By Jennifer Farnsworth
Starting a business comes with a set of challenges for anyone. Starting a business after moving across the globe takes someone who has to be truly committed. Among those people are Judith Ann Connolly, a self-described transplant from the United Kingdom whose unique personality can be found in an eclectic collection at the Burnt Hills antique shop she both owns and manages.
Connolly opened the Northumbrian Cottage, 813 Saratoga Road, last summer after spending 37 years as an educator in the U.K., specifically as a secondary school principal. Connolly met her husband, Tim, in Dubai. After retiring, she moved to Schenectady. She said she didn’t really know anyone when she first came to the U.S.
She decided to take up painting. It was that decision that led her to becoming an entrepreneur.
“I did not know a single soul when I came here but decided to have watercolor lessons and chose Mary Francis Millet as my teacher. The relationship blossomed. Mary actually came to my wedding in the U.K., and she introduced me to a wide network of artists and artisans,” said Connolly.