Meet ReStore's Assistant Store Manager, Jan Hagerman!

This is an updated version of a previously published blog, written by Kaitlyn Dormer.

Do you recognize that face? Maybe you’ve seen her at the State Fair? Or was it on her regular DIY Friday segment on WCCO? You could’ve spotted Jan Hagerman in either of those places, or where she spends quite a bit of her time—at the Twin Cities Habitat for Humanity ReStore in New Brighton where she’s the Assistant Store Manager.

Jan first joined the Twin Cities Habitat ReStore team in 2015 as the Pricing Associate. She quickly proved to be a perfect fit for the team and now she says it feels like she was “never not here.”

Most people don’t have experience sorting and pricing donated goods to be resold to support a mission—Jan’s got that. For several years, she’s been part of the hugely successful Wayzata Community Church Rummage Sale that brings in roughly $170,000 annually. On top of that, Jan grew up in her parents’ jewelry business and her first career was as a gemologist, so she has decades of retail experience starting from her teen years. That background, combined with Jan’s do-it-yourself inventiveness, is what makes Jan a great asset at the ReStore.

Jan says that she’s drawn to the ReStore for two big reasons: the connection to Twin Cities Habitat’s mission and the positive impact on the environment. Knowing that the New Brighton ReStore diverts nearly 700 tons of waste from landfills helps Jan rest easy each night. “We only have one planet and one chance to get it right in our lives,” she shared.

The child of parents raised during the Depression, Jan learned to make her belongings last. She applies that thinking to DIY projects at the ReStore. “I can take something old, keep it out of the dumpster, and make something cool instead of buying new.” Jan is a regular guest on WCCO’s DIY Fridays, where she has an opportunity to demonstrate some of these projects.