LEVERETT — They were born and raised in Amherst and, like so many of their peers, set out on bigger adventures after graduating high school.
One went to college in Minnesota, after which her work sent her to Cambodia. While there, she met a Swedish man who would soon become her husband.
Two sisters made their way to New York City, where they kept a passion for dance alive that was first sparked at home.
The lure of home, however, was so strong that when it came time to decide where they would raise thier families, Leah Roth-Howe, and Caddy and Ashley Carlisle, returned to the place where it all began — the Pioneer Valley.
“More and more I’m finding friends from high school who are trickling in,” Roth-Howe said.
They aren’t alone. Many millennials of their generation are following similar paths, eschewing big city life for the lure of their smaller hometowns where its more affordable to own a home and live.
“The conveniences that are afforded by having a little bit more space,” said Ashley.
And these millennials, like Roth-Howe and the Carlisle sisters, are future leaders of the community — running businesses, raising children and “reinvesting” in their towns. They also plan on staying for the long-term.
Sisters Caddy and Ashley started The Center dance studio in Amherst in 2014, while Leah runs Ittikid, an online shop that sells gender-neutral Scandinavian baby and children’s clothes imported from the European Union.
Roth-Howe got to know the Carlisles after her daughter took one of their classes. She said that while she had a community of her parents’ friends, she hadn’t had as much of a community of friends her age raising children in the area.
“This was like saving grace,” Roth-Howe said. “All of sudden we could connect to our people.”
The sisters are also patrons of Ittikid. Caddy’s 3-year-old son uses the store’s rain gear — including rain mittens — at the Hartsbrook School in its outdoor forest classroom.
“They make outdoor play in the rain totally possible,” Caddy said. “Just the stuff that she offers in general is incredible for outdoor play.”
“There’s no bad weather, only bad clothes,” said Leah, sharing a Swedish saying.
In May, the three collaborated on a pop-up shop for women-owned businesses, which was held at The Center. There are plans to hold another in March.
“When we can collaborate and connect it’s so much more gratifying,” Roth-Howe said.
“We help each other grow for sure,” said Caddy. “There’s so much opportunity for mutual promotion.”
All three women said that being their own bosses worked well with raising small children.
“It adds flexibility,” said Roth-Howe. “A 9-to-5 job somewhere else would have been really difficult with wanting to also be home with kids.”
However, Ashley did note that she and her family had moved back once before, only to return to Brooklyn because of a lack of employment opportunities. Both her husband and Roth-Howe’s husband work remotely for companies outside the Valley.
“If you’re not in academia, or social work or psychology it’s a really tough area for our generation to find work,” said Roth-Howe.
“Those are two pretty good choices,” said Ashley, on owning a business or working remotely.
Caddy and Ashley Carlisle, 34 and 37 respectively, grew up dancing classical ballet in the Pioneer Valley.
“It was such a big part of who we were,” said Ashley. “You never really stop thinking of yourself as a dancer.”
While both sisters lived in Canada and New York City for a time, they eventually returned to the Pioneer Valley, and ended up working at Pioneer Valley Performing Arts School.
“We’re like best friends,” said Caddy. “Truly.”
“We’re lucky,” said Ashley.
They decided to start The Center dance studio after Caddy left PVPA and Ashley went on maternity leave.
“There’s nothing better than being your own boss,” Caddy said.
In the beginning, only the sisters operated the studio. Now, it has five other instructors and holds classes in both Amherst and Northampton.
A key focus of The Center dance studio is movement stories, or dance pieces that tell a narrative story. Each movement story involves the reading of a storybook; the class then writes a dancing story based on the book that they’ve read.
“That’s a huge part of our model,” said Ashley.
“We always read a story,” said Caddy. “The movement stories bring the storybook alive.”
A love of picture books was something instilled in the sisters by their mother, an ELA teacher.
“We love, I think, picture books as much as dance,” said Ashley. “That was a huge part of our growing up as well.”
The Center has adapted the Boston-set classic “Make Way for Ducklings,” and plans to make “This Is It,” by Daria Peoples-Riley, the basis of it’s spring show.
The sisters also created the Perch program, which is a movement story class sandwiched between a morning of art and some play time.
“The space totally transforms,” said Caddy.
“It’s the best thing ever,” said Ashley.
Roth-Howe, 34, left the Pioneer Valley for school in Minnesota, and her career in Holocaust and genocide education took her around the world, including to Cambodia, where she met Calle Siebing, the Swedish man who would become her husband. After she became pregnant with their first child, however, the couple decided to return to western Massachusetts so that they could be close to family.
“I hadn’t been back here since I grew up here,” she said. “My parents actually live down the road.”
Roth-Howe started her business, Ittikid, in part as a reaction to the clothing options available for children in the United States.
“When I was pregnant we didn’t know the sex of the baby,” she said. “I could not find any good gender-neutral clothes.”
Roth-Howe said that there were many gender neutral options for babies and children from Scandinavia. And Calle’s parents kept sending her clothes.
Her previous experience in the clothing industry consisted of a year working retail at Patagonia. This didn’t deter her, and she launched Ittikid, now starting its third year.
“It was a few years of planning and saving and trying to figure it out,” she said.
Ittikid buys clothing from designers and brands in Scandinavia, all of which are manufactured in the European Union and made with organic cotton. These clothes then find their way to Leverett, where they are shipped all around the country and the world.
“What’s really funny is when you get customers in Denmark and Sweden who are looking for a very particular print and size and it’s all sold out in Europe,” Roth-Howe said. “We’re the random shop across the world that has it still.”
Because Ittikid’s clothing isn’t specifically gendered, Roth-Howe said it’s great for hand-me-downs.
“We tried really hard to find options for both boys and girls that just don’t fit a typical gender stereotype,” she said.
Roth-Howe makes connections with designers when she visits Sweden with her husband every summer. Calle’s sister has three kids, which also helps point Leah in the right direction.
While Roth-Howe is still considering opening a physical Ittikid store, people do go to her home to shop, appointments for which are arranged by email.
“We have a lot of people come here to go shopping,” she said.