Co-owner: Dustin Lundt
Dustin works his ass off making sure that Upshift stays clean and stocked of wine. He ensures that all donated clothing gets to their destination and keeps everyone in line with our monthly meetings. In other words, he's the brawn behind the operation. He does all this while working full time with the Madison School District as the Food Purchasing Supervisor where he feeds 25,000 kids a day (we call him a lunch lady behind his back). This guy deserves a huge pat on the back for all he does to keep Upshift running!
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| His meme would read, "I don't always dress a mannequin, but when I do it's usually pretty fabulous." |
Merchandiser: Johanna Cano-Rojas
This girl keeps the store looking AMAZING by deciding all the trends and stylizing the store to look super fashion forward and trendy! She takes all our newest items (daily) and makes them look fabulous by showcasing trends on our mannequins, displays, and shelving. She is probably the most fashionable person I know and we're lucky enough to have her as our merchandiser! I've known Jo to show up in pajama bottoms and a dress shirt with high heels and look totally phenomenal. In addition, she works her ass off making sure our customer gets all the best of the best, meaning she only puts the trendiest items out on our selling floor! Jo, we salute you as the greatest merchandiser evvvvaaaa!
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| Jo, rocking a granny skirt and polka dots. Because she can. |
Garment Specialist: Sonni Royal
Yes, that's her real name and it speaks volumes about her personality! Sonni works every Monday and kicks it off right with sunshine and smiles! She offers top-notch style advice thanks to her fashion background, she's in school to achieve her degree in Fashion Marketing (read between the lines, she works her tail off by balancing school, work, and yes...a social life!). Monday is the best day to shop, you get access to mass amounts of new items after the weekend AND you get access to the dynamic duo ~ Jo and Sonni!
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| Sonni is our resident Monday swap expert, get in here and find out for yourself |
Garment Specialist: Amy Lang
Amy is our loyal Wednesday volunteer and works her magic with our shoe collection. She makes sure our collection is always merchandised perfectly and can tell you what styles are brand new and on-trend! Amy is so incredibly passionate about fashion she is now in the Fashion Marketing program at Madison College, which automatically makes her part of our elite "Fashion Expert Team" at Upshift. You can catch her every Wednesday and she loves when it's busy so get on in and say hi to this awesome fashionista!
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| Amy's best kept secret: she plays bass guitar! |
Ashley (or as I call her Ash B.) is our go-to photographer based out of Madison, WI at Blackwater Studios. She's a personal friend, but her talents are the true reason we have her shoot our events and our seasonal photoshoots. She perfectly captures the moment and the essence of Upshift. Also, she's a super talented hair stylist and make-up artist so our models always look totally amazing! Check out her work and have her shoot your next event or family session.
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| Shooting our model in our neighborhood for a Fall photoshoot. |
Model: Ash Thompson
Ashley is a loyal customer and has shopped with us since our "basement days" over 2 years ago. She is hilarious, witty, and also effortlessly beautiful. She shows up to a shoot and jumps in (all with a glass of wine or beer in her hand). The clothing always looks flawless on her and she is willing to wear just about anything and pose in just the right way to showcase Upshift's style. Ash lights up the room whenever she visits us, which is a lot!
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| Did we mention this chica has tattoos and we LOVE that about her! |
Mia has modeled for us since we first opened our doors over 2 years ago. In fact, she did an impromptu photoshoot 4 days before we opened so we could promote the business. She showed up and let the stylist and photographer work their magic. The photos turned out so amazing and she won our hearts over immediately! Ashley our photographer may or may not be related to Mia, which is how we connected with her. All our photoshoots are shot by Ashley at Blackwater Studios!
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| Mia was still in high school when we first shot her pics, but now she's all grown up and in college |
This gal is amazing, we cannot say enough about her drive! Jevona is super passionate about fashion and I met her at a fashion expo on Milwaukee Tech campus where she entered a fashion competition while still in middle school! Our paths crossed again when she came to the Madison College campus to audit one of my fashion courses that I teach (did I mention how driven she is?!), she approached me afterwards and asked if she could volunteer at Upshift to learn merchandising and more about the fashion industry. Of course we said yes and now she takes the bus after school 2 times a week to volunteer by dressing mannequins, hanging all of our new clothes, and keeping our store shoppable and trendy. This girl is the future of fashion and we are so happy she works with us!
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| Only in 9th grade and this girl is THE future face of fashion* |
It's odd to write about myself, but if you want to get a full picture of all the faces behind Upshift you definitely should hear a little bit about the gal that keeps this ship on course. I thought of the swap system over 7 years ago and little by little made it a reality and continue to envision ways of expanding the business into different concepts (an online swap is up and running, followed by future concepts of plus size, kids, maternity, mens, and a phone app). I also do all our social media promotions, marketing, management of staff, and financial paperwork. You know that wine that Dustin replenishes, I drink that when I'm at the end of my shift as a bit of motivation. I have a super clear vision of Upshift's future and can't wait to keep producing amazing second hand fashion at a super affordable price. Go forth and be fabulous!
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| My meme would read, "I don't always drink wine, but when I do...it's everyday." |
*We have permission from the school that we could post a picture of a student and write about her. We also currently have 3 other high school students that work with us during the week. The other 3 students are learning real life skills through community connection. We feel very strongly about connecting to the community and giving opportunity to those in need.
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