We had the good fortune of connecting with Hannah Bangs and we’ve shared our conversation below.

Hi Hannah, can you share a quote or affirmation with us?
“Instructions for living a life. Pay attention.
Be astonished.
Tell about it.”

― Mary Oliver

As a creative in an entrepreneur role, I refer to this quote from the dear Mary Oliver often. It serves as a reminder to slow down, let each moment carry weight, and then to share what you find with others. As entrepreneurs, our job is to add value to the lives of others through our services or works of art.

This requires our attention. Our attention to you, as the consumer, with your unique set of needs, and our attention to our product. As a retail boutique, we share the stories of our artists, the plants, and how they all intermingle to create the shop we call idyll.

Life moves fast, and our attention is our greatest asset.

Can you give our readers an introduction to your business? Maybe you can share a bit about what you do and what sets you apart from others?
My business is called idyll mercantile, a small houseplant and homegoods store situated in downtown Santa Barbara. I opened in February 2021, independently and self-funded. I set out with the intention to connect community through arts and plants. Something that sets us apart, is that we broke even month three and I have been self-employed since May of last year.

I don’t think that anything is ‘easy’ as a business owner. There is always something else that you can be doing, and it takes an incredible amount of discipline to keep on top of everything. I have been wearing many hats since day one, and slowly, over-time, it has gotten easier to know which hats to wear, when.

I now have one employee, and are looking to expand to one more this summer! I have intentionally grown slowly in order to compensate myself and my employee livable wages, and to make sure I am the one running my business, not the other way around. The challenges I faced early on had to do with a lack of experience, and jumping in all the way to a business with a limited knowledge base for how to make everything work. 

I have learned a lot, and my greatest lesson is how capable I am to learn and do most aspects of a business (*cough bookkeeping cough cough*). Then, on top of that, that there are some things that I can do that I shouldn’t! Delegation is cliche, but powerful for clearing space for me as a person.

I want the world to think of idyll as inspiration for both, what happens when a group of artists come together, and that it is possible to start your own small business. Anyone CAN do it, and it takes a lot of effort and determination to make it happen.

If you had a friend visiting you, what are some of the local spots you’d want to take them around to?
A Week in Santa Barbara! WOW. There is so much to do. Our week would look like an assortment of coffee shops in the morning, hikes in the mountains, visits to the botanical gardens and lotus land, hopping around all the wineries in the funk zone, seeing a show at SOHO, and going out for a nice dinner at Loquita, The Lark, La Paloma, or The Palace.

Shopping: Idyll Mercantile (duh), Pura Luna Apothecary, Seaside Makers, Asher Market (for kids), Parker Clay, and Ace Rivington!

Coffee: Handlebar, Dune, Dart

Food: Mony’s, Aperitivo, Corazón Cocina, La Paloma, The Lark

Sites: Hike anywhere, Botanic Gardens, Lotus Land, Butterfly beach

The Shoutout series is all about recognizing that our success and where we are in life is at least somewhat thanks to the efforts, support, mentorship, love and encouragement of others. So is there someone that you want to dedicate your shoutout to?
I would love to give a shout out to my Life Coach Anna Preston who founded her company WIILD Womxnhood to help women step into their femininity as leaders. She has helped me tremendously in slowing down and moving forward with passion, intention, and a clear sense of what I am creating.

‘WIILD stands for Women Interested In Learning Deeper. It has a double meaning because I’m a believer in that wild is what we are before society and others decide what we get to be. As women we are told to look a certain way, act a certain way and respond a certain way. WIILD’s intention is to break down those thoughts and ideologies and step fully into who we are truly meant to be.’ https://www.wiildwomxnhood.com/

Website: idyllmercantile.com

Instagram: idyll.mercantile

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