By the age of 23, Hogan found herself the single parent of two daughters and no income to speak of. She knew she had to do something to support her children without compromising her strong urge to be her own boss. Nonetheless, she attended a community college studying social work, and this led her to the barrios that provided fertile ground for the Chicano movement. She worked with single parents, largely young women, helping them get their GEDs and go on to college themselves. Once out of college, she moved to a rural area where she worked at a training center for mentally challenged individuals. It was at this time that the brother of a Navajo friend asked her to help him sell his jewelry.

“I was wholesaling jewelry for Johnny Frank back when chip inlay was very popular. That is when I started selling to my co-workers. I was able to make a little money on the side, and I was helping him as well,” Hogan said. She also traveled to Guadalupe once a month to sell herbs out of the back of her pickup truck in the back yard of a friend.

“I was interested in opening my own herb shop, and this was a way to test the waters.” I opened the original Winter Sun in 1976—it was a little jewelry store, and I also sold paintings by Joe Allen Josytewa,” Hogan continued. “He was a magnificent Hopi painter who was the protégé of noted half-Navajo artist David Chethlahe Paladin.

One of the keys to a successful trading business is location, according to Hogan. “Make sure you are in a good location for what it is you are going to do,” Hogan said. “Your location is your total key. I decided to move to Flagstaff because I wanted to be next to Route 66 where there was a lot of tourist traffic, and even though my first shop there was small I thought that it was one of the best.”

Further, Hogan cautioned that new business owners should be careful not to start out too big, or invest too heavily. “You can always grow,” Hogan said. “Don’t feel bad if you aren’t the biggest. You just have to be the best.”

In the beginning, one of the difficulties Hogan faced was not having the money to purchase inventory, and having to work the shop herself. “This was my dream, and I was grateful, but it was hard at first,” Hogan said. “Sometimes the most beautiful artwork would come into the shop and I just couldn’t buy it because I didn’t have the money. A lot of my friends helped me out by putting their work in my shop on consignment.”

Hogan admitted that starting Winter Sun was a lot easier than it would be today. “Rent was a lot cheaper back then,” Hogan said. “Flagstaff hadn’t been discovered yet when I arrived. It was still an old west kind of town. My first shop was a storefront right off Route 66 and I had almost 2,500 square feet. My daughters and I lived there, I had my research association there and I had the shop. Including my utilities and other expenses, this space ran me under $500. That was 1979.”

This would be impossible today, Hogan pointed out. “Because I lived there, and all of my activities were based there, all I had to do was open the shop at any time of day or evening, and I could make money,” Hogan said.

Since then, the community of Williams has become competition for tourist dollars, and it is even more important to offer something for all price ranges.

“I don’t carry too much really high-end merchandise, the highest is under $2,000, but only a tiny portion of my inventory runs that high,” Hogan said. “That would be maybe two pieces,” she laughed. “It is important to have really good stuff that is not mass produced, and to get it for a price that tourists can afford. If I don’t have what they are looking for, I send people to the roadside stands or other shops. We all work together as a team.”

When asked how she balanced being able to pay artists a fair price while ensuring she could make a fair profit, Hogan outlined her strategy. “I ask folks what they want for their work,” Hogan said. “I’ve been in the business for a long time, so I am able to evaluate what I am going to be able to sell a piece for and if I will be able to make a profit at what artists are asking.

You have to take in consideration the amount of time someone has put into a piece and evaluate the unique quality of each,” Hogan continued. “There are several factors to consider. Sometimes artists who aren’t as well known or whose work isn’t as clean or meticulous will ask for the same amount I would pay an established artist, and it doesn’t work that way. Artists have to pay their dues, and if one is really good and talented he or she won’t have to pay those dues for long. Their work will be in demand.”

Now that Hogan’s business has grown and is recognized as a world-designated place to get reasonably priced items, she finds that the hardest part of her job is supervising staff and dealing with the public. “I don’t live there anymore, so the convenience is no longer there,” Hogan said. “It’s grown, and that’s great, but it is tedious working with the public. As a trader, you must always be pleasant, always informative—it’s almost like being a political figure.

“But the hardest part for me is when I simply cannot buy things that I would really like to buy, and having to turn people away.” Hogan continued. “People will bring items in, and you know that they really need that sale in order to buy food or gas, but you just cannot do it. And maybe artists will get their feelings hurt, but maybe your rent is due that day, or it’s a slow period, and you just can’t do it. That is very hard for me.”

That said, Hogan observed that the same artists continue to come to Winter Sun. “I work with multigenerational families that have come in for thirty years, and they have become like family to me,” Hogan said. “I am treated with a lot of friendship from a lot of people.”
Winter Sun Website: http://wintersun.com/