From Kitchen Table to Global Community: How The Knitting Tree LA Built a Business Around Belonging with Annette Corsino-Blair & Bruce Blair

The host introduces Annette Corsino-Blair and Bruce Blair, co-founders of The Knitting Tree LA, as entrepreneurs combining fiber arts, education, hospitality, and connection. Bruce says that success is not reserved for people who have already achieved it: people should notice the small successes in daily life, practice gratitude, and remember that they have to walk before they can run. Annette explains that knitting, crochet, and other fiber arts are traditionally learned and practiced together, so “paying it forward” was central to her vision. She grew up in a highly diverse, low-income housing project made up of roughly 100 red-brick buildings, where neighbors gathered outside, shared food, and made things together. Her Italian immigrant father, Mexican mother, and neighbors—including an Italian basket maker—gave her an early model of communal creativity. She now tries to recreate that environment with a giant kitchen table in the store. After teaching friends and neighbors around her own kitchen table, Annette decided the neighborhood needed a store. Despite having no business experience, she opened it in three months. She says her lack of knowledge may have helped because, as the host puts it, “ignorance is absolutely bliss” in some entrepreneurial situations.

Bruce describes how the business partnership began. He was a widower raising his son, Annette’s children were grown, and the two met at tango dancing school. Annette had previously owned a yarn store in Venice, California, which closed in 2009 after the Great Recession. When another store became available, Bruce—who had never even entered a yarn shop—went to look at it with her and offered to invest. Annette warned him that going into business together was “more serious than getting married.” Bruce replied that he believed in her, saw that people were drawn to her, and trusted that she had something special. The partners divided their strengths rather than trying to do the same job. Bruce had worked in luxury hospitality for organizations including Ritz-Carlton, the Beverly Hilton Hotel, and the Kempton Group. He says Annette is “the franchise,” comparing her to Caitlin Clark and Michael Jordan: an instinctive artist, gregarious giver, and “joy instigator” who leads with intuition and childlike wonder. Bruce used his hospitality background to give structure to the company’s welcoming culture. Bruce calls their approach “aggressive hospitality.” When the door opens, they break the ice, lean into the guest, start a conversation, and show enthusiasm. Annette calls Bruce the “hype man” and says he taught her to remain calm and maintain her equilibrium during upsetting situations. In turn, she taught him to follow his instincts and gut. Their complementary styles became part of the customer experience.

Annette says she intentionally wanted The Knitting Tree to be a place where people could create and meet people they otherwise would never encounter. Located near Los Angeles International Airport, the store attracts people from across Los Angeles, from around the world, and from many different backgrounds. Customers regularly comment that the store’s “vibe” is amazing, call it their “happy place,” or describe it as “Disneyland for adults.” Her goal is for visitors to walk through the door and feel relief—a chance to step away from the “onslaught of the horribleness” outside. The staff treats customers as actual human beings rather than only as people who might buy something. Annette says every employee began as a customer, and those employees and customers have become ambassadors for the business. That community also became financially meaningful. During difficulties around and after COVID, The Knitting Tree told its community that it wanted to remain in place. When the business needed crowdfunding, customers came forward and helped keep it open. Annette’s conclusion is that when a company creates genuine community, that community can have the company’s back. The business therefore delivers education, relationships, emotional uplift, and mutual support alongside its physical products.

Bruce explains that Annette created the Emotional Support Chicken in 2019. It is a knitted, stuffed, pillow-sized chicken that people can hug. He says the object produces an immediate physical reaction—“whimsical and calming”—and that the local regulars immediately asked Annette to teach a class. The store then began selling kits containing the yarn and every needed component, including the eyes and a handmade name tag. The chickens are deliberately playful. The store has 34 colorways and names such as Shakira, Bikonce, and Elten John. But Bruce believes their success comes from a deeper need: people feel disconnected, and making a chicken by hand and giving it to someone functions as a hug and a tangible way to say, “I care about you.” He reports that the pattern has sold in 76 countries, is available in seven languages, and that kits and patterns together have sold roughly 200,000 units. Facebook groups dedicated to the chickens have tens of thousands of members, and Bruce estimates there are more than a million chickens worldwide. Annette adds that the product accelerated around the time of the last election and is used in children’s hospitals, psychiatrists’ offices, and by women who have had mastectomies. People have made chickens for domestic-violence fundraising galas, for children practicing public speaking, and for students who need support. Her niece, a teacher, gives out smaller “chicken juniors.” The conclusion is that a small, funny product can carry comfort, care, and practical emotional support far beyond its original retail purpose.

Annette argues that online interaction cannot replace a physical space where people create, learn, and connect. She points to the importance of community and relationships in discussions of Blue Zones and says that learning someone’s name communicates, “I see you.” This matters especially in Los Angeles, which she says can be difficult for people who want to form connections. The store holds potlucks twice a week, where people share food, inspiration, and life experiences. The shop has witnessed customers dealing with illness and death, having babies, and marking other major milestones. One customer whose mother died said The Knitting Tree had meant so much that the family mentioned it in the memorial materials. Annette clarifies that people are not literally having babies in the store; rather, the shop reflects the full range of life. Bruce connects this experience to research on loneliness and isolation. He says medical science now treats loneliness as a serious physical risk and compares its danger to smoking. Before social media, people repeatedly encountered one another at places such as local markets, where acquaintances could gradually become friends. The store’s role is to restore that repeated, personal contact and give people a place where they can be heard and make a friend. Annette’s Newsweek opinion piece about the loneliness epidemic had recently addressed the same point.

Bruce says scaling The Knitting Tree requires caring about people, staying true to the original impulse, and continuing the practices that created the business. The store began by enlarging Annette’s kitchen-table gatherings locally; its next step is an online school platform launched in August. More than 200 people from over six countries had joined by the time of the interview. The online platform is designed to echo the store rather than simply distribute video lessons. It includes a private group for conversation, Annette’s library of video tutorials, and live help for members who encounter knitting problems. The Blairs welcome new members, ask them to introduce themselves, and encourage connections such as discovering that two members live in the same town and could meet in person. Bruce says the company must continue looking for the “spark” in each person and celebrating small successes. He illustrates the value of one-to-one attention with a story about Barack Obama supposedly hand-writing responses to people who contacted him before going to bed, even while president. The point is not to imitate a specific presidential practice but to preserve meaningful individual connection as the audience grows. Annette directs listeners to theknittingtreela.com for in-person classes, the online school, and contact information. The store is about eight minutes from LAX. Bruce then announces that the U.S. Chamber of Commerce selected The Knitting Tree for its 2026 Top 100 Small Businesses in America, placing it in the “global stars” category because of its international impact. They were preparing to attend the awards banquet in Washington, D.C.