Colleen Connell

Colleen founded a small retail business in 1987, starting with a $1000 cash advance on a credit card. Over the next three decades, she developed it into a print catalog and website with 10 full-time employees and up to 35 seasonal employees, generating $5 million in annual revenue. She sold the business in 2021.

Born and raised in San Francisco, with an undergraduate degree in Natural Resources from UC Berkeley, studied Environmental Engineering at the graduate level at the University of Washington.

She moved to Port Townsend for her “third act” in 2021, with a focus on art, woodworking, and community service. She has taken several classes at PTSW as well as BARN in Bainbridge Island, including timber-framing, carving, veneering, and marquetry. She has helped build tiny homes for unhoused people through Community Build in Port Townsend as well as Casa Linda in San Miguel de Allende, Mexico. She is using her newfound carpentry and woodworking skills to convert a short “skoolie” (retired school bus) into a functional 96 square foot living space. She is an active member of Rotary International, the American Association of University Women, Quimper Arts, and the Jefferson Land Trust.