Meet Christy Wood | Entrepreneur & Creative Soul

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

Hi Christy, we’d love to hear more about how you thought about starting your own business?
Honestly, I never really thought about starting my own business. It was truly a need virus’ a want. I was working in a corporate job making great money and selling “treasures” online to make extra money. About a year before I started my first business, I was so unhappy. I was traveling a lot and not home. I was missing out on life with my kids. I did not really like the people I was working with and felt my creative spirit was stifled in my job. I needed to make a change. I thought what if I turned my side hustle into a business and do something I was passionate about. So began the dream of starting my own business.

Let’s talk shop? Tell us more about your career, what can you share with our community?
My career has been full of great moments and hard hills to climb. I have always been in a career that put me in contact with people. I started off as a paralegal in my early twenties and decided pretty quickly that it just was not for me. I went back to school and ended up falling in love with marketing. I was lucky enough to work for some amazing companies in sales and marketing in California (where I am originally from) but I wanted something different for my family. My husband and I decided to make a change and we picked up and moved to North Carolina where i started my job in retail development for Nascar. It was a great job but I was very unhappy. I felt stifled creatively and wanted to do something with my life that had passion. I had to make a big change. I had to stand up and make the change no matter what the financial cost or loss may be. I had to take a leap of faith. I had no other choice, I had to leap. I did and boy waht a great ride.

When stepping back and looking at my desires I longed to create a business where I would have the flexibility while my children were young and still in school and where I could make a difference in someone else’s life. So, in 2006 with $300 in my bank account, I gave my 2 weeks notice to Nascar and opened a small Plus-Sized Clothing Consignment Store called CJ’s Second Helpings. It was an immediate success, but I wanted to do more. That Entrepreneurial spirit was strong in me, and I quickly set out to open a place where other small businesses could sell their items and help their families. The Marketplace was born. Over the next 16 years, I have grown The Marketplace from 15 vendors selling their wares to 100 vendors offering a wide variety of antiques, vintage, mid-century, hand-crafted, boutique clothing, vinyl, collectibles, and more.

This journey has been amazing. The community has blessed my business, and I am truly grateful to be a part of Stanly County. Just recently, I was able to purchase a 30,000-square-foot building and move all the vendors into some fabulous new digs! With this new building, I can also have a full studio where I offer DIY and craft classes to the community and expand our services to include complete estate liquidation services for residences and businesses. We do a little bit of everything here at the Marketplace. We say we are a “destination,” not just a store. Our vendors and customers are family. They have been with us for a long time.

Sometimes I stand in my business at closing time when things are quiet and pinch myself because all my dreams have come true.

Let’s say your best friend was visiting the area and you wanted to show them the best time ever. Where would you take them? Give us a little itinerary – say it was a week long trip, where would you eat, drink, visit, hang out, etc.
Albemarle North Carolina is a sweet little town near the Uwharrie Mountains. We have so much to offer anyone coming to town to stay. Of course, the first stop would be the best antique and collectibles mall in town to do a little shopping. The Marketplace is a gem full of great treasures to be found. I would then stop in our fun downtown area to have lunch at The Boardroom and visit with the owner, Tiffany. They offer great craft beer and the best sandwiches in town. After lunch we would take a stroll to have a coffee at Glory Beans Coffee and maybe do more shopping at Livi Bugs Boutique and Make It Personal before we head up to Morrow Mountain to take in the views of the area and enjoy a leisurely walk along the bank of Lake Tillery. After our walk we would find a great place to have dinner like Off The Square and take in a fun movie at our local drive-in movie theatre The Badin Drive-in. We would end the night with ice cream at Main Street Cup and Cone.

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?
My husband is my rock star. He is the one person in my life that believes in me before I believe in me. He brings so much love, support and humor into our daily life. I tend to be pretty intense at times and he reminds me often to just breath and take it one thing at a time. He has been the rock in our rock and roll life for sure. But there are so many others, my sister, best friend, my daughter and parents. They have all been the little pebbles that me rolling and moving forward. I am so grateful to have such an amazing support group of people.

Website: www.thealbemarlemarketplace.com

Instagram: @thealbmarketplace

Facebook: @thealbmarketplace