EP# 63: From Dream to Reality: How Natalina and Michelle Are Changing Lives with Second Times a Charm
Jul 02, 2024Episode 63
Liz Lemon Natalina and Michelle
What makes Natalina Tulik and Michelle Annechiaricco with Second Times a Charm a good neighbor?
What if you could make dream events more accessible for everyone? Join us on the Good Neighbor Podcast as we share the inspiring story of Natalina and Michelle, the dynamic duo behind Second Times a Charm. This incredible non-profit is changing lives by offering stunning secondhand prom, semi-formal, and bridal dresses at little to no cost. Listen to how they turned a simple conversation into a thriving organization that now boasts hundreds of donated dresses and a volunteer team that makes magic happen.
You'll hear about the hurdles they overcame, from finding a storefront to setting up shop, and the joy they experience in helping others. Discover how they juggle full-time jobs, personal hobbies, and their passion for this heartwarming project. Natalina and Michelle's journey is a testament to the power of community support and dedicated individuals. Whether you're looking for impactful stories or inspiration to kickstart your own venture, this episode promises to leave you uplifted and motivated. Tune in and be part of the change!
What makes Natalina Tulik and Michelle Annechiaricco with Second Times a Charm a good neighbor?
What if you could make dream events more accessible for everyone? Join us on the Good Neighbor Podcast as we share the inspiring story of Natalina and Michelle, the dynamic duo behind Second Times a Charm. This incredible non-profit is changing lives by offering stunning secondhand prom, semi-formal, and bridal dresses at little to no cost. Listen to how they turned a simple conversation into a thriving organization that now boasts hundreds of donated dresses and a volunteer team that makes magic happen.
You'll hear about the hurdles they overcame, from finding a storefront to setting up shop, and the joy they experience in helping others. Discover how they juggle full-time jobs, personal hobbies, and their passion for this heartwarming project. Natalina and Michelle's journey is a testament to the power of community support and dedicated individuals. Whether you're looking for impactful stories or inspiration to kickstart your own venture, this episode promises to leave you uplifted and motivated. Tune in and be part of the change!
This is the Good Neighbor Podcast, the place where local businesses and neighbors come together. Here's your host, Liz Lemon.
Speaker 2:
Welcome to Good Neighbor Podcast. Are you in need of some beautiful women's dresses and some more outfits? Shockingly, it might be closer than you think. Today I have the pleasure of introducing your neighbors Natalina and Michelle. They're the co-founders of Second Time's a Charm. How are you, ladies, doing today?
Speaker 3:
Very well, thank you Doing great thanks.
Speaker 2:
That's great. We're excited to learn all about you and your business. So please tell us about Second Times. A Charm.
Speaker 3:
All right. So Second Times a Charm is a secondhand prom, semi-formal mother of the bride, mother of the groom, banquet and now even bridal dresses that we offer. It's a non-profit 501c3 organization and we offer everything at no cost or for a suggested donation of $20. It's a suggested $50 donation on the bridal side and it's an organization run entirely by volunteers.
Speaker 4:
So we started. Yeah, we started. We came up with the idea in 2018 by a brief conversation. Natalina was at the school that I teach at and we were talking about prom dresses and our daughters had just gone to prom and we couldn't believe the prices and we're like, well, what's happening to all of these dresses? So we went on to Facebook and had put in a quick tag you know, anybody have any, you know really beautiful dresses hanging out in their closet that you don't have anything to do with and within a week, we had like 250 dresses hanging in our homes. So at that point, we're like, okay, this is something we should look into it. And then Natalina started looking aggressively for like a storefront for us to put these dresses in, and we started off in a little shop in lovebo, um, which is how many square feet?
Speaker 4:
probably 800 square feet of usable space yeah and yeah, and then from there, you know, questions came up where are we gonna, how are we gonna hang these dresses, where are they gonna go? We, literally we had nothing. I'm an English teacher, natalie.
Speaker 3:
I work at a college and this was just an idea. We had to try to help girls, make it more affordable for them to attend prom. I knew of a young lady who wasn't able to attend prom because she couldn't afford it and we were like we have to do something and the idea came along and mostly the thought of all of those beautiful dresses sitting in closets for years until, you know, they move out and their parents get rid of them.
Speaker 4:
We were like there's got to be something we can do and literally it has been nothing but like a joyful adventure since day one. We have tiny little hiccups once in a while, but the joy that comes from doing what we're doing is just unbelievable. And we have met so many nice people, so many nice people. The volunteers that we have in our shop are just incredible great humans. We literally couldn't do anything without volunteers.
Speaker 2:
That's amazing. You guys should be very proud of yourselves for for taking a concept and making it such a huge business. And I know it sounds like fun. But outside of work, what else do you ladies do for fun?
Speaker 4:
so we were just talking about that, because from literally January until June we do nothing other than dress, dress, dress stuff, shop stuff, cleaning up at the shop, getting ready for the shop Like it's. It really is all consuming. So we both work full time during the week. You know, obviously, jobs to support our families, and our husbands are very, very, very supportive of us and don't mind us leaving every single weekend at you know nine o'clock in the morning and don't come back until three or so. Even though we're only open four hours, we get there ahead of time to make sure everything's up and ready to go. It's quite something, it is quite.
Speaker 3:
Yeah, it's quite something. But as far as for fun, I garden all summer long and then I do canning in the fall, um, and then it starts all over again as fun at the shop, because for the next season starting in the fall and I, I'm a crafter, I love to paint, I love to do all kinds of craft things.
Speaker 4:
So, um, I had to clear off the table that we're sitting at right now, because it was loaded with decoupage, all kinds of paint mediums. Yeah, I just love to do like busy things around the house.
Speaker 2:
And that makes sense. I mean, you guys are like into different creative aspects, so that's definitely important and exciting for sure. Let's change gears just for one moment. Can you describe one hardship or life challenges that you rose above and because of it you can now say you're better and stronger? What comes to mind?
Speaker 4:
So I think I mean, the only thing that I can think of shop wise is that, you know, we're run by volunteers and we have we've literally had very few instances in the shop that we've ever, you know, felt sad about, and we have come to the mindset that it is literally less than 1% of the you know, 100% that happens at our shop and we've come to the mindset that we have to treat that 1% with 1% of our time and then move on. And it's been really like liberating for both of us to just be like okay, it's the 1%, stop and let's go.
Speaker 2:
Let it go. Yeah, you have to. You know in in business and in life, you know you absolutely have to. Good for you, commendable for sure. How can our listeners learn more about? Second Time's a Charm.
Speaker 3:
So you can follow us on our Facebook page. Currently we only have a Facebook and an Instagram. We thought about doing a website, but neither one of us has the time to actually look into establishing a website and keeping it going. If anyone out there is willing to establish one for us at little to no cost, that would be fabulous. But they can follow us on Facebook at Second Times a Charm. And we're located in Three Rivers section of Palmer, so for Springfield Street and Three Rivers, Absolutely.
Speaker 2:
That's fantastic, and what is the one thing that you could leave us with that you wanted our listeners to know about? Second Time's a Charm.
Speaker 4:
It's kind of a special place. When we go in there on the weekends, we literally go hard the whole time that we're there and the families that come in you know husbands, wives, kids, grandmas, aunts. You know social workers who come in with their clients, kids, grandma's aunts. You know social workers who come in with their clients. They always ask us, you know, like, how long are you going to do this? Because this was year six for us and we always give the same answer. And that is when it's not fun anymore and when it doesn't bring us joy and we've not had like other than the 1% which we let go very quickly, like other than the 1% which we let go very quickly. It is really like such a great thing. It's a very joyful place, it's got good vibes.
Speaker 4:
Everything about it is.
Speaker 3:
There's something for everyone in there. I always say, if you can't find something here, I don't know what's out there for you we even have a vintage section now. So yeah, there's something.
Speaker 2:
Yeah, a lot of options. For sure, you know, Natalina and Michelle, I greatly appreciate you being on the show today and we wish you and your business Second Time's a Charm best, best moving forward, Thank you.
Speaker 4:
We've loved being in Palmer. It has been a great place for us. We love the mills. Everything has just been fabulous, so thank you for having us.
Speaker 1:
Thank you for listening to the Good Neighbor Podcast. To nominate your favorite local businesses to be featured on the show, go to gnppalmercom. That's gnppalmercom, or call 413-414-5940.