When we started Hold Everything last year, one of our goals was to shine a spotlight onto people we admire. There are so many creative, hard-working, inspirational women who make up our community and it was really important that we use this platform to share some of their stories. So we’re super excited to introduce Within Reach, a new series that aims to do just that, with a special PT twist of course. We’ll chat with makers, founders, creators and more about how they use their hands to do what they do, whether that means working on a new art piece, drawing up a business plan or just getting breakfast on the table.
For our first interview, we called up Lisa Schulner. Lisa’s a longtime friend of ours (and even a one-time coworker of Joyce’s!) who is also the co-founder of Quiet Town Home, a sustainable lifestyle brand with a focus on turning any bathroom into the coolest, most joyfully colorful room in the house. Quiet Town’s gorgeous shower curtains, bath rugs, and towels are made from things like 100% GOTS-certified organic cotton, upcycled European flax linen remnants and 30% recycled EVA vinyl that’s PVC and BPA free (AKA only the good stuff). The brand is celebrating their 10-year anniversary, and they still do just about everything themselves—so Lisa’s got some very busy hands. Read on to learn all about it, and stay tuned for more stories that are Within Reach! 
What do your hands do before 9am?
Grab my phone, wipe and flush, wash and dry, brush my teeth, make coffee, type (or write depending on what’s on my mind), clean up after my kids in the kitchen and walk the dog. 
When do your best ideas tend to show up?
Always when I’m alone. In the shower (obviously), but also on hikes or drives or any time when there’s music playing in the background and my brain isn’t trying to work on anything specific.
What does ‘ease’ look like to you right now?
Elastic waist pants, T-shirts, wool socks, shopping on Depop, smoothies, Instacart Costco and electric cars. 
Do you dress differently for different versions of yourself?
Not really, unless it’s for something super specific like a formal event, which isn’t that often for me. These days, most of the time I’m the same version of myself, just depends on if I’m the clean version or the dirty one. :)
What’s something you’ve stopped wearing or carrying as your life has changed?
Heels. I barely wore them before starting my own brand but I don’t think my feet would know how to even walk in a pair of heels now. One thing I’ve started wearing are bikini tops as bras and layering pieces. I can’t believe it took me so long to figure that out—what a miss! 
Where have you been with your bag lately?
I go from our house to our studio to Good Earth, which is our grocery store. I live a very local life and I don’t switch bags out for years. I consider a good bag an extension of my body at this point. 
How does your bag support you as you move through your day?
I love a big bag that I can put everything in: samples for Quiet Town, mail, fruit from the farmer’s market. I basically need a small spare room that lives on my arm for my daily life. The real question is: how can my car support my bag? Why isn’t there a designated space in every car for a woman’s bag??
Thanks for sharing, Lisa (and we’re with you on the car thing)!