The Story of FOUND

Thunder-eggs, arrowheads, tumbleweeds, juniper berry sachets, and desert sage smudge sticks.

This is how FOUND began—with a romantic notion that much of what we need already exists. That if we slow down enough to look, there is abundance all around us, tucked into the landscape, passed from one set of hands to another, waiting to be found.

And what better place to begin than the High Desert?

In 2014, I knuckled down and built a small online business from scratch, initially intending to fiscally support myself alongside my digital marketing career. What started as a side project quickly became something much bigger, supporting not only me but a growing community of makers, artists, and small businesses.

Along the way, something else emerged: a deeper awareness of how we shop, what we value, what we discard, and what it means to tread a little more lightly on this beautiful planet. Educating folks on ways to lessen their impact on the Earth became both a byproduct of FOUND and a compass for how I curate.

In 2018, I opened the brick-and-mortar, and, well… it rocked my world.

I had never used QuickBooks, worked in retail, had employees, ran payroll, or navigated the mysterious paperwork paths of LLCs versus S Corps. There was a lot I didn’t know.

What I did know was how to restore wood furniture. I knew how to mop the floors after closing every single night. I knew how to sell, thanks to my years on the Pronghorn Sales & Marketing Team (now Juniper Preserve). And I knew how to source second-hand goods.

That last one is in my blood.

So I had a few things in spades to carry me through the first 5 years of this wild, wonderful ride—and I learned everything else along the way.

Today, FOUND offers goods from more than 100 American women and minority artists and businesses based right here in the USA. We get to play a small part in helping people turn their creative passions into livelihoods. So many of our makers have made the leap from side hustle to full-time creative work, and being a small piece of that story has always felt deeply meaningful to me.

Because, ultimately, FOUND has never been just about the things.

It’s about the people who make them. The hands that restore them. The stories they carry. The resources that already exist. The beauty of something well-made and well-loved. The possibility of choosing differently.

I’ve poured intention, heart, and an unreasonable amount of myself—definitely crossing the 10,000-hour threshold—into creating an experience for our community.

FOUND is a storefront offering unique, relevant, handmade goods in a soothing environment, surrounded by a team who cares deeply and who wants to talk about all the goodness happening both inside and outside these 4 walls.

We are still learning. Still looking. Still finding.

And when you shop at FOUND, you’re not simply buying a thing. You’re supporting—and conspiring with—us to build an economy rooted in circularity and reciprocity rather than consumerism and extraction.

A little more looking.
A little less taking.
A little more connection.
A little less waste.

It turns out the High Desert had a pretty good idea all along:

There is already so much here.

You just have to know where to look.

Stay connected with us on Instagram as we continue this magical journey alongside you.

Cheers to another eight years,

Jacq

Jacqueline Smith
FOUNDer & Curator