We’re excited to introduce you to the always interesting and insightful Meredith Waguespack. We hope you’ll enjoy our conversation with Meredith below.

Hi Meredith, thanks for joining us today. Being a business owner can be really hard sometimes. It’s rewarding, but most business owners we’ve spoken sometimes think about what it would have been like to have had a regular job instead. Have you ever wondered that yourself? Maybe you can talk to us about a time when you felt this way?

I absolutely love being an owner of a small local business. It’s been so rewarding to see what thirteen years of hard work can look like for yourself versus for someone else. I get to have full control over the tone and vibe I want my company to look and feel like. From the financial to personal success, I have seen how owning my business helps me and reminds me why I began this journey to begin with. When there are hard times, I have had slight personal doubt to just walk away but when you really love something and want to do it all the time, it’s really hard to do that. Owning a business has it’s challenges but nothing is better than seeing your fruits of your labor.

Meredith, 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?

Hi! I’m Meredith Waguespack, CEO and founder of Sweet Baton Rouge®.

In 1999, I moved to Baton Rouge from my small hometown of Athens, Louisiana in the hopes of making my mark on the Capital City. Moving to Baton Rouge was the most exciting and scariest time in my life. Low on confidence in myself and my academic skills, I withdrew from college and focused on building up my work experience and later encouraged myself to go back to school.

I returned to Southeastern University in 2003 to pursue my marketing degree. I balanced being a full-time student and a full-time store manager, and I was 26 when I graduated in three and a half years.

I truly believe that you’re never too old to go to school and follow your dreams. Sure, I struggled along the way, but I worked very hard to make my dreams a reality.

I started Sweet Baton Rouge® in 2010 when I had a vision to create a t-shirt brand that focused on my passion for LSU game days. Of course, I landed on the name after listening to “Callin’ Baton Rouge” over and over again.

This business is a way for me to support all things local. Whether it be donating to businesses and philanthropies or creating Louisiana-themed T-shirts, I’m all about doing anything I can to celebrate the state that I call home.

I am most proud of being a small-town girl and moving to Baton Rouge, Louisiana and legacy I’m creating through Sweet Baton Rouge®. Having the opportunity to donate over $85,000 to the Baton Rouge Food Bank in honor of the Cajun Navy or the charitable we have been able to contribute too through our Geaux Pink partnership with Mary Bird Perkins Center to Thrive Foundation school supplies drive. These opportunities to use our platform to give back in just incredible when I think about what this business has been able to do.

Sweet Baton Rouge® makes unique Louisiana lifestyle t-shirts and accessories that are locally designed and printed with comfort and quality in mind. We like to keep our customers top of mind when creating our products through analytics to surveys that help us learn more about our customers enjoyment from our products.

Let’s talk about resilience next – do you have a story you can share with us?

My journey reflects incredible resilience and determination. Moving from struggling with academic challenges to earning a degree in Marketing and the journey I’ve taken to build resilience. It demonstrates my commitment to personal growth and overcoming obstacles.

Academic challenges has always been my story along with a less-than-stellar ACT scores that barely scratched the surface and finding myself in the middle ranks of a small class, I began my college journey. Little did I know that this humble beginning would become a testament to resilience and unwavering determination.

Life took an unexpected turn when circumstances led me to Baton Rouge after two failed attempts at college. I became a dental assistant. While I found fulfillment in the role, a desire for more that was challenging me. At the age of 23, armed with determination to try college for a third time, I took a bold step. I applied to Southeastern University, determined to get a college degree.

In 2005, I walked across the stage at age 25 years old, a testament to myself of resilience that fueled my journey. My diploma in Marketing wasn’t just a piece of paper; it represented the determination it took to get me there.

Can you talk to us about how your funded your business?

Embarking on opening my t-shirt business and journey with just $500 and a vision, I navigated the challenges of starting a t-shirt business while juggling family responsibilities. Through careful planning, sustainable practices, and a commitment to growth helped my business flourish without taking on substantial loans. In the early days, I approached my husband with a small request for a $500 to help me start my business. This small invest was was used to purchase basic materials, file necessary paperwork, and open my business account. Starting with minimal funds allowed me to test the waters one design at a time or idea.

With an eighteen-month-old toddler and two teenagers, the first five years were a period of careful testing. I tested various designs and products to understand customer preferences. Managing cash flow was paramount during this phase, and I learned to reinvest profits wisely into inventory and marketing efforts.

I never took out a loan beyond the initial $500 borrowed. This was a conscious choice. Instead of relying on external funding, I let the business’s revenue fund its growth.

Contact Info:

• Website: https://www.sweetbatonrouge.com/
• Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/sweetbatonrouge/
• Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/sweetbatonrouge
• Linkedin: https://www.linkedin.com/in/meredithwaguespack/

Image Credits
https://www.instagram.com/meadowlark.photo/ 4-5 photos attached https://www.instagram.com/shot.pros/ [one photo titled Ultimate Tailgate]