You’d think Ali Pincus, co-founder of One Kings Lane and its new sister site Hunters Alley, would treasure her quiet personal office. Mother to three-year-old twins with one more child on the way, Ali splits her time between offices in New York, Los Angeles, and San Francisco where she lives with her husband. Realizing she spent so much time out of her main office in San Francisco (and wanting to be in the thick of the action), Ali decided to move out of her private space and into the open office. Then she converted the large, glass-enclosed room she left into a shared Hunters Alley staff ‘den.’

We wrote about Hunters Alley when they launched, and were excited to go back to tour their new den and hear more from Ali about the founding of Hunters Alley, launched this January.

One Kings Lane is still fairly young itself, why launch a second company?
“It was really an exercise in listening to our audience, our shoppers, the people around us. So many people wanted to come to us and have us help them sell their pieces, and we didn’t have a solution for the folks who were coming because they weren’t professional designers or tastemakers, but they were people who had great taste and beautiful things. We knew we needed to create a solution for that, so Hunters Alley was born.

We talked about it for a long time, and then it was a year in iteration and development, nailing the brand and the vision. For many months I was by myself doing this. You have these moments of, ‘Wow, can I do this? How can I get everything done?’ Then there was a group of people that rose their hand and said, “We’d like to work on something entirely new.” Working on something new-launching a business- is hard work.”

You must have been very pushed out of your comfort zone. What was the biggest lesson in launching Hunters Alley?
“I’ve learned to be selfless. At this point, I do whatever the company needs me to do. So I take on new responsibility whenever I’m asked to, so I switch roles about every year. Sometimes in shorter spans. To fill gaps, and to be of service to the company and that’s really what I enjoy most. This company has really helped me understand that. Yes, it can be scary to take on a new job and switch roles, but ultimately it’s the most gratifying thing, and what I find the most satisfying.”

What’s the experience of shopping Hunters Alley?
“We launch new merchandise everyday and everyday we curate a new experience on our website. That’s a good thing- you are hunting, but you are hunting amongst great pieces- whether they are contemporary pre-owned, handmade artisanal or vintage.”

The den is beautiful, but it’s meant to be functional for the team, as well, correct? I can just imagine flipping through the stacks of books for inspiration when curating a collection for the website.
“I collect books so I like all the books we have, these are some of the books I’ve collected over the years. Everyone loves a magazine resource so we have them here. And then of course, everyone appreciates a great idea board. It’s full of color, and life, and moments, and inspiration. This was our old conference room table from 2010. It looks a lot more stylish now in this new environment. It all represents what Hunters Alley is, too. The vintage, contemporary preowned, handmade artisanal, and art.”