celebrating dena

With a sad, yet happy heart we’d like to celebrate Miss Dena Gillespie as she is moving on to pursue her Dancing Wired & Blissfully Wired business full time.   For the past six years, she has been the heartbeat of our Rochester catching fireflies.

My personal relationship with Dena actually dates back to 1995 when we met working at an after school childcare program in Ann Arbor.  We were the queens of cool craft time with the kids & Dena was the gal who inspired me to start selling goods at local craft shows.

Here we are sharing a booth at the Dixboro – Artisans on the Green show.

As the years passed by our paths continued to cross.  So when we had the opportunity to bring Dena on as the manager for our new Rochester location in 2006, it made perfect sense.  Her humorous personality, artsy eye, caring heart & team player mentality transformed that old train depot into the fun & whimsical shop it is today.

Whether Dena was modeling scarves & sunglasses, coming to work in costume or dressing up for special events, she always had fun with it & inspired her team to join in the festivities.  Many good times & memories were made over the years.

Dena was also active in our charity events & definitely made days brighter for many seniors & kids by delivering loads of valentines.

Lucky for us, she likes to laugh because she’s been in her share of funny holiday videos & silly blog postings throughout the years.

And it’s not a coincidence that Dena celebrated the very first time HOUR Detroit voters named us Best Gift Shop as well as our latest consecutive win this past year.

Thank you Dena for sharing the past six years with us.  Your terrific talents will be dearly missed but you’ll always be part of the catching fireflies story.  We wish you all the best in your next chapter of life.