We caught up with the brilliant and insightful Angela Holman a few weeks ago and have shared our conversation below.

Alright, Angela thanks for taking the time to share your stories and insights with us today. When did you first know you wanted to pursue a creative/artistic path professionally?

The first time I knew I wanted to pursue a creative/artistic path professionally was when I was in kindergarten. A little collage I made called “Mouse” won an honorable mention at a school art show. I had absolutely no idea what an “Honorable Mention” was but I knew there was a little ribbon by my artwork. I always enjoyed coloring, cutting, and crafting as a child (and honestly still do!) Though I did not pursue art or even take art classes in high school, I knew in my heart I wanted a creative career. I began my college career majoring in Fashion Merchandising and after getting a summer job at a wallpaper store I quickly fell in love with Interior Design. I changed my major three years into my Fashion Merchandising courses! At my college, Interior Design was an Art degree and Fashion Merchandising was a Home and Consumer Science degree. I was quickly thrown into a different department and was able to take courses like Fiber Arts (yes! I even took a basket weaving course: though not underwater.), drawing, photography, art history, watercolor, & woodshop. It was like being a kid in a candy shop.

Great, appreciate you sharing that with us. Before we ask you to share more of your insights, can you take a moment to introduce yourself and how you got to where you are today to our readers.

Getting to where I am now has been a long and winding road for sure! I graduated from college with my Bachelor of Fine Arts and the day I graduated and moved home, my college boyfriend broke up with me. So, I was back home, single, living in my childhood bedroom… and an Interior Design job in a small Mississippi Delta town was not easy to come by. (This was before social media and we just didn’t have ways of reaching people like we do now.) So, I took a job at an appliance store. This appliance store DID design kitchens but my job was to answer the phone. I knew nothing about appliances so I wasn’t even a good salesperson. The best thing about getting thrust back into hometown life: I met my husband, Aubrey, just six weeks after moving back home. We did not go on our first date until about four months later but quickly became inseperable after that first date. We were engaged six months after our first date and married two years after that. (This year we will celebrate our 25th year of marriage)
Shortly after we married, my Mom was diagnosed with Cancer. Not, wanting to leave her, we spent the next five years soaking up as much time as we could with her. In the meantime, the Appliance Store had gone out of business and I spent years fledgling. I took a couple of years off of work to spend time with my Mom but always had an artistic side hustle going. I painted personlaized Christmas ornaments and had a line a pottery at one time. I had highs and lows but never quite found my niche. After my Mom passed away, I worked several years in a restaurant. I always felt tired and greasy and uninspired. I started making collages from old magazines as a way to express myself creatively. I opened an Etsy shop but the demand for collages wasn’t great. I worked at the restuarant for five years and one day after a disagreement with my boss, I quit. That was the first job I’d ever quit on the spot without notice! I went home and cried because I needed income and I did not know what to do.
From my experience on Etsy, I got interested in selling vintage items and my Etsy shop for vintage goods sold (what I thought) was a lot of stuff. But, it still just did not bring in a big income. From there, I got a booth at a new vendor mall in our city. (I met the man who owned the vendor mall while standing in line with a wagon full of boxes from my Etsy shop at the post office) Shortly after opening my booth, the owners offered me a job and a few months after that, they made me the manager. I worked for them for years and learned so much while under their wings. They took me to market with them, I learned about wholesale. I learned how to manage groups of people, how to make displays… they really loved and encouraged my creativity. In the meantime, I’d shut down my vintage booth (I’d circled back around after attending market so many times) and opened a small clothing booth in that same vendor mall. In the meantime, my bosses sold the business and retired. We suddenly had a new boss and a whole new dynamic. That year after doing our income taxes, we realized my little booth was bringing in more income per month than my actual job. So, I secretly started saving. A year and a half after getting a new boss, I left that vendor mall I’d loved so much and opened my very own shop!
At our shop, our main goal is to be friendly and welcoming. We want everyone to feel welcomed and like they belong. We are down to earth and want our customers to have a positive experience in our shop. Secondly, we want to offer gifts, clothing, and jewelry that you wouldn’t see anywhere else in town. I try hard to buy from vendors who are not represented in our area. I also try to buy one of a kind, vintage, and handmade items for our shop. We have a line of candles made in vintage vessels so we never get two that are alike! My husband and I are both artists (with very different styles) so we are able to provide original art to our customers. My husband’s latest watercolor hummingbird series has been a HUGE success! …and tariffs, no problem when we are able to source locally and make things oursleves! We have also been able to work with a Southern printing company to produce products with our artwork on them.
What sets us apart from others: we truly are a small business! Most days, its just me: ringing up customers, doing paperwork, ordering, wrapping gifts, doing the social media, stocking the shop and the website. My husband, Aubrey, is a full time artist and musician so he is usually just a text away if things get too hectic… AND he is always by my side during the Christmas busy season as well as our niece, Mckenzie. We are not just the faces behind the shop, we are there every single day, working. We know our customers because they are our friends and neighbors.
A new service we started this year is teaching art classes! With a push of a few displays, we can make room to host up to twelve students to come and paint with us in the evenings. ..and this is not your average “Paint & Sip” where you are going to go home with a painting of a rooster or a cow. We are teaching abstract art, color theory, perspective…. we want students to come and have a great time but more importantly: we want to light a creative spark in them!! Painting is one of my greatest joys in life and I want to share that gift with others.
The thing I’m most proud of is the community we’ve built online and in person! We have the most loyal and supportive customers and we literally owe everything to them. I know that they are the reason we can continue to do this each day. They pulled us through the hard times like the pandemic and continue to love, support, and encourage us! If we want to show them what we are cooking for dinner on our Facebook page, they watch. If we offer an art class, they come. If we host a pop up shop, they support it. They are incredible and we are thriving in a small, economically challenged area because of them.

Can you tell us about a time you’ve had to pivot?

During the pandemic we had to completely pivot in the way we were doing business. We were shut down for two weeks and we built our website up and offered local delivery. We were out every single day delivering! We came up with a “Thank a Healthcare Worker” promo… we partnered with other stores and encouraged residents to buy small gifts or gift cards to show appreciation for them. We were up here behind closed doors every day wrapping gifts and handing them out our door or delivering them. We built and old fashioned “window shopping” experience. We literally put everything in our big windows and put the prices on the windows. We let customers come see the new arrivals and point out what they wanted. We offered DIY chime building kits, puzzles, grow kits for growing flowers, board games… a complete pivot from our normal inventory.

For you, what’s the most rewarding aspect of being a creative?

The most rewarding aspect of being an artist is the pure joy it brings me. There is nothing like opening a fresh canvas: the possibilities!! I love putting new color combinations together and new patterns together. I love to learn and I am constantly watching YouTube, listening to podcasts, or reading books about art. I like the freedom of being able to create whatever comes into my mind! But, I have to say my favorite part is the problem solving. There is absolutely nothing like getting in that “ugly stage” of your painting and having to work your way back out of it again.

Contact Info:

• Website: https://www.shopemerylee.com
• Instagram: angelaholmanart , emeryleeboutique, aubreyholmanart
• Facebook: Emery Lee Boutique Facebook Group

Image Credits

Angela Holman