Alright – so today we’ve got the honor of introducing you to Emilie Stephens. We think you’ll enjoy our conversation, we’ve shared it below.

Hi Emilie, thanks for joining us today. We’d love to hear your thoughts about family businesses.

I never thought I would own a business. I was finishing up my Dietetics degree, when my mother (who was dying from cancer) asked me to take over her antique & gift boutique. She opened the store in 2001 with the help of my Grammy, and I have been running her store—with a few changes, ever since. My Grammy still works in my store one day a week, and is the glue of our operation.

I definitely have a soft spot for family run businesses. I love the traditions that carry on from the beginning, but I also love to see new ideas and growth that come with each generation. It’s the balance of the both that help keep family businesses moving forward.

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

Owning a business was never part of my plans. I was finishing up my last semester of college, and my mother became sick with cancer. One month before graduating, she asked me to take over her home decor and gift boutique called Annie-Em’s Antiques & Gifts. I accepted, and she passed three months later. I didn’t have a clue what I was doing, I knew nothing about running a business. My degree is in Dietetics, so I was very far from the business world. My parents were also in the middle of renovating a historic building, and they were planning on expanding Annie-Em’s into a bigger space. Not only, was I trying to figure out how to run a retail store, but finishing up the design of building, finding displays, lighting for this new space, etc.

Three month after my mom’s passing, we moved into that building. We were really tight on the construction finishing up and I was determined to get open, and we literally moved in, set up, and were open for a ribbon cutting in 24 hours. It was crazy. My mother had originally named her store after me (Emilie) and my sister (Annie). Once we were in our new space, I knew I could no longer keep up with hunting for antiques, so I changed our name to Annie-Em’s at Home, got rid of the antique side of our business. I dove head first into figuring out how to manage inventory, and buy merchandise. As time went on, I really tapped into my creative side, and all of the hard work I was putting in started to become fun. I found I really enjoyed what I was doing, and that was a huge surprise.

Fast forward to today, ten years from where I started, and twenty years since the store has been opened. My mom’s vision of a little antique and gift shop has turned into my own version of her original dream. She started out selling antique dishes, furniture, tea, chocolates, and little treasures she and my Grammy would find at estate sales and auctions. Although we have since dissolved the antique side of the shop, some of her original ideas are still present in the shop today. It has evolved in the last ten years, into a mix of home decor, candles, gifts, and unique things. We carry gourmet food products, cookbooks, chocolates, seasonal items, and baby and children’s things. It’s a mix of all of the things that I love and appreciate in life, and it is constantly evolving and changing.

There are a couple of things that set us apart, and one of them is our commitment to customer service. It is the foundation of our business, and the first thing that I tell new employees when I start their training. This is one of the traditions that started with my mother and has stayed apart of our business model all these years. Whether it’s offering complimentary gift wrap, or running an item out to someone’s car in the rain, we take pride in how we treat our customers.

Can you share a story from your journey that illustrates your resilience?

Owning a business is not for the faint of heart. You have a to do list that is never finished, you are constantly juggling more than one role-janitor, bookkeeper, creative director, hiring/firing employees, and the list goes on. Being resilient I think is the key to the equation that makes this entire thing work.

I know from my own experience being stubborn is why I am still in business today. I had so many people tell me that I wasn’t cut out to be a business owner, and that I would never make it, and the more I heard those comments, the harder I worked. I was and still am determined to be a success. That keeps me going.

We’d love to hear the story of how you built up your social media audience?

I think there are two things that have really impacted our growth. Those things are word of mouth and social media. The consistent customer service that I have mentioned before, combined with offering unique products is our driving force. As word spreads, our customer base grows. It definitely takes time, but it is has a huge influence on our business.

The other is social media. I can’t tell you how many times someone has come in my shop because of something I’ve posted on social media. It doesn’t matter how many likes the photo gets or how many comments, most of the time the people that are coming into shop aren’t the ones liking or commenting on the actual post. I used to beat myself up about not getting certain number of likes, but I realized that sales are what matter, not necessarily the post’s engagement.

Contact Info:

• Website: Currently being built
• Instagram: annemhome
• Facebook: www.facebook.com/Annie-Ems at Home

Image Credits
Shannon Duggan Photography