We recently connected with Heather McCarty and have shared our conversation below.

Alright, Heather thanks for taking the time to share your stories and insights with us today. Crazy stuff happening is almost as certain as death and taxes – it’s technically “unexpected” but something unexpected happening is to be expected and so can you share a crazy story with our readers

It’s no secret consumers love to shop with people they like, know and trust. I have built my business on sharing my authentic self with my followers/customers on social media. They get a first hand look in to my personal life. They see my face, they know about my family, my hobbies. That vulnerability has benefited my business in more ways than one. But it doesn’t always come without consequence. Over the last 6 months I have received a few anonymous packages at the shop. The packages are addressed to me personally and contain items that are meant to ruffle my feathers. This person has sent me Invisalign, I assume to poke fun at my imperfect smile. In another package I found a girdle. I guess they missed the memo that I am a mom of three and my stomach no longer has the shape it once did. The very first package contained chocolate in the shape of male anatomy (I’ll let your imagination run wild here).I won’t go in to details about the note they sent along side it but it was highly inappropriate. Someone is using my business mailbox as a way to bully me. Perhaps they don’t like the version of me I put out in to the universe. Crazy to think someone would go to such extremes. Every time I check the mailbox I fear another package is waiting for me. While I am aware of my imperfections, it’s emotionally challenging when someone is throwing them in your face. I try to make light hearted jokes when the items arrive, not let it get to me. I just want to be able to be me, run a successful business and provide for my family and vendors.

Heather , love having you share your insights with us. Before we ask you more questions, maybe you can take a moment to introduce yourself to our readers who might have missed our earlier conversations?

As a young mom, struggling to afford child care and my recently due student loans, I began painting furniture in my garage for profit. After an unexpected loss in our family the opportunity presented itself for me to sell my furniture in my very own brick-and-mortar, The Porch Swing Boutique. Over the last 7 years the business has grown in to two locations and we focus on helping our customer’s affordably style not only their homes but their wardrobes too! We specialize in unique home decor, furniture, boutique clothing, Kansas City wares, gifts and so much more! Both locations are made up of extremely talented vendors and they are the ones who create the charming displays and bring the magic. Our boutiques are nestled in the quaintest of small towns but are winning big awards. The Porch Swing has been nominated as the best place to shop home goods by Kansas City Magazine and The Pitch KC.

Any insights you can share with us about how you built up your social media presence?

Persistence, Authenticity,Creativity,Identifying your target market, budgeting and working alongside your team. This is how The Porch Swing grew their social media following to over 60k followers and we are still growing!

Building your social media followers requires your to know your target market. You need to know what they like, what they need. It becomes easier to capture their attention with your content when they are seeing their wants and needs right in front of them!

Consumers want to spend their hard earned money with people they trust. Staying true to yourself and your brand represents genuineness and sincerity. Your customers crave that from you.

Persistence. You have to stay relevant in your content creation. If you are not creating new content you better believe your competition will be. If you are not consistently posting you become irrelevant to your customers. We don’t want them to forget about you!

Have a budget for creating ads and utilize your team for engagement and creativity. Your team should be helping push that new content out in to the world of social media! A domino effect! Help get more eyes on your business.

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

I think a global pandemic probably tested everyone’s resilience in one way or another. As a small business owner, it was a fearful time. At no fault of our own, we were forced to shutter our doors for almost 2 months. How would I cover my overhead? How would I provide for the vendors/employees that relied on my doors being open? How would I cover my personal bills and provide for my family? Would I ever get to reopen? Would I lose my dream? Would all the blood sweat and tears it took to get this far be for nothing?

I pride myself on building an incredibly powerful team of vendors around me. Again, they are the magic. We were able to take our storefront online in less than a week. They switched gears and stepped up the marketing. It was a huge pivot but it was our saving grace. We were able to make it through the pandemic together alongside our amazing customers. While I never dreamed of an online presence because I love the how cozy and personable our shop is, sometimes you must step out of your comfort zone to overcome adversity.

Contact Info:

• Website: https://www.facebook.com/Greenwoodporchswing
• Instagram: the_porchswing
• Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/porchswingbonnersprings
• Other: TikTok. @the_porchswing

Image Credits
self