Alumni Business Spotlight: Dusty Dude Woodworks and Bristol Bazaar

Care Verikas graduated from Champlain College in 2012 with a degree in Public Relations and a certificate in Event Management and Tourism. Today, she co-runs two thriving businesses in Bristol, Connecticut: Dusty Dude Woodworks, a custom wood shop specializing in handcrafted furniture and home remodels, and The Bristol Bazaar, an indoor maker’s market supporting 85 small business vendors alongside a coffee cocktail lounge and event space. We sat down with Care to learn about her trajectory from corporate marketing to entrepreneurship, and the experiences (at Champlain and beyond) that led to where she is today.

Finding Her Path

Entrepreneurship wasn’t part of Care’s original plan, yet looking back, she recognizes the signs were always there. “I kind of always just forged my own path. I think all of the experiences I had at Champlain, in terms of my internships and work study jobs, really continued to help me forge my path and to land where I am now.”

After graduating, Care experienced what many recent graduates do: job hopping, searching, and trying to understand where she belonged. At companies including Enterprise, Burlington Free Press, and Vermont Federal Credit Union, she worked in various roles from outreach coordination to social media and events, sales, and eventually landed in corporate marketing. Through each role, she learned what she loved and what she didn’t, building the foundation for what would come next.

Building Dusty Dude Woodworks

When Care met her husband, she was still in corporate marketing, and her husband, Eric, was a carpenter. They existed in two very different work worlds. Care explained, “We would come home and talk. I’d be like, ‘Oh, well, I ran this A/B test.’ He’s like, ‘Oh, I built this beautiful archway.’ We had no alignment in our work world, and we aligned everywhere else. So we asked ourselves, what do we do to bring those worlds together?”

The answer was Dusty Dude Woodworks. The transition wasn’t easy. Care went from working behind a computer to learning every hands-on aspect of the woodcraft business. Three years after starting the company, they secured a contract in Texas to produce and ship 400 cutting boards every month, which allowed Care to leave her full-time corporate role and commit full-time to Dusty Dude Woodworks.

“We worked. We cried. Probably mostly me. We just had so much invested because we had to make it work. That was when I knew that entrepreneurship was the right path. The scariest path, but the right path.”

Today, Dusty Dude Woodworks has evolved beyond its original scope. The business merged with J Brand and Co, and now offers full home remodels, in addition to the fine finish work and custom furniture that built their reputation.

Creating The Bristol Bazaar

As Dusty Dude Woodworks grew, Care and Eric faced challenges finding venues to sell their handmade wooden products beyond Etsy. They did craft shows every weekend; however, despite making useful connections, transport difficulty and unpredictable profit returns took a toll.

This inspired their second venture, The Bristol Bazaar, an indoor makers market with a coffee/cocktail lounge and event space. “What we do is help small business owners who are crafting by hand grow their businesses to become their full-time jobs. Unlike traditional craft shows, vendors don’t need to be present; the Bazaar’s team handles sales, marketing, and inventory management.”

Taking the lessons they learned from building Dusty Dude Woodworks, Care and Eric also provide mentorship and support to the small business owners in the market. “We give them coaching once a month, we will answer any questions, make connections, get them on the podcast I co-host, The Small Business Social Podcast, if we can, do whatever we can to help them grow,” shared Care.

The local community has embraced The Bristol Bazaar for everything from casual hangouts to first dates, creating exactly the kind of welcoming environment Care and Eric envisioned.