Shop Made in D.C.’s Stacey Price Prioritizes Intentional Space-Making for Local Creatives

It’s past time we remixed the entrepreneur archetype. The tried-and-true definition of an emerging or aspiring business owner feels tired. The modern entrepreneur is a mover, shaker and doer who’s not content with simply breaking all the rules. Our 52 trailblazers featured in the October issue are rewriting the rules, tearing them up and doing it all over again. It’s creation at its purest, because the fruits of one’s hustle are not actualized overnight or by following one jet-lagged recipe. It’s no longer adequate to measure entrepreneurs by the brick-and-mortar spaces they manifest or the jobs they create. Those are all important elements but fall short of what it truly means to build something — often with blood, sweat and tears. Whether you’re revamping the vintage clothing industry, introducing a fresh dining concept, cultivating an advocacy-focused creative agency or advancing the cause of equality for the LGBTQ+ community, the only thing that matters is freedom — the freedom to march to the beat of your own badass drum. Read our full rundown of trailblazers here.

Stacey Price understands how many inspiring creatives inhabit the District and Virginia, thus creating the extraordinarily successful Shop Made in D.C. + VA —  retail spaces for creatives and their products. 

Advice that keeps you hungry
“It is your story to write. Don’t like what’s on the page? Rewrite it.” [This is a] nice reminder that we are in charge of our life, our business [and] our futures, and that we should revisit that script often to make sure not only that the plot is compelling but that we are writing the right characters into our story. 

Early bird, night owl or in-between
Early bird all the way. However, I often have a middle-of-night social media scan I call “instasomnia,” where I search for new makers. 

Burning question for an iconic trailblazer
Define iconic? When I think about who inspires me it’s not one “iconic” person. It’s all the kick-ass entrepreneurs all over this city that have been doing it longer than I have. Because I know that passion feeds success, I want to know, “How do you continue to feed your spirit?”

The current soundtrack to your life
As a not-so-closeted mixtape maker, it would of course be one of our “Shop Made In” curated mixes. If I am wanting a mood, I would choose one with a little James Blake, Lana Del Rey, Bon Iver, LÉON. If I am wanting something uplifting, I would play our fave: “Stacey Loves ‘90s Hip-Hop.” 

@shopmadeindc; shopmadeindc.com // @sdprice + @shopmadeinva; shopmadeinva.com