Nissue #48: Anna Brockway, Vintage Fanatic and Co-founder of Chairish.
One of the benefits of being stuck inside during these last few years is that we’ve all been forced into becoming better homemakers. For my family, that meant lots of bread baking and cocktail making, mixed in with purchases of art, furniture, and a new deck, as play and work became one.
That’s how I got introduced to Chairish. I’ve spent hours on there, finding design and vintage inspiration, learning about the beauty to be found in an object’s history and how key pieces can really bring a room together. Chairish feels like one of the few e-commerce companies with soul and intimacy, and in my experience, that sort of brand essence can only come from the top.
I had read that Chairish was started by Anna Brockway and her husband Gregg back in 2013, go figure, from their dining room table. I asked my friend Anita Motwani (who seems to know everyone) for an introduction, and from there, Anna was gracious enough to indulge me with an interview.
Nish: What is your idea of perfect happiness?
Anna: My family and closest friends, a piano and limitless chardonnay and Triscuits.
Nish: What was your worst job ever?
Anna: Oddly, I have never had a job I didn’t adore. I think I should be pickier.
Nish: What was your first job ever?
Anna: Snack bar attendant at the Meadow Pool in Orinda, CA. I sold otter pops and nachos with pump cheese to poorly supervised and very sunburned children all summer. A total ball.
Nish: What was your best job ever?
Anna: Mom.
Nish: What is the trait you most deplore in yourself?
Anna: Impostor syndrome.
Nish: What is the trait you most deplore in others?
Anna: Laziness.
Nish: What’s some advice you’d give to yourself at 23?
Anna: Wear bikinis all the time.
Nish: What is your greatest extravagance?
Anna: Always (re-)decorating.
Nish: You have exclusive dinner reservations for 4 excluding family and close friends, who are the 3 people (alive, dead or imaginary) you’d invite?
Anna: Andy Warhol. Auntie Mame. Dean Martin. I’m sure it would be very serious!?!
Nish: What is the theme song of your professional life?
Anna: Straighten Up and Fly Right.
Nish: What is your motto?
Anna: Hmm . . . Let’s try it.
Nish: What is something you’re really excited about right now?
Anna: I hope that the current supply chain chaos and empty store shelves will force people to try buying vintage items instead of new things and that this becomes an enduring habit that saves the planet. Viva la vintage!
End Interview.
Looking for more inspiration? Make sure to check my interviews with three different types of designers: Jonathan Rachman (Nissue #7), Donna Wilson (Nissue #31), and Prep Curry (Nissue #26)!