling to most that we encourage you to take merchandise home and try it, it’s very normal to us. We also strongly suggest you pay us next month. You might wonder if this crazy business method throws off our inventory in the system and let me assure you, it does not.

If we don’t have the item you’re wanting in the store, you’re more than welcome to come to one of our houses, and nine times out of ten, it will probably go home with you.

We prefer to do business transactions and most of our accounting on sticky notes, relying on the ‘trusty old vaults’ (aka our brains) to remember where we placed said sticky note. We still have a cash register, and a landline and, we handwrite thank you notes.

We are NOT tech savvy, our website is a constant work in progress, (as are our Google, Yelp, Houzz, Instagram and Twitter accounts) but please don’t let that deter you. We are as old school and unconventional as it comes, and I have a good feeling we’re going to stay that way.

While I just informed you of all the things we’re not, I hope I also conveyed all that we are: we do not take ourselves too seriously, we have extensive history and experience in the furniture industry, we have a good eye, we have realistic aspirations and ideas for ourselves and your homes, we are your neighbors, and we’re grateful to each and every one of you for just walking through our doors.

SHOP LOCAL.

If you had a friend visiting you, what are some of the local spots you’d want to take them around to?
Oh, fun! Let’s pretend they’re coming this summer and #1 stop is Lakeside! I’m such a fan of rickety old rollercoasters and neon lights, I mean how could you not LOVE this institution?!

Obviously, we’re going to lulu’s one day. Even if you don’t need a sofa, you definitely need a candle or book.

Since I live on coffee so we’re hitting up Corvus and Crema, multiple times and while we’re downtown I love the Denver Central Market. I lived in RiNo way before it was cool and I still adore that part of town. I got Whistlepig (my heeler mix) when she was 11 weeks old and we lived in an apartment at the time so I spent a lot of time walking her all over and she became a fixation with a lot of the homeless people at the time. I loved the hustle and bustle and the community, even as weird as it was. Other meal options include Uchi, Cholon, Bar Dough, Devil’s Food and Rye Society (they have the BEST chocolate chip cookies).

I have two little kids and let’s be real, I can’t leave them for a week and live the carefree life of a non parent, so we’ll haver to include some kid activities. The Denver Zoo is a must and Paco Sánchez Park. I’ve recently started visiting the off leash dog parks and if you know me, you know I’m a dog FANATIC.

You can’t come to Denver and not go to Red Rocks! Regardless of who was playing we would most definitely see a show.

I’m not a huge itinerary person so this would be as far as I would get and the rest would be on a whim,

The Shoutout series is all about recognizing that our success and where we are in life is at least somewhat thanks to the efforts, support, mentorship, love and encouragement of others. So is there someone that you want to dedicate your shoutout to?
The furniture industry runs deep in our family, there are at least 28 members still involved to this day. Taking that into consideration and my prior reckless lifestyle, I fell into this career solely by chance. My mom had opened lulu’s in 2007 and I got sober in 2009. As part of my living amends and a way to keep an eye on me, I was fortunate enough to go to work with her everyday. What began as me doing the dirty work of cleaning and unpacking turned into a little more trust from my mom and a little more experience for me. In time, I realized I actually loved what I was doing and the two of us together made a great team. Without her being willing to take her deadbeat daughter in and throw me a bone to keep me busy, who knows where I would be.

Website: www.lulusfurniture.com

Instagram: @lulusdecor

Youtube: https://www.youtube.com/channel/UCCFPTYhWUOntG6Cr0O9JprQ