Today we’d like to introduce you to Sheba Khodadad.
Hi Sheba, thanks for joining us today. We’d love for you to start by introducing yourself.
I grew up in a Persian home with many relatives near and far in the rug trade. Our house was filled with an ever-changing assortment of antiques and old rugs, and even as a child, I started learning about both, but I wasn’t allowed to touch the fragile antiques. Treasures would float in from my dear uncles who traveled around the country, and many beautiful things landed with my mom, from antique and precious jewelry to remarkable vintage mirrors and commodes and of course, old rugs. I never had more than a passing interest in these sorts of things. I was a first-generation American kid, and if anything, I resisted the “old country” culture I was exposed to. When I left to live on my own, I wanted to take none of my mother’s heirlooms with me. As so often happens, after a time, I found my way back home and back to the very things I didn’t know I’d loved.
That all happened because of my dear uncle Joseph, who was a very kind, generous, wise and humble man who was funny and extremely knowledgeable about olds rugs and antiques. In summer of 2016, I was at a crossroads in my life. I was running two small businesses in the events and branding sector, and I was busy developing out-of-the-box brand strategies for companies with great products looking for new ways to connect to their audiences. On top of that, I was producing celebrity-studded events for nonprofits that were making a real impact in Los Angeles and in the world. In the midst of this, I had an offer to leave it all and go work in house as a CMO at a major liquor company, in Texas!
At this junction, I somehow ended up spending time with Joseph and learning a bit about his rugs and the world he was in for decades. He had eagle eyes for treasures and picked up beautiful, in-demand rugs for his wholesale inventory. His clients were the polished, clever businessmen who own retail rug stores across the country, and they would almost literally fight over the pieces he would find and come home with from his travels.
What my uncle Joseph really did to hook me in tell me to sell a rug on my own, as a beginner, without any connections in the trade. I started with throwing a couple of rugs from his collection on Craigslist. Before I knew it, I sold straight out of my Los Angeles apartment a very beautiful and large 1920s Art Deco Chinese rug that had an emerald green ground to a woman who spotted it online and came over right away. Her name was Karen, and she was a Google software engineer. It was love at first sight for her, and I had made my first rug sale. Then, I sold a few more. My customers were mostly women who would show up to tell me they knew right away this was the rug they were looking for. What made it all work? I had valuable and soulful rugs in my hands, rugs that would sell for multiple times more, and I was selling these beauties for way below market value — the sky-high prices most sellers charge for them. The formula seemed like a winner: source and sell beautiful antique rugs directly to the consumer. Before I knew it, I was seeing Joseph every single day, learning from him, with joy and excitement in my heart. I was slowly starting to appreciate the value and stories of the treasures I was selling to people.
In truth, very few people in the world have the depth of knowledge of old rugs to qualify as experts. It’s a skill that’s half talent and half study. You have to be able to read and identify a rug’s age and origin by looking at the back of the weave, and this is not easy. It sort of feels like a person learning to read musical notes without any formal instruction. I acquired the knowledge with Joseph’s help by working with the rugs, feeling their texture, studying them and grabbing on to any information he would teach me while I worked with him. I was definitely overwhelmed and I remember kneeling on the ground with some rugs and looking up at my uncle and saying something like, “How will I ever be able to identify these rugs?” And he replied, “One day, you’re going to wake up and you’ll just know the rugs.”
One day, after we had spent just a few short months of time together, Joseph just didn’t wake up. He had just turned 57 and we felt robbed because it was so sudden and without warning. My entire family fell apart. He was a rock for all of us, a patriarch of our little “tribe”. I was completely lost. I felt like for the first time in my life, I had “arrived” and I was in a place where I had love and trust with someone who was truly looking after me and who I could learn so much from, so what was I to do now that he is gone? I felt though, something had to give and I had to find the confidence to continue and to make something of this gift he gave me, this new path.
By early 2017, I founded Blue Parakeet Rugs in honor of my uncle and one of his favorite species of bird. We had been discussing his plan to get one the fall before he passed away. He wanted a blue, rose-ringed parrot (classified as a parakeet). The journey he started me on has been the biggest blessing of my life, and I know 100% that he is up above directing every extraordinary step. I work with the most incredible designers around the country now, and I have client relationships with the superb people (99% are women) who love, respect and seek out old rugs. I have a sweet Instagram presence @blueparakeetrugs, and my mission is to share the sacred beauty of these rugs and all of the information I have come to know about them with the world. I want to preserve the true value of this art and culture by educating everyone who has an interest in them, and I am lucky to be able to do so, successfully.
I’m sure you wouldn’t say it’s been obstacle free, but so far would you say the journey have been a fairly smooth road?
Looking back from where I am today, I’d have to say my greatest challenge was having the courage to start Blue Parakeet Rugs. After losing Joseph, I felt unmoored and couldn’t imagine going on without his guiding spirit and mentorship. I think the momentum started to build from just gathering the strength to put one foot in front of the other and a ton of help came through from my family once I got into motion. The birth of Blue Parakeet Rugs was the single biggest leap I had to take on this journey, but the dynamic of just getting back up and moving forward has repeated itself countless times since then.
Running a successful small business often comes down to the ability to take calculated risks and to be hopeful while you pour your heart out to the world and into the work. I didn’t know when I started posting rug pics and videos that an entire community of rug lovers would bloom on @blueparakeetrugs, but it has and I feel truly blessed. People from all over the world appreciate these works of art and they have embraced my on-the-go workflow that I feature in a very transparent way and as often as possible on Instagram. I didn’t know when or if a designer would find my shop, but they did, and now I work with superstar designers across the country that enjoy working with me and love the old rugs in my cherry-picked collection.
The most magical things that have happened in my world are mostly the result of just showing up and giving it my best shot even, or especially when I didn’t have a clear road map to guide me. The rest is history.
Alright, so let’s switch gears a bit and talk business. What should we know about your work?
I specialize and take pride in collecting antique rugs that are truly old school. The method of how they were woven is not in practice anymore, and these are one-of-a-kind works of art that were produced of natural, vegetable-dyed wool. The pieces I acquire are typically about a century old, most circa 1880s -1920s. These are mainly Persian village rugs that were woven by women. I have small rugs, runners and large room-size rugs, and each one contains a wealth of history and soul. I believe that each rug has a destiny. My uncle Max (Joseph’s older brother who has since mentored me and is another expert in the trade) says, “You don’t choose the rug, the rug chooses you”. From experience, I know that to be true.
Every person who wants an old rug sort of gravitates to particular ones that speak to them. It can take a while for a buyer or client to find their perfect piece, and it can be a winding road until the right rug shows up, and then, it’s love at first sight. I am proud to work exclusively with old rugs and love having a small business that can specialize in this space. It’s one thing that sets me apart from the sea of other collectors and dealers. I admire the authenticity and simplicity of these treasures and am blessed to have an educated audience who feels the same.
One of the fun aspects of Blue Parakeet Rugs is not only do I get to nerd out about the specifics of these old rugs — which I do on Instagram daily — but also I have a perk called Rug ‘N’ Roll through which local clients and designers can have me show up at their space with specially curated rugs just for them. I pack my Yukon full of rugs and go to clients’ homes and basically throw a rug party. This is a treat for all people involved as I’m able to build real relationships with rug lovers, and they have the unique experience of seeing and feeling the rugs out in their homes as we style and play with remarkable floor art. I share select experiences of rugs out in the wild on Instagram with the Blue Parakeet Rugs community.
Do you have any advice for those just starting out?
The rug world is inspiring and intoxicating (in a good way), but it is also very overwhelming. I know many women who have fallen into this line of work as a result of their personal hunt for good rugs when they were redecorating or building their new house. When you have a reason to dive into a rabbit hole of rugs, you realize how vast and rich this art form really is. To those who wish to start a small business in this space, I advise that you do your homework, follow your heart and have a plan that you want to carry out because it is a very tough business, and there is nothing steady about it. You have to love it to succeed and be willing to work your fanny off.
Contact Info:
- Email: [email protected]
- Website: www.blueparakeetrugs.com
- Instagram: blueparakeetrugs
