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

Ellen, thanks for joining us, excited to have you contributing your stories and insights. So, what do you think about family businesses? Would you want your children or other family members to one day join your business?

I love family businesses and legacies. I believe family businesses provide a unique experience to consumers through their dedication, friendliness and warmth unlike big corporations. Being a second generation business owner with a family business, it can be difficult to set clear boundaries with family when you work together. One of the few pitfalls with a family business is creating intentional time to spend with your family outside of work and limiting conversations about work. You can become lost in focusing on business conversations and miss time with others, especially holidays, when running your own business.

I have grown up around family businesses and have seen many family businesses proceed to third generations as well as close due to lack of interest by family to carry on. It is difficult to continue a family business if you are unable to find your identity, passion, and self in what you are doing and make it your own. While I would enjoy nothing more than to have my nieces join the family business, I can understand how limiting it may feel to them to follow without trying to explore their interests first.

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.

Qideas is a 20+ year old legacy business located in Asia on Argyle in Chicago’s historic Uptown neighborhood. As the first plant shop in Uptown, our shop is one of the oldest in the city to specialize in tropical plants and herbs primarily native to South and Southeast Asia. My parents opened Qideas in order to bring the Vietnamese diaspora access towards plants and flowers that reminded them of home. It was difficult to find jasmine flowers that reminded them of tea or fresh calamansi fruit for a delicious drink.

I am a licensed professional counselor and began working with individuals struggling with anxiety, depression and substance use before I was inspired to bridge the gap between my interest in plants and mental health. That interest has led me to return back to Qideas and reimagine my identity and passion for the space and business.

During quarantine we were faced with a few difficulties that required pivoting and reevaluation towards our business model. We focused primarily on a strong online presence while also continuing to maintain our familial care and warmth for our community and customers. I am immensely proud of our brand’s ability to demonstrate warmth, care, passion and kindness to our customers. This has allowed us to remain memorable and generate returning sales.

We are excited to be expanding and sharing our space with a nonprofit and artist collective. Conversations with our customers and questions towards our own needs and wants for our community helped us hone in on what our next steps were as a retail space. We will be reimagining our retail space to be a multifunctional space with capacity to hold workshops, live music performances and showcase art and creations from local artist.

We’d love to hear a story of resilience from your journey.

My mother created Qideas in 2002 and often found herself working there 7 days a week. It was difficult as a child to grow up around a business due to the long hours and financial uncertainty at times leaving your parents stressed. I spent nearly every weekend at the shop and every holiday. It can be immensely stressful and often times you can lose yourself in the process. Unfortunately, I watched my mother not prioritize herself. She was diagnosed with Ovarian cancer and passed shortly after in 2015 at 52 years old. I inherited the business fresh out of college without a plan or thought in place. Through grief, resentment, and anger I showed up to work. For many years I was lost in trying to understand where I fit in and what my purpose was in life and in this business. Through the support of therapy and my work as a therapist, I began to explore gratitude and see my purpose in the family business. My conversations with customers and my community showed me how to embrace change and the impact of a business that cares about others.

How about pivoting – can you share the story of a time you’ve had to pivot?

When you are in business, it is important to be flexible and timely. Trends move quickly and there is a small window of opportunity to capitalize on that. It is important to connect and converse with your customers to learn what their experience is like with you and your business in order to identify trends in your area and your industry. Do not be afraid to show your personality and stand out. As a business, Qideas has pivoted and expanded our inventory to be a range of houseware, kitchenware and home goods during the winter time when plant sales are down and weather can be unpredictable. It is important to have a wide range of inventory that can attract and grow during different seasons. Building relationships through teaching and being honest helps build long lasting relationships that generate sales. Building a brand that is people focused and real is hard to articulate. But once you figure your niche market, strong established relationships are the best type of advertisement.

Contact Info:

• Instagram: qideaschicago
• Facebook: Facebook.com/qideaschicago
• Yelp: https://www.yelp.com/biz_photos/qideas-chicago-2?select=-ZTXuKEdv5MVV7kwAOl6Qw

Image Credits
Quy Hac Tran Wesley Le