PM Masters: Piper Toth from One Sidney Road

I've been following Piper's blog for the longest time and love every single item she carries at her store One Sydney Road. As someone who believes to surround yourself with the best products and a supporter of design, I find her to be the perfect person to interview and share her ideas.

How did you get started in your career?

Oh boy, how much time do you have?! I’ve had a very diverse career, let’s say that! But one thing that remained constant for me was my dream of owning my own business. My major in college was Small Business Entrepreneurship, it just took me time to actually take the leap. I spent many years in Corporate America on the finance side, coached dance teams & taught dance and also started my first business right out of college that I did part time while I was working to pay the bills! So needless to say it was a long, winding road to get to here, where I’m working finally on my own business full time!

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What are your sources of inspiration?

Anywhere and everywhere!! I find inspiration in the usual suspects like Pinterest, magazines and blogs (I’m a bit of a blog reading addict!). But it’s also things like the color of flowers, a song, a cool movie, travel posters, nature…I could go on and on. I think I’m pretty much inspired by my environment!

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Where do you work and how do you get organized around it?

I just recently renovated my office space and I just love it now! It’s a sunroom that I’m now using as my office. It has windows on 3 sides that looks out into our backyard. I painted it white and filled it with plants so it feels like an escape when I’m in there. The challenge though is that I have no wall space!! It makes it difficult to stay organized but I have a couple tricks like hanging things on clotheslines!

Which is your favorite collection/project/product that you have designed? Where else (besides you own store) would you like to see your products sold?
One of my favorite things I’ve done is the 60 Days of Wanderlust promotion I did over the holidays. I had so much fun creating the city guides and getting to feel like I was “traveling” to all these different places!

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 What other profession you would like to have besides yours?
I always dreamed of being an actress - but I’m terrible at it! (I wanted to be a triple threat...dancing, acting & singing...I only got the dancing part :)

What are you listening to these days?
So many things! (my hubby and I are music heads - I think we have something like 1500 cds!) Right now I can’t get enough of The New Pornographers, Foster the People, Raconteurs, Dead Weather...

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When you travel what are the essential items you take with you? 
Ipod, journal, rose salve (works for so many things!), sunscreen & hopefully my hubby!

Where is your favorite vacation spot?
The best place we’ve ever been was Australia - it was amazing - we didn’t want to leave! Particularly Sydney - it’s a gorgeous, vibrant, laid back city - The Rocks was one of the coolest spots! It’s where the convicts used to land and they kept all the old brick buildings and alleys and converted them in to shops, cafes and even a hotel!

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What is the best business advice you can give someone?
Make sure that you know what your ultimate vision is for your business AND that it aligns with your personal values. Having a vision and a goal makes it so much easier to stay on track during the roller coaster ride that is entrepreneurship!

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What does the future hold for your business? Any plans?
So many! I’m so excited about what the future holds - I have a bunch of projects planned for 2012. One of the things I discovered from running one sydney road is that I have an absolute passion for helping others with their businesses. I get to work all the with artists and I love talking with them and seeing what I can do to help promote their work or even help with struggles that we all have. So I have some things I’m developing to help others!

I cannot express how thankful I am to Piper for being a part of Punctuation Mark... She's one amazing lady!