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

Sally, looking forward to hearing all of your stories today. How do you think about vacations as a business owner? Do you take them and if so, how? If you don’t, why not?

Traveling is one of my greatest loves. It has been from the time I was a small child. Every summer my family would take huge road trips. Driving from our small town in the Southwest Missouri to destinations all throughout Canada.

I love seeing and experiencing new places and meeting people whom I never would have known had I stayed home.

. I have incorporated travel into my business as we go to festivals all over the country to meet and expand our clientele.

As one of my friend’s says the “earth is my turf.”

Sally, before we move on to more of these sorts of questions, can you take some time to bring our readers up to speed on you and what you do?

I grew up in a town of 1500 people in Missouri. I headed out as soon as I graduated high school for adventure and life in the big city.

My travels took me to Boston, New Orleans, and New York City where I settled for 20 years. I love the energy and vibrancy of cities and the colorful cast of characters that comes along with living in one.

In 2016, my father died unexpectedly on Christmas Eve. I came home for his funeral and basically never left. After years in the city it just felt like time to be home and near my mom. I found a dilapidated house to remodel and live in and within a month my entire existence changed.

I went from job to job trying to find what really spoke to my soul and calling. I worked as a case manager, fast food, and then at a casino. None of those things resonated with me and I felt myself wanting to break free and create.

In July of 2020, I purchased a beautiful older home to renovate and settled in Joplin, MO. I figured I could renovate the house with my partner Ryan and through that maybe things would fall into place.

Ryan died from liver failure on January 10, 2020. We had no idea he was sick until he went in for back pain in December. Ten days after Ryan died my mom died of complications from Covid-19.

I was left devastated with a huge house and no idea what to do with myself. I began a journey of creating. I guess creating is my coping skill.

Shopping has always been another of my coping skills and in April of 2020 I began making a plan for a way to utilize my love of finding unique gifts, creating art, and doing hair into a business. My tattoo artist happened to have a store front for rent and I jumped in.

I wanted a place to highlight my love of travel, one of a kind art, and all things colorful. Auntie Sal’s Emporium is the result.

Our store is bright and bold, filled with laughter and healing. With help of by business partner Marissa Bonilla and her four year old Charlotte, who is really in charge we have made a place to not only find beautiful gifts, but to express ourselves and share pieces of magic with the community.

We feature handmade items from local friends as well our friends located all over the country. We bring items to Joplin that one doesn’t normally find around here. Our store features crafts from Mexico, Brazil, and all across the U.S.. Marissa and I love to go and look for unique items and meet and form relationships with the creators.

We both are strong advocates for the LGBTQ community and offer Pride items year around. Our salon is listed on Strands for Trans as a safe space for individuals to come for gender affirming styles. It has been amazing to take part in peoples journeys to becoming the most authentic versions of themselves.

Our store is a place of belonging and bridging the gaps between people you may not always think would be a friend at first glance.

How’d you meet your business partner?

When I moved back to my hometown I had some trouble finding a job that really meshed with me. I one point I found myself working at my hometown Dairy Queen.

Dairy Queen is where I met Marissa. She was a 16 year old high school student. Marissa is bright and colorful yet dark and serious. There was something about her that just really spoke to me. She showed up everyday no matter was going on in her life and worked hard. She complained a lot, like many a teen, however she always did her job.

My path took me other places as did Marissa. I always kept her in my mind though and thought if I ever opened a business I would want her on my team.

A few years went by, Marissa had her daughter, Charlotte and managed the gun bar at a local farm store. I was amazed at how a young girl who dressed in black everyday with split died hair could be dealing with not just customers; but those who were so far a field from her.

It solidified to me that she really knew how to reach out of her comfort zone and work with people. When I was planning my shop I reached out to her. It just so happened to be as she was planning to leave her employment and try something new.

She was working found a job in the clothing department at Target, which lasted only a few weeks as she made the decision to come work with me.

Have any books or other resources had a big impact on you?

I am a lover of podcasts and one of my favorites is “How I Built This.” It features stories of entrepreneurs and how their companies were started.

The stories are so inspiring and helps me to keep pushing forward.

I also really enjoy Master Classes, there are so many great lessons featured from marketing to style.

“Becoming a Virgin” by Sir Richard Branson is also one of my favorites. It’s been years since I read it, however, the story of just going for it has always stayed in the back of my mind.

Contact Info:

• Website: Www.auntiesals.com
• Instagram: @auntiesals
• Facebook: @auntiesalsemporium
• Yelp: Auntiesals
• Other: TikTok @auntiesals