We were lucky to catch up with Gina Garrett recently and have shared our conversation below.

Gina, thanks for joining us, excited to have you contributing your stories and insights. Almost all entrepreneurs have had to decide whether to start now or later? There are always pros and cons for waiting and so we’d love to hear what you think about your decision in retrospect. If you could go back in time, would you have started your business sooner, later or at the exact time you started?

I was 25 years old when I opened Sweet Pineapple. I was married, just completed my Masters in Information Systems, and fresh off an internship with an IT company. I was lost. I knew I didn’t want to work at a job where I was miserable 9-5 and living only for the weekends. One night I had dinner with a precious friend who encouraged me to explore opening a store. I discussed it with my husband and we agreed to take the leap. There’s a fearlessness and naiveté about that point in my life that made it the perfect time to open a business. I didn’t have a family to manage. I wasn’t walking away from a fulfilling career. I had the freedom of a supportive spouse with a steady job. I was blissfully unaware of the amount of work it would take to be successful. It was the perfect time.

As always, we appreciate you sharing your insights and we’ve got a few more questions for you, but before we get to all of that can you take a minute to introduce yourself and give our readers some of your back background and context?

I’m Gina and I am the owner and founder of Sweet Pineapple, a gift shop in Huntsville, Alabama. We specialize in lovely gift items and sweet southern hospitality. We’ll celebrate our 10th birthday this year and the business has truly grown and evolved into something I never could have dreamed or imagined. I opened the store in hopes of enjoying life past the weekends, flexibility for a future family, and the ability to work hard for myself. Generosity is at the heart of our business and we’ve been able to partner with many nonprofit organizations doing powerful work in our community. I believe evolution is one of the most important parts of business, and I cannot wait to see how Sweet Pineapple will grow and change in the next 10 years!

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

The first thing that comes to mind when I think of our social media strategy over the years is “protect the customer”. I value the space our business occupies in our customers’ feeds and inboxes. We put a lot of thought into what we share, how we share it, and do our best to respect our customer’s time and energy. Over the years I’ve passed on partnerships, complicated giveaways, and opportunities that I don’t feel best serve our audience. My biggest advice would be to show up consistently (and authentically!) to earn true, long term followers and resist the temptation to get quick numbers of customers that aren’t the best fit for your business.

What do you think helped you build your reputation within your market?

Honesty, kindness and respect are what I hope are at the core of our reputation among our peers, vendors and customers. I try to be honest about our mistakes and correct them quickly- even when they are costly! Most people don’t expect perfection, but correcting a mistake with kindness can go a long way in building trust. Truly, I think kindness can go further in any relationship than anything else. When we first began our business, I still remember vendors who took extra time and energy to explain industry standards, expectations, and show us kindness when we had no idea what we were doing. I try to incorporate that same spirit of going the extra mile into our business today.

Contact Info:

• Website: https://www.shopsweetpineapple.com/
• Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/shopsweetpineapple/?hl=en
• Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/sweetpineapplehome/

Image Credits
Meghan Medlen (headshot only)