It is a true pleasure to introduce Autumn Bishop. An artist and entrepreneur at heart, her background in real estate, marketing, and home staging led her to open High Country Autumn’s Nest in Fraser, Colorado. Once she decided to become active and social in the community, she became a huge advocate for local businesses and the art scene in Grand County.

Questions:

Q: Are you a Grand County Native? If not, where are you from and what brought you here?

A: I was born and raised in Denver, lived in Aurora, Colorado for 5 years; Lakewood, Colorado for 13 years and then moved to Granby. Mark and I moved here to start a life together as we began our second (and last) marriages. Mark had a weekend place up here from the time his kids were little. He, his sisters, customers, and friends brought their kids up and skied. Although I was a native, I had only ever skied a couple of times. Skiing was for “rich” folks, my family just never had the resources to pursue it. Mark’s family didn’t either, but he provided that for his own family when he could. I started skiing when I was dating Mark and we spent a lot of weekends in Grand County. When it came time to buy a home together, we started looking around Boulder, where Mark was living at the time. A top employee of Mark’s also had a weekend place in Grand County and introduced the idea of moving the business and everyone up here. That was a big ask at the time for me. My kids were younger and I had a split week schedule with their Dad who lived nearby. I had an established staging business and I was homeschooling. But, it ended up working out, as I agreed to drive them down and up twice a week. I would go down early Wednesday mornings to pick them up and attend an all-day educational co-op, and then we’d head back here in the evening and I would take them back down on Saturday or Sunday. Some of my fondest memories are the car rides with my boys. I Did that drive, twice a week for about 5 years.

Q: What inspired you or led you to your current career? What do you love most about what you do?

A: I have been self-employed/entrepreneurial for most of my adult life. I had a successful career in real estate, home staging, and real estate marketing during my years in Lakewood. I liked being in charge of my career and life and loved my clients, homes in general, and really loved my ability to branch out creatively into beautiful marketing fliers and do home staging. I have always loved making our decor and creatively using things others may not see potential in. I got that from my mom. We always rented homes growing up and never had any extra money, but somehow she managed to use the simplest things and creatively make our homes beautiful. This came in handy in my staging business. When we moved up to Grand County I still had a few larger homes fully staged. I was able to sell a lot of my inventory through a couple of liquidation sales in Denver, but  I still had inventory that I hauled to Granby to store in our barn. Over the years I gave many things away, figured out which things I wanted to use for myself, and continued to store the rest. I used my real estate license to help Mark invest in some property. One is the property in Fraser that became High Country Autumn’s Nest. Initially, we were renting the space out and when it vacated early one summer, I saw the opportunity to have some Estate Sales there and get rid of the bulk of the staging inventory I was still storing. From that the idea for the store arose. People complimented our staging and said it felt like a store. They liked my eclectic sensibility and collection of items and told us there was a need for something like this in Fraser. I really went for it when Carrie Munro (who would find things at yard sales and around the metro area and sell them locally on the garage sale site) and I met as a result of my purchasing a few things from her. It felt daunting to embark on it fully on my own and when she agreed to work the store two days a week and supply half of its inventory, we took the leap and opened up! My favorite things about the store are meeting and serving our customers. I also truly love the people I work with, Jan, Lindsay, the artists, vendors, and work that I carry and promote in the store. My mission is a model of building up and promoting locals, local businesses and filling real needs for our neighbors and travelers. We have a combination of new, quality resale, antique, vintage, made-craft, art, gifts and decor. Our prices are very affordable and we are not purely tourist-driven, as we want to be the go-to for locals. A special niche for us is providing a place for locals, seasonal and service workers to find trendy, fun, quality gifts and home decor at a great price. Following this mission and model, fills my need to do something meaningful and challenging.

Q: What is your favorite restaurant in rand County, and what are your favorite meals there?

A: Deno’s happy hour is one of our all-time favorites. It never disappoints and you can get 3-5 apps to share! We take friends, family and customers there, a lot. The Ditch has incredible burgers and tamales. Fraser Valley Distilling has great food, atmosphere,  and service. Mark and I will have a little date there once in a while after I finish up at the store. At the base, Lime is our favorite– great margaritas and great Mexican food! Closer to home, we love Maverick’s and take a lot of guests there. Lucas’s smoked pork sandwiches and scones at Lionhead Coffee are the bomb! We also love the Parshall Inn, it’s popular with our guests too.

Q: How long have you lived or worked in our community?

A: 11 wonderful years.

Q: Who is the most interesting person you’ve met here in our community?

A: Frank Laws, hands down. Here’s a guy that doesn’t drink, lives simply, is always there to help anybody at any time. I met him through his carpet cleaning service–he is hilarious, happy and fun! He helps me with projects sometimes, from estate sale moves, to work around the Nest and we kid and goof and laugh a lot when we are working together. Then there is his deep side, he is full of wisdom and has a great heart. This summer he is starting our Nest gardens!! His ice fishing videos and his Facebook posts are great entertainment. He’s a truly pure and wonderful soul.

Q: If you could travel anywhere in the world right now, where would it be? And why?

A: My dream trip would be with all of Mark’s and my kids to Peru and the Galapagos! For all of the obvious reasons.

Q: What are your favorite movies? TV shows?

A: My favorite movie is Persuasion. Not the 2007 versions, the 1995 version. Here is how Rotten Tomatoes describes it, for those Jane Austen fans out there that might want to check it out.

“Critics Consensus Well-acted and absorbing, Persuasion offers a loose Jane Austen adaptation that captures the essence of the author’s timeless appeal.”

86% – TOMATOMETER

83% – AUDIENCE SCORE TV

We also like shows like Breaking Bad and Game of Thrones…although we hated the last two seasons of Game of Thrones! We are currently enjoying Yellowstone.

Q: What advice would you give to people to Grand County?

A: Be prepared for how long the snow is around and the differences in gardening times. No one up here cares about any pretense, so if status is important to you, you are in the wrong place. People are helpful and community-minded and you can get as involved and social as you like, or you can keep to yourself if that’s your thing. We started out keeping more to ourselves, and now we are shifting into being more social and involved.

Q: What is something on your bucket list?

A: Goats, chickens again, and horses.…

Q: What is go-to band or favorite music when you can’t decide what to listen to?

A: Fleetwood Mac, Eagles…. the ’80s was my era, I am Gen X at 50 years old, but I have a strong affinity for 70’s music too and am a little bit of a hippy soul. I like almost all music, though, including country.

Q: What do you like to do during your free time?

A: Free time, what’s that? All kidding aside, I like gardening, working on my house, entertaining guests, being with family,  and hiking & skiing.

Q: If you could choose anyone that is alive today and not a relative; with whom would you love to have lunch? Why? And where locally would you take them for lunch?

A: Maybe Tulsi Gabbard. I don’t agree with her on a lot of things, but I have a good deal of respect for her and feel like she is someone I could be friends with. I would take her to Devil’s Thumb for lunch. Not to impress her, but because of its iconic, Old West appeal and it would be a great excuse for me to go there!

Q: What is your favorite thing or something unique about Grand County?

A: Sherry and her Drive By Pie! I love her and her pies so much!! If you haven’t gotten a chance to meet her, she is one of the funniest and best people to interact with. What is more unique than drive-by pie?

Q: Where do you see yourself in 5 or 10 years?

A: Here and happy, with a few chickens, a goat and a horse. Mark and I are still working on our property and High Country Autumn’s Nest will have expanded with a magical backlot, a little art gallery and me actually being one of the store’s many makers. I started the store with the idea that I would finally make more art and refurbish and handcraft things, but I have been too busy running and growing it!

Q: What is something interesting that most people don’t know about you?

Perhaps my humble roots in central Denver. My parents were actually hippies that met at Denver, Lincoln High School. My father played guitar on Pearl Street in Boulder for money with me as a baby in the guitar case. My first bed was a dresser drawer. My mom raised my sister and I mostly as a single parent for 5 years until she married our true Dad, who adopted my sister and me. I went from a Martinez to a Drake. I moved out at age 16 and I never went to college.

Q: What is the most beautiful place you have ever been to?

A: Saint Lucia and Telluride are both up there. My backyard isn’t bad either. I also love the Great Sands Dunes, Colorado.

Q: If you were cast in a movie and could choose your co-star, who would it be?

A: Chris Pratt!

Q: If you had a full-time staff member that was fully paid for, who would you choose? Chef, Housekeeper, Driver, Coach, Physical Fitness Trainer, or Nanny?

A: Housekeeper!!

Q: Who inspires you to be better?

A: My husband, Mark.

Q: What is one or two of your favorite smells?

A: The forest after the rain.

Q: What is one business or activity that you would like to see in Grand County that currently isn’t here?

A: Actual HOT yoga.

Q: What 3 words or phrases come to mind when you think of the word HOME?

A: Grounding, Family, Safety.

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