June 25, 2024 —
Michelle Bartlett in the Old Forge gift shop. Photo by Michelle Bartlett.
Michelle Bartlett is an Alabama native, far from the town of Old Forge she now calls home. “I’m not from the Adirondacks, but I got here as soon as I could,” she says.
Bartlett loves the Adirondack Mountains, and his face lights up when he talks about the region.
“It’s always great,” Bartlett said. “I’ve seen it rain, I’ve seen it snow, but I’ve never seen it bad. It’s always great in the Adirondacks.”
Bartlett worked in digital marketing and social media in the South, and when he moved to the Adirondacks about 10 years ago, he felt like business here was outdated.
“They’re not using social media the way they should,” Barrett said. “I don’t think they realize how much money they’re missing out on.”
So Bartlett started a Facebook page she called “Life in the ADK” to document the neighborhood she’d come to know.
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She now has more than 100,000 followers across Facebook, Instagram and TikTok, where she posts photos of sunsets and videos of her driving through Adirondack Mountain towns and stopping off at local businesses.
In one video, they are shown stopping at Donnelly’s Ice Cream in Saranac Lake, with Barrett telling viewers, “You can’t go to Saranac Lake without stopping at Donnelly’s, at least if you’re going with my husband.”
Her comments have been inundated with people reminiscing about their trips to the Adirondacks and looking forward to their next visit.
Social media proved so successful that she launched an online store in 2016 and opened a brick-and-mortar location in Old Forge two years later. Gift shops like hers can be a tough business, with tourism in the Adirondacks being seasonal, but Bartlett said it hasn’t been hard for her, and she credits that to social media.
“In peak tourist season, we do,” she explains, “but in the off-season we have an online store so we can make money.”
Bartlett said she loves running the gift shop because it allows her to meet people from all over and bond over a place they all love, many of whom follow her on social media.
One of Bartlett’s Facebook posts greets her followers with “Good morning from Moose River Road.” Photo by Michelle Bartlett
But that’s not her passion, she says. Her passion is “helping other small businesses have their best season every year, no matter what challenges Mother Nature brings.” “And that’s where the app comes in.”
The app is called “Life in the ADK” and is like a travel guidebook for the 21st century.
Bartlett started the blog at the request of her followers, and over the years she’s been constantly asked for advice on what to do, what to eat, where to stay in towns across the Adirondacks.
Barlett wanted to have all that information in one place. She pulled up the app on her phone. Each town had its own page, listing places to eat, stay, and shop, as well as local hikes and activities.
But that’s not all. “Where should I take my dog if he gets sick? Where should I take my car if it breaks down? Where is the laundromat in that town? Where is the bank in that town? Where is the church in that town? What events are going on?”
Bartlett paid for the app to be developed and released it in March, and it’s now averaging about 125 downloads a day.
She’s getting all the businesses in her town on the app so everyone can get one free ad. She says there’s no point in making an app just for herself when everyone can benefit.
“Living in the Adirondack Mountains isn’t easy, especially year-round,” Bartlett explains, “and to me, this app is just another way to make life as easy as possible for those of us who live there year-round.”
Bartlett says her app is like a chamber of commerce for the entire park, and her goal is to “make sure every business in the Adirondacks thrives as much as possible.”
Now her job involves driving around the park, informing business owners about the app and shooting content for social media.
