Today we’d like to introduce you to Michelle Pool.
Hi Michelle, thanks for sharing your story with us. To start, maybe you can tell our readers some of your backstories.
I have often struggled with the best way to describe what I “do” lol. For as long as I can remember my passion and my journey have been about finding & making pretty things and sharing them with others. Whether it’s the funky, junky, always whimsical Vintage finds I’ve traveled all over the country seeking out or my obsession with cupcakes because not only are they so cute but the possibilities are limitless… my greatest joy has always been curating the loveliest of visual presentations!
I have worked as a designer in one fashion or another for almost 30 years. My love for pretty things, time-worn treasures, and the color pink are what make me, Me! I grew up in the antique business with my mom being a dealer for most of my life. I have always said I loved vintage before vintage was cool! I did go to school for interior design but I don’t believe what I do can be learned. It has to be in you. Vintage Cupcake was born of the idea to combine my love for vintage design and my crush on cupcakes to open the first cupcake-exclusive bakery in Ogden in 2010. I had no technical baking training of any kind. I just figured it out.
And that went really really well, with a cult following & even a Food Network competition WiN, until I was diagnosed with Celiac Disease in 2014. After fighting it for a year or so I had to quit baking, or “have my body shut down”. That was one of the saddest times of my life. But I still had my love of design and it was easy to go back to that world full time. I have worked as a photography stylist for a nationally published magazine, visual merchandising manager for several high-end home decor stores, & owned a home decor/vintage finds store that was truly one of the best things of my whole life {until a crappy person/partner stole it from me… a story for another day I suppose} and broke my heart yet again.
I have since traveled and found myself living out my lifelong dream of living in “The South”. First in Baton Rouge, Louisiana, and currently in Augusta, Georgia. I now work as a virtual designer for Williams Sonoma Inc. which encompasses Williams Sonoma, WS Home, Pottery Barn, & West Elm. I love it! And it gives me the freedom to WFH and moves around. I lived my whole life pretty much in Ogden…45+ years! It will always have my heart and be my home. And now I’m channeling my Southern Belle, old soul being and love of humidity and not needing quite so much chapstick.
Would you say it’s been a smooth road, and if not what are some of the biggest challenges you’ve faced along the way?
I would say my greatest challenge has been overcoming the perception of me that I was “just creative, all ideas” not taken seriously. I have battled with the diagnosis of some severe mental health disorders and really just had to embrace the journey and belief that I’m exactly as I should be. And I am enough.
Thanks for sharing that. So, maybe next you can tell us a bit more about your work?
I have a very eclectic, whimsical style & I have always believed you should surround yourself with things you love. I don’t buy into the “rules” of decorating so much as how something feels to look at and live with.
That scares a lot of people lol! They need guidance and a map. I do not. Actually, if you tell me I have to follow something… I will most likely rebel. I’ve always been “my way, or the highway”, I think that’s how that goes.
What matters most to you?
That I’m living with passion. I don’t see the point in not living in a way that lights your soul on fire. As cliche, as it is life, is just way too short for that.
Contact Info:
- Instagram: @vintagecupcake_
- Other: @vintagecupcakeog
