Hello, we are Holland Pallet. My husband and I run this small business from our home in Upstate New York. My name is Kaitlyn Valenti and I haven’t always been a small business owner. Actually I have a bachelors in Fine Arts and had every intention of being a big shot gallery/museum curator when I grew up. Well reality set in after graduation that I would need to relocate to a larger city if that dream was going to become a reality. I grew up in a small town and small town life is where I am most comfortable. Therefore, I had a decision to make and I had to make it fast because those school loans didn’t pay themselves!
Ultimately, I decided any job was better than no job and I would soon get myself back on the art career fast track. Well, months turned into years and I soon understood my 9-5 full time career life was consuming me. I was not finding time for my art, much less my dream to work in the art world. In 2014 I had recently became engaged to my now husband Dominick. This next chapter in life really made me think, “What do I want this next chapter to look like?”
Dom and I had been making random farmhouse style decor pieces for our home out of reclaimed pallet wood. Our friends and family put in there orders too. All of a sudden what started as a few necessity pieces we made to serve a purpose in our home turned into everyone we knew wanting something for there homes as well! So I said what the heck, if the people I know want these types of items, maybe others do to. So in March 2014 we opened our online Etsy page and founded our small business Holland Pallet.
It was fun, I had new exciting things to make constantly. New ideas flooded in from all over. The support was amazing to experience. I loved the challenge of making something aesthetically pleasing and functional as well.
In 2016 we signed up for our first craft fair. We made inventory all year until September. We did so well and it was wonderful to meet so many people who loved our work. We handed out hundreds of business cards and the orders started coming!
That same year was the start of the lighting portion of our business. We had a customer reach out to us for a very specific chandelier. We were extremely hesitant. We had never built something on this large of a scale before. We researched and sourced materials and spoke to friends and family and electrical engineers for help. Eventually after weeks of preparation we were comfortable offering our customer a solution and she absolutely loved it! The Wagon Wheel Mason Jar Chandelier was born! We have since altered configurations and currently have 7 different variations of the original chandelier. We are over 100 chandeliers sold in the continental US. We could not be more grateful to our new and returning customers for making us who we are with all your love and support!
From a small reclaimed wood farmhouse decor business to a US wide chandelier business for homes and venues all over the country, we keep thanking our lucky stars everyday for the chance to do what we love! I can successfully say I am a small business local artisan and I am overjoyed!
