3-12-2024 4:03am

DULANEY GRAD DESIGNS

BEYOND BCPS: DANA (POIST) SICKO, DULANEY HIGH GRAD, FOUNDER OF GUNDALOW DESIGN & GOURMET

Committed to “Simplifying life tastefully”

AN "EAGER-BEAVER" KIND OF KID GROWS INTO AN ENTREPRENEUR

As a teenager seeking a part-time job, Dana (Poist) Sicko remembers making daily phone calls to Sports Her Way, a sports equipment store in The Shops at Kenilworth. Eventually they hired her, and she enjoyed working there for two-and-a-half years.

In September 2022, she returned to The Shops at Kenilworth with her own store – Gundalow Gourmet & Designs – a business that seeks to help its customers with “Simplifying life tastefully,” through catering, gourmet foods, home goods, and interior design. (Gundalow is co-owned by Lauren Schien.) Later this month, Gundalow will expand into the vacant space next door.

Sicko laughs and says that both are examples of her life as a “persistent little eager-beaver kind of kid.”

THE BCPS YEARS

Growing up in Baltimore County, Sicko attended Pinewood Elementary and Ridgely Middle schools before graduating from Dulaney High School.

At Pinewood, she particularly remembers her Grade 1 teacher, Ms. Andrews. She was “amazing” and so “sweet,” Sicko recalls.

“I was lucky enough that my best friend’s parents built out a theater program at Pinewood, and we did lots of musicals,” she says. “My best friend’s father managed the Morris Mechanic Theater in Baltimore, and her mom did hair for shows and movies. I loved doing everything they brought to the school.”

While at Pinewood, Sicko was also active on the student council and played soccer and lacrosse with the Lutherville-Timonium Recreation Center.

In middle school, again, her friend’s parents brought more theater opportunities to the school. “We did the musical ‘Kilroy was Here,’ which was set during World War II,” says Sicko, “and I got to play a character like Rosie the Riveter. I loved the opportunity to play a strong female lead.”

Sicko continued her involvement with student council in middle school, and she participated in a running club and in chorus.

Dana, on the left, with theater friends at Ridgely Middle School

Dana playing lacrosse for Dulaney High School

Dana Sicko in middle school and high school

At Dulaney High, her involvement in field hockey and lacrosse precluded participating in school plays. She deepened her involvement in student government, becoming part of Baltimore County Student Councils and serving as the morning announcer and a cheerleader for BCSC leadership camps. “From high school,” Sicko says, “I remember Mr. [Marty] Stranathan, my Advanced Placement biology teacher as my favorite teacher ever, and Coach Korrow, my lacrosse coach as most impactful.”

While in high school and working part-time at Sports Her Way, Sicko and her mother began making ribbon accessories to sell at local craft fairs. “My mom did most of the work,” Sicko laughs, “I was more like the creative director.”

That is Sicko's short version of her first business. Anne Hilb, a former high school classmate, tells a more detailed version. "Dana has always been incredibly entrepreneurial," Hilb says. "In high school, we were both in student government together. At the time, d-ring belts were really popular, and a lot of kids bought them from Cohen's Clothiers, but they were a luxury item for a highschooler. Dana and her mom saw a niche market and founded the Pina Colada Co., which created handmade, yet more affordable, versions of the belts using supplies they outsourced. I remember her dad and brother even constructed a memorable wooden palm tree display with wooden dowels to hang the belts, and, as time went on, Dana and her mom expanded their inventory to include more products, which my entire family sported for many years."

"It is not a surprise to any of us who went to school with Dana that she is a successful business owner, not only because she started so young, but because she always goes above and beyond to be kind to everyone she meets to this day and had an incredible work ethic from an extremely young age." – Anne Hilb, a former high school classmate

Hilb continues, "They would sell their goods at various local craft fairs, and when student government needed a new fundraiser, Dana proposed starting a Dulaney High craft fair. Our council was exceptionally creative and filled with a team of all-stars, so we started a lot of new traditions. We raised so much money during our tenure that we were able to do many things for the school, including helping students who couldn't afford to go to prom, and leave a generous gift. I believe the craft fair is still an annual event at the school. It is not a surprise to any of us who went to school with Dana that she is a successful business owner, not only because she started so young, but because she always goes above and beyond to be kind to everyone she meets to this day and had an incredible work ethic from an extremely young age."

WANTING TO BETTER UNDERSTAND FOOD

After graduating from Dulaney, Sicko went to the University of New Hampshire to study nutritional sciences. “What led me there,” she explains, “is that I had an eating disorder in high school. When I recovered, I wanted to understand food better and what it does in the body. I went in thinking I would become a dietician. But they made us take cooking and food science classes, and I discovered that I really was more interested in making food and hopefully making it healthier. The program’s philosophy was that you can’t tell people what to eat if you don’t know how to cook.”

In college, Sicko was a member of the Student Nutrition Association and completed a community nutrition field experience under the direction of one of her professors. “I worked with the food services department at Dover [New Hampshire] public schools, exposing kids to different kinds of food and encouraging them to eat more fruits and vegetables.”

During one winter break, Sicko served as a nutrition intern at McCormick. “I had an incredible time there,” she says.

All in all, Sicko loved her college experience. “I loved exploring the food and culture of New England,” she says. “It was a very therapeutic time for me.”

After graduating, Sicko and her husband, Scott, whom she met in college, moved briefly to Dallas so he could try out for the Dallas Cowboys.

When that didn’t pan out, the couple moved to Baltimore, where they felt there would be more opportunities. Sicko went to work for a gym and developed its health and nutrition center. Then, at age 22, she launched Nutreatious, a personal chef service, and a few years later, she started Gundalow Juice, the first wholesaling cold-pressed juice business in Maryland.

“From there,” she says, “it kind of kept snowballing into other things, like catering and then having a retail location.”

She explains that the developers of Whitehall Market in Baltimore City first reached out to her in 2018 or 2019 with an idea for creating a project like Chelsea Market in New York. “They were interested in me opening a juice bar, but I said that I wanted to create a gourmet shop, and they accepted that idea.”

Gundalow Gourmet opened in Whitehall Market in June 2020 during the COVID-19 pandemic. With eight team members, the shop served prepared foods, baked goods, cookbooks, and various kitchen goods. Gundalow remained at Whitehall and even opened a second home goods shop there until Whitehall Market closed in May 2023.

Gundalow Gourmet, during its Whitehall Market years

“White Hall was an incredible learning experience,” says Sicko. “I was surrounded by companies I really admired. I wouldn’t be where I am today without Whitehall. I learned so much about retail, and people were so supportive of small business during the pandemic. I think they felt safe at Whitehall. I am so grateful to the customers I met there. It was such an incredible, important time. It allowed me to keep a degree of normalcy for my team and keep my business alive. People were helping us build during the craziest time globally.”

GROWING A BUSINESS

When asked how she learned to operate a small business, Sicko sees direct links to her family and her years in BCPS. “I think I started working really young,” she says. “And I was used to working with teams from my extensive years in student leadership and from playing sports and looking up to my coaches. Even being in school plays helped me learn things about putting your best self forward when relating to customers.”

In addition, Sicko comes from an entrepreneurial family. “My dad owned a small auto parts business when I was growing up. So, I knew what the life of a small businessperson was like. Actually, the idea of having a 9-5 was more foreign to me. And my family was always very supportive of my ventures.”

More formal business learning came to Sicko through the Goldman Sachs 10,000 Small Businesses program. “I was part of the first cohort of the 10,000 Small Businesses program in Baltimore,” she says. “In spring 2016, I spent four months learning alongside 30 other small business owners. It was very much an MBA-style program. We learned about finances, marketing, negotiating, and more. And it was free!”

The latest step for Sicko has been the move into doing more interior design work. “To me, it all makes sense to move from food and retail into design. It is all about helping people live better. “

“The design work grew organically,” she says. “When I was doing private chefing, I was sometimes in beautiful but inefficient kitchens, so I started helping my clients improve them. I got to work with incredible designers, and, during the pandemic, I started to formalize things more. I had always been doing design at some level. But after COVID, that part of the business started to take off.”

Gundalow Designs & Gourmet now in The Shops at Kenilworth

This year, Gundalow Group was named a finalist for Best Kitchen Design in Baltimore Magazine’s 2024 Home & Design Awards competition. The winners will be announced on March 20.

Sicko said she can work on so many different projects because of the strength of her 15-member team. “Lauren is taking over more and more in the kitchen along with Patty, the kitchen manager,” she says. “Clare is my retail sales manager. For me, leading is a constant lesson in delegating and failing to delegate.”

“I like to think of myself as a builder,” she continues. “I like creating things and working in different mediums, solving problems, and getting to a goal – in food, business, design. I hope I am a builder of people, too. I try to be that every day.”

Sicko says that, in 2023, she felt like she was finally out of the confines of COVID, out of survival mode, and into a period that allows for more creativity.

In her latest venture, Gundalow Gifts and Design, opening later this month, she will sell furniture and design pieces and home goods, while Gundalow Gourmet next door will continue to sell food and everything kitchen-related.

When asked what advice she would give to students interested in entrepreneurship, Sicko says, “I would say to students, just start somewhere and just ask all the questions and never feel stupid for asking questions. Be not afraid of growing slowly; be afraid of standing still.”

She adds, “I would also say check in with yourself to be sure that you are doing what fits you. Sometimes that changes. Like my juice business. . . I worked tirelessly at it for four years, but then I was ready to do something else.”

Dana Sicko and her husband, Scott

Outside of working, Sicko and her husband, a high school social studies teacher, enjoy traveling. Although they also enjoy returning to their favorites, like London and Charleston, they focus on exploring new places, always on the lookout for other small businesses like Gundalow and for unique items to sell in her stores.

“Going back to New England, too, is like a soul refresh, like visiting an old friend,” adds Sicko.

New England is so much a part of Sicko’s life that it even inspired her business name. A “gundalow” is a flat-bottomed sailing barge that was used in Maine and New Hampshire.