SAGE STORIESA Conversation with Kristi Reed
Interview by Bella Brodsky
Shot by Kristi and Willy Reed
Instagram
Hi, Kristi! Let’s begin with a little introduction: tell me who you are, the place you call home, and the space you work within!
My name is Kristi. I am a mother, vintage shop owner, chicken keeper, herbal student, birth doula and goat lover. My family and I live on 4.5 acres of high desert grassland just outside of Emigrant, Montana (an old railroad stop just north of Yellowstone National Park). We have a cattle dog, lazy cat, 27 chickens, two goats and two adorable bunnies. Our place has a lovely view of the Absorka mountains and is also the windiest place I have ever been (tradeoffs). My shop is in Livingston, Montana which is where my kids and husband also go to school. The commute can be a little brutal in the winter but the scenery never gets old. We live very seasonally here and after a long winter, Springtime is always my very favorite.
I’d love to begin by diving into your journey with slow living. What does slow living mean to you and what does it look like in your everyday actions?
For me, slow living is about turning the mundane into magic. It is about living life with ritual and intention. Slow living in my day to day life is something as simple as waking up first thing in the morning and making my own coffee instead of having it ready to go in some automated machine. I love the methodical process of grinding the beans and patiently waiting for the water to boil. Slow living is hanging my laundry on our clothesline. While being much more laborious and time consuming than tossing clothes in the dryer, it’s a time to breathe some fresh air and spend some quiet moments with my own thoughts. We hand water our garden and trees around our property, try to make all our meals from scratch and do most of our property maintenance ourselves. Don’t get me wrong, I’d love to have an irrigated yard and be able to pay someone to make us a new greenhouse but we do not have the means to do that. With this, we have learned to embrace what we have and the work it takes to live like we do.
Going off of that, tell me a bit more about your perspective on treating the Earth and how that looks for your family!
We moved to the country to find our own bit of space and to better connect to our environment. Though it’s not always easy, the longer we live on our land the deeper the connection we feel. When it comes to earth friendly practices, we pride ourselves in having almost no food waste with all our scraps going to the chickens and goats, and compost for the garden. In the Spring, we plant native grass seeds, wild flowers and bushes in attempts to enhance the biodiversity of the land’s soil. In the Summer, we grow our own garden and manage weeds through goat grazing. In the Fall, we harvest wild berries and sustainably gather firewood to heat our home all winter long. We have big dreams of going solar and building bigger greenhouses, but one step at a time.
"Mother Earth gives us so much and we try to give back to her in return while teaching our children to do the same."Tell me more about your vintage shop and the inspiration behind beginning it!
I own a little shop called Windy Peak Vintage. It’s filled with thoughtfully curated vintage and sustainably sourced goods. Our brick and mortar resides in the historic, old railroad town of Livingston, Montana. The shop is inspired by a mix of past eras that I am nostalgic for. It’s also very inspired the natural landscape that surrounds us, mixed with the charming, wild west towns that I fall in love with over and over again. I’ve always been intrigued by fashion and design but also like the idea of being thrifty and also sustainable. Traditionally these ideals don’t mesh together. Fashion is fast and wasteful, and design = expensive. The idea of curating a shop that incorporated all of these ideas, mixed with nostalgia is really how it all came together. The best advice I ever got was not to photograph beautiful things, but to photograph interesting things in a beautiful way. I try to think of that no matter which medium I choose.
What was the experience of transitioning from an online etsy shop to a brick and mortar shop like for you?
I started my vintage shop as a casual, side hustle while I was working at a local food bank in Livingston. After the birth of my first child, I decided to stay at home and balance motherhood with my own business. This allowed more time to grow my online business (depending on the length of naps of course) along with lots of brick and mortar day dreams. The leap from online to physical shop always felt a bit scary, but was something I really wanted to pursue. It was about 5 years ago that I went to an event in town where I met a lovely woman who had just opened a shop. She was very pregnant and I was post partem with my son who was only a few months old. We hit it off and she invited me to put a rack of vintage clothes in her store. We started brainstorming together and eventually decided to become business partners. It really seems like fate brought us together. Sharing the business meant that we could comfortably create a space where we could bring our babies to work and organically grow our shop. It also allowed for us to split time running the shop which has created a realistic work/life balance for both of us. It’s been so magical to watch the process of opening a brick and mortar shop unfold. Our shop babies have grown big, the space continues to evolve and every year the shop blossoms a bit more. I’m so grateful for all of it.
Top 3 books on your bookshelf at the moment.
White Teeth by Zadie Smith
A People’s History of the United States by Howard Zinn
Herbal Academy’s Introductory Herbal Course
You open your music streaming platform. What are you clicking on to listen to?
St. Cloud by Waxahatchee
Two Saviors by Buck Meek
Self-Titled Album by Link Wray
What meal are you feeling nourished by as of late?
My husband makes a great curry. It warms my bones on cold winter days. Tuesday is homemade pizza night too which is always good for the soul.
Thank you so much for chatting with me, Kristi! Lastly, for those looking to follow along with your content and support you, where can they find you and what does supporting you look like?
@windypeakvintage
@shopwindypeakvintage
www.windypeakvintage.com
