It's Not Just About the Hats - The PodunkAnnie's Story

PodunkAnnie’s was never just about opening a store.

I opened these doors soon after losing my daughter, Annabelle. At a time when life could have easily convinced me to stop, I needed something that represented independence, faith, perseverance and, maybe most importantly, joy.

Overcoming doesn’t mean you’ve conquered everything. It doesn’t mean the hard days disappear, that you’ve reached some great pinnacle, or that you suddenly have life figured out.

Sometimes overcoming simply means you kept going.

You got up. You tried again. You found something to laugh about. You took another chance. You let yourself feel joy without forgetting where you’ve been.

Annabelle’s favorite movie gave us a pretty simple piece of advice: just keep swimming.

And maybe that’s what perseverance really looks like. Not always some grand, courageous leap forward. Sometimes it’s one tiny stroke after another, especially when the current is against you.

PodunkAnnie’s is proof of that for me. It grew out of tremendous loss, but I never wanted it to be defined by sadness. I wanted it to be filled with life—color, laughter, independence, a little rebellion, and women encouraging other women to be exactly who they are.

So wherever life has you today, don’t give up.

You don’t have to have arrived.
You don’t have to know where all of this is going.

Just keep swimming. Keep believing. Keep choosing joy. ❤️

For Annabelle. Always.