Daily Inspiration: Meet Kelti Ziese

Today we’d like to introduce you to Kelti Ziese.

Hi Kelti, so excited to have you on the platform. So before we get into questions about your work-life, maybe you can bring our readers up to speed on your story and how you got to where you are today?
When my husband, Tanner, & I (Kelti) first started Coda Co. it began as a date night idea. We were crafty people who loved to try new things & do something different than the typical dinner & a movie date night. So, we began searching for fun projects on Pinterest. Date night Pinterest dates turned into making our own products to sell at local markets. From there, we had the opportunity to open a storefront in Bellevue, & while that wasn’t originally on our horizon to do a shop for living, we decided to give it a go. I quit my full time job & went all in. 9 years later, & we are still going! We’ve expanded to the shop next door, added MANY more products to our lineup including clothing, home goods, plants, kids goods, & more! We don’t make as much these days, but we enjoy curating & sourcing unique finds to stock the shop with. We feel like we’ve earned our spot as a staple in the little river town in Bellevue. It’s the perfect little hidden treasure just mere minutes from downtown Cincinnati, OH. When you come to Bellevue, life slows down. You can stroll the streets, shop, & sip in our entertainment district. We love it here!

Alright, so let’s dig a little deeper into the story – has it been an easy path overall and if not, what were the challenges you’ve had to overcome?
Definitely not! COVID had a huge impact on our business. We had to shut down for a bit & regroup when we weren’t able to allow customers in the shop. A few years after that one of the main large bridges that connects us to Cincinnati was burned & closed down for many months. It happened right before the holiday season which is always the biggest time of year for us. At that time, we had two locations as well so we were very affected by the closure. Sales dropped tremendously because we were unable to get our regular traffic. Thankfully, we managed to pull through, barely. We ended up making the tough choice to close our second location to refocus on just having one shop. It ended up being the right choice & now we are back to feeling like we are under control & able to add more variety to the shop & do more fun things like workshops now that we have simplified.

Can you tell our readers more about what you do and what you think sets you apart from others?
While I’m not sure I’d call myself an artist, I would definitely consider myself a creative! I love to curate spaces & vibes. Our shop is known for being cozy, inviting, & as many of our customers have said “like a living room they’d love to have at home”. I’d say our biggest sellers would be the clothing & the plants! We have a bohemian style vibe & get customers of all ages enjoying what they find in the shop. I really enjoy hosting crafty workshops at the shop which brings me back to the root of how we got started. We try to do them every few months, especially around Halloween (as that is my favorite holiday!). We are also known in the local market community. We typically do 2 outdoor markets per month which helps promote our little town & shop. I’m proud to be a part of Bellevue!

How do you think about happiness?
Seeing our customers get excited about their purchases! We know the economy is rough right now. It’s also incredibly difficult to compete with places like Amazon, target, etc. So we take sourcing our goods seriously & spend a LOT of time looking to find the perfect fits for our store. When people shop with us it genuinely makes me so happy because it feels like we’re picking the right things to make someone smile. We get some quirky pieces in from time to time & we never know who might vibe with it. But someone always does, & we love that!

Pricing:

• We really try hard to keep our clothing under $100. We want to be an affordable option where you can get quality boutique pieces on a budget.
• Plants range from $5-$90 typically (unless we get a huge tree or something!)
• Most home goods are under $50

Contact Info:

• Website: https://www.shopcodaco.com
• Instagram: https://instagram.com/coda.co
• Facebook: https://Facebook.com/codacompany