Today we’d like to introduce you to Klanci and Evan Gauthier.
Hi Klanci and Evan, thanks for joining us today. We’d love for you to start by introducing yourself.
We’re a husband-and-wife maker team based here in Nashville. We started Tenn Prairie back in the summer of 2019. When we first started out, we were selling at the Nashville Flea Market and we made EVERYTHING, and I do mean everything. We had wood pieces, concrete pieces, fiber art, plants, etc. We were doing the classic throw spaghetti at the wall and see what sticks. Turns out, what stuck is our concrete home goods.
Our concrete match holder was featured in HGTVs 2020 Holiday Gift Guide, and the rest is really history. We leaned into our best seller and started focusing on getting our match holders into as many shops as possible. We’ve turned Tenn Prairie into a thriving wholesale business (accidentally, of course, we always thought it would be a direct-to-consumer business). We’re currently in stores across the US, Canada, and even a few in Europe.
I’m sure you wouldn’t say it’s been obstacle-free, but so far would you say the journey has been a fairly smooth road?
Heck no. If anyone ever tells you it’s been a smooth road, they are either lying or just starting out. We have two boys, Jack age 4, and Beau age 2. So, nothing is ever easy. We work while they’re in school, playing outside, or taking a nap. We’re lucky to have family that lives in Nashville that can help, honestly, we wouldn’t be able to do it without them (shout out to our favorite Granny Goat).
We’ve had ups and downs just like any business. We’ve shipped products to stores that we later found out had a defect. We’ve had pieces arrive shattered upon arrival. You have to learn to take things in stride and keep climbing uphill. All the downs feel big when you’re in them, but once you’ve come through the other side you realize that you learned something and then you keep going forward.
Alright, so let’s switch gears a bit and talk business. What should we know about your work?
Our slogan is “Made by hand on our back porch” for a reason, and that’s because we currently make everything from our home workshop. We’ll eventually need to find a bigger warehouse space to work out of, but for now, working from home has really worked for our family. We’ve even found a way to cram 5 part-time studio assistants in with us to keep up with demand.
Is there anything else you’d like to share with our readers?
We feel incredibly lucky to have landed in Nashville three years ago. This city has a tremendous creative energy not found in all parts of the country. The maker community in Nashville is very welcoming and eager to help. We’ve always felt that our fellow makers want us to succeed just as much as we want them to succeed. That’s been an invaluable part of our success. Every show we attend, pop-up we go to, Nashville shows up and supports us and we could not be more thankful.
Contact Info:
- Email: info@tennprairie.com
- Website: tennprairie.com
- Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/tennprairie/
Image Credits
Kylie Hull Photography
