We recently connected with Amelia Houde and have shared our conversation below.

Amelia, thanks for joining us, excited to have you contributing your stories and insights. We’d love to have you retell us the story behind how you came up with the idea for your business, I think our audience would really enjoy hearing the backstory.

I have always loved gift giving and shopping and finding unique items the typical big box stores do not carry. Whenever I travel I always make it a point to visit the local coffee shop and check out the downtown area for small boutique shops to see what they have to offer. I’ve always loved these stores and dreamed of having my own some day. My small town of Onset, MA which is actually a small village within the town of Wareham, MA has a great downtown area up the street from Onset Beach however it lacks gift shops. It has restaurants, ice cream shops, a post office, laundromat, pottery painting, barber shop, etc. and is a great area to walk around but only has one retail shop. That’s unheard of in a beach town that draws tourists. I want to make a difference in my town and Tide and True is it. A big part of my store is showcasing local brands and artists. I have over 55 artists and local vendors that I purchase products from. I host pop-up events with my vendors and fundraisers throughout the year to bring people to the shop year round and not just during prime tourist season. I have designed stickers that $1.00 of every one purchased is donated to the local associated that puts on the community events in the area. I love giving back when I can. The inspiration for the name is that I want Tide and True to be people’s tried and true shop for finding unique gifts and items for themselves and of course it had to have a beachy feel to it so Tide came into play.

Amelia, 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?

My name is Amelia Houde. I am a mother of two boys and a golden doodle named Bogey. Jude just turned 3 and Hunter who is 18 months. They keep me very busy! My husband Tim is a firefighter. We’ve been married for 5 years now. I opened Tide and True in June 2024 which may seem crazy to take on a new business while in a very busy time of life with babies/toddlers but the stars aligned and it was the right time to make the transition. I worked in marketing for 8 1/2 years and was ready to work for myself. My small town only had one gift shop which is unheard of in a beach town that nearly doubles in population in the summer. There was an opportunity to rent a retail space and I jumped on it. From January – April I worked my day job, came home and did dinner and bedtime with my boys and then worked late into the night to get everything going for Tide and True. My husband and my mom were a huge help every step of the way. By May I had left my full time job and switched gears to full shop mode. I opened the doors June 15th 2024 and the outpour of support from the community has been so great. I am offering a range of gifts, jewelry, home decor, sweaters, stationary, local art and more. The products I offer I purchase from local artists, brands and sales reps. I try to find unique items my customers haven’t seen before or have them customized to say Onset, Wareham, Buzzards Bay, the local beach names. I use social media a lot to share what’s new in the store. People have been very responsive and come in because of the posts they see. Not only do I own a shop in my community but I live there too. My commute is a mile and a half! It’s fantastic! But what I like to point out is that I’m not just some outsider or a big company coming to make money off of a beach town. I care, I live there too. I custom order things for customers, I gift wrap, run fundraisers, I give as much as I can. I like to get involved. I am notoriously “busy”.

What’s been the best source of new clients for you?

As a brand new business I rely on social media a lot. It’s a great way to share your offerings and information at zero cost. When I first created my business page on Facebook and Instagram of course it was a lot of family and friends but I had asked them to share and invite their friends and family to my page. I was able to share the pages on local town and business groups. I often tell customers to follow me when they are in the store to stay up to date on events, pop-ups, and new products. I’ve done giveaways with other local companies to help gain followers outside of my bubble too. I’ve had quite a few people 20+ minutes away come in because they saw me on social media. It’s so fun to hear that!

Additionally, I joined a local chamber of commerce and created ads for my local community newspaper. I have had a lot of customers come in and mention my ads in the paper which has been so great to hear. When you pay for ads you don’t always know if they are going to be worth the investment but for me, it has.

Of course, word of mouth is a BIG contribution to people coming through the door. You can post and pay for ads left and right but if your friend recommends a place it is priceless!

Can you open up about how you funded your business?

When it came to funding my business I did look at small business loans however the terms were unfavorable. The payback time was pretty short, the monthly payment was high, and the interest rate was high. With no idea how the business would turn out, what our monthly sales were going to be it was hard to wrap my head around what I could afford to pay on a loan payment. Fortunately, we purchased our house in March 2020 with a low interest rate and renovated almost every room in our house ourselves, I told you we are always busy! (Thankfully my husband is very handy!) We refinanced after a lot of the renovations were done and the market was changing so we had equity in our home. When we were looking at options for funding Tide and True we did consider the small business loan but ultimately took a home equity loan. It was the better move for us and I am thankful that we had it as an option.

Contact Info:

• Website: https://www.tideandtrueonset.com
• Instagram: https://instagram.com/tideandtrueonset
• Facebook: https://Facebook.com/tideandtrueonset