our story
Our Story
How can we free the spirit and let it soar?...Every madness has its method. Ours has always been simple, create beautiful things that will make people smile…follow your passion… and you’ll find your inner sanctum.
This is our story. John Porter and I met in Chicago in the late 1980’s, I fell head over heels with him, as he is wicked good fun, has a heart of gold, a devilish wit & lights up a room with his smile (+ good looks!)…a girl simply must follow her heart, so I did. Over 20 years later as I write this, I am still entirely smitten with my lovely gent. Together we have explored life to its fullest, grown businesses and embraced a family filled with love and laughter.
John and I were married in 1991. That same year we moved to a small gentleman’s farm in Wisconsin and dreamed up the idea of creating beautiful things that would make people smile. We called our first business Stonehouse Farm Goods. With a wing and prayer...help from family + some serious bootstrapping, we created our goods: a lively collection of hand painted home accessories and furniture (mind you, we had no previous education or knowledge of making these sorts of things or of running any sort of company for that matter). From an old chicken coop on our bucolic property we hand-made these fanciful wares and drove a truck full of them out to a New York trade show, hopeful that retailers across America would embrace us. Luckily, we drove back home with armloads of orders….fantasies were indulged!
All of our wares were made by hand in our chicken coop and the business began to blossom. Our entrepreneurial spirits soared as we started hiring local artisans to embellish and create our designs with us. At the same time, John and I found ourselves country gentleman farmers…we had a growing flock of Jacob sheep, goats, geese, dozens of chickens, ducks, dogs, cats…. A donkey and a lively red horse to watch over all of them, completed the menagerie. Our days were full; we started at the crack of dawn with John lighting the old wood stove in the chicken coop and then with me pulling my paints out from under electric blankets so they didn't freeze in the frosty Wisconsin winters.
Our ambition and passion lead to more explorations - we simply could not stop dreaming. Designing is a bit of an obsession for us and as style knows no boundaries…we went with it! We started another brand called Tracy Porter and soon we were writing books, creating dinnerware, wallpaper, rugs. Then came apparel, shoes, handbags…..it was endless. The poetry of it was like living in a dream.
Our story of living in the country and fulfilling our passions luckily caught wind of the press. We have always been humbled and honored to be able to share our story and perhaps inspire others to explore their own passions. Magazines and newspapers would visit often (I admit, early on I was terrified that one of our best customers, Neiman Marcus, would visit and catch us loading an armoire onto our lawn mower trailer to drive it to the backside of the chicken coop as the front door was too small to fit those through!). As well we have had the great pleasure of being on Oprah several times, as well as on many news programs and HGTV. All good stuff.
Being entrepreneurs over the last 19 years has been an extraordinary experience for us. We’ve grown several companies and our brands have sold through some of the finest retailers across the country - from Neiman Marcus to Bloomingdales, and a wide variety more: Horchow, Barneys, Henri Bendels, ABC Carpet and Home, QVC, HSN, COSTCO, Target.. and hundreds of boutiques as well. Additionally, we licensed our designs over the years with some of the most prestigious manufacturers in America, including Kohler, Kallista, Shaw Rugs, Imperial Wallcoverings, The Zrike Company, Feizy Rugs, Savoy House Lighting and more.
Running a company is much like raising a family. We understand this all too well as John and I have shared the joys of giving birth to four sons, and all the goodness, perspective, joy and wonder this brings to one's day. Like moving to California, which we did in 2010.
You can’t be in business for this many years and not go through some hellish bumps and euphoric rises, thank goodness. I’ve not yet met one entrepreneur who would put it much differently than that. Each day you are trying to move something forward that began as a small dream. Each day you take risks and little steps the same way you did when you began your dream. As entrepreneurs you hardly see these things as risks - they are more necessities of life, your life and the life of the business you are growing. Over the years we have pushed our “chips” into the middle several times, it’s just what you do when you believe in what you do. You put yourself out there and you do all you can to inspire your team, yourself, your customers, your vendors and everyone else instrumental in your success or failure. Most of the time it works.
We have always felt you do your best learning in imperfect moments: when you are feeling stuck or when things just are not what you thought they would be. So, you grow, you push, you rediscover, and you learn new ways. You change, you mature and you go on creating and recreating yourself, day in and day out. You live each day purposefully…sometimes, you just have to start over. But mostly you have to believe in your dreams and just pick them back up. Well, I think that goes for life in general now doesn’t it?
For our latest endeavor, John and I created a new enchanting brand: Poetic Wanderlust. It is, I believe, the sum total of our accumulated experience: inspired artisan creations...and new beginnings. One of our goals has always been, and will continue to be, to inspire others to be true to themselves. It’s not always the easiest thing to see as inspiration comes in many forms. Sometimes it’s there right in front of you. Other times you have to dig a little deeper to find your “poetic wanderlust”. You’ll know when you do - it’ll send shivers across your skin in a soulful, clear and awakening way.
We are grateful for so many things that we have been able to explore and grow over the years. We could not have done any of it without the support of our incredible team, amazing business relationships, our devoted enthusiasts and customers and the interminable love of our family and friends.
Cheers to all of you!
John and Tracy Porter
