We were lucky to catch up with Shanna Dowdy recently and have shared our conversation below.

Hi Shanna, thanks for joining us today. 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.

The seed for Simplicity Fair Trade and Missional Boutique was planted in my heart a long time ago.
In 2015, I traveled to a dangerous slum in Belo Horizonte, Brazil, with my best friend Miranda to love on people that most others would simply pass by. When I stepped foot there, I should have been terrified. Drugs, murder, poverty, gangs, and filth surrounded us. But instead of fear, my heart saw God everywhere. That’s where He grabbed hold of me and filled my heart with passion.
To this day, I still travel to that same place. My most recent trip was this past May, when I met with artisans there.
Okay, I’m getting ahead of myself. That year, Miranda and I visited a market called the Hippie Fair. Yes, it’s exactly what it sounds like! The market allows people to sell their handmade items to support their families. As Miranda and I walked through, our arms filled with leather goods, colorful bags, and more açaí bracelets than I could count, I turned to her and said, “Why couldn’t we sell these things at home and raise money for the ministry?”
Of course, I came home and got right on that!
Nope!!! Didn’t happen. Life happened. Work, husband, kids, church, soccer, band and so much more. I allowed the world to put a blanket over that dream.
In 2018, while driving down Broadway in our downtown, a storefront caught my eye. I slowed down and pulled over. The front door was hot pink. No, really, so pink! How had I missed this place before? 119 E. Broadway, directly across the street from our hometown antique mall that I’d been to fifty times. Why now?
Because God wanted me to see it then. I just had no idea the journey He was about to start me on.
Start a new business? What?! I had been a hairstylist for 20 years at the same place. How could I possibly leave that?
I made an appointment to look at the building. Oh, did I mention it was for sale? It was and it was a dump. A DUMP! But I loved it. My husband Michael, on the other hand, did not. He said absolutely not.
Still, I kept being drawn back to 119 Broadway and that pink door. I honestly thought it was supposed to be my own salon. I called Miranda to pray with me over the building and to help me discern what God was saying. See, Psalm 119 is about obedience and there I was, trying to be obedient. I sat out front with my Bible, reading Psalm 119 and praying, thinking I had to buy this place no matter what.
In the meantime, another small house came up for sale that would be perfect for a boutique not a salon. That’s when the memory of the Hippie Fair came rushing back to me: selling handmade items from ministries to help families eat, to help women escape the bondage of sex trafficking, and to help children get out of forced labor and back into school where they belong.
It’s the simple gospel, feeding the hungry, caring for widows and orphans.
“Give justice to the poor and the orphan; uphold the rights of the oppressed and the destitute.”
Psalm 82:3 (NLT)
We have to celebrate the businesses and ministries that stand for the oppressed — the homeless, the hungry, the hurting, and the hopeless. For the children who have no choice but to work long hours to support their families and even worse, for those being sold because their parents can’t feed them.
In researching these businesses, I’ve learned there are worriers out there fighting for justice. They are giving people hope and a whole new way forward. The number one thing they emphasize is education for them and for us. Knowledge changes lives and generations. If we don’t know, we can’t change anything.
That’s what Simplicity is about: giving purpose behind your purchase and celebrating the companies fighting hard in this battle.
1 Peter 4:8 says, “Love covers a multitude of sins.” So, love them anyway.
It’s time we get a little uncomfortable and think about where our items and gifts are coming from. And if you can choose, and you can, don’t you want to make a difference? Of course you do!
Oh, and if you’re wondering, the ministry in Belo Horizonte, Brazil, is called Isaiah 61. It’s a school for the children of the slum where they receive an education and learn the gospel every day. They are fed in their minds, hearts, and bellies. And yes ,we sell items at Simplicity from that very Hippie Fair, helping support Isaiah 61 to this day.
We have been open since May of 2022. The first new business to open after the destruction of downtown Mayfield from an F4 tornado in 2021 Included in that destruction, 119 Broadway. The only thing left of that place was that pink door laying on top of the rubble. That you can now see leaning up on the wall of that little house we turned into Simplicity.
God is so good.

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?

First and foremost, I give God every bit of the credit for where I am today. If it were up to me, I would have completely screwed it up. I am a wife to an amazing, Christ-centered man, with two sons and a recently gained daughter-in-law. I have been in the beauty industry for 24 years and now own my own salon, along with the boutique. I have amazing women who work beside me and are dedicated to raising up the next generation of stylists to love their clients, no matter what walk of life they come from.
Behind a stylist’s chair is a mission field, and we treat it as such. On any given day, we will stop what we are doing to celebrate with clients or pray with clients.
I wanted a place where clients not only leave changed physically but where their hearts can be changed as well. No matter which stylist you’re with, or even if you’re just walking through the boutique, you are making a difference in lives locally and internationally. A percentage of all sales is given back to charities across the world, including right here in Mayfield and Graves County.
This is not about fame, money, Facebook or Instagram likes, TikTok shares, or online sales, it’s bigger than all of that. Those things are nice, if I’m honest, but it’s about the where, when, who, and why. Wherever He leads us, whenever You ask, whoever You send, and the why is Him.
Life on MISSION. No matter who you are, why you’re here, or what you believe, we love you anyway.

Can you talk to us about manufacturing? How’d you figure it all out? We’d love to hear the story.

I have a story from years and years ago. When I was at a hair show about 15 years ago there was a stand outside the conference. They were selling bracelets and earrings made out of old guitar strings. My coworker and I thought it was so cool and cute.
So now fast forward to 2020 when I was looking into businesses that give back and thought about Strings For Hope. They were still in business and bigger than before. Their heart is for women coming out of homelessness and rehab. So I reached out with this story. They have been an amazing support to Simplicity and a wonderful partner in this mission.
The vendors we have in Simplicity all have a story and we have researched each and everyone. If they are not fair trade or give back to a mission they are not our partner.
Whats fair trade you ask?
Fair trade means the people who make the products are paid fairly, work in safe conditions, and their communities benefit from the trade. It also encourages environmental sustainability and ethical business practices.
Now with that being said. Not all vendors and companies are what they say. Even after many hours of research, we have had to send items back because they are not what they say they are. Or they say they give back when they don’t. We don’t always get it right but God has given us discernment to pull them from the store. Yes, we have lost money, but we have to have integrity and do what we say we stand for. We are still learning and always researching and praying about new partners.

Have you ever had to pivot?

January 2 2022 was the date for the grand opening for Simplicity Boutique and Salon. My husband and I purchased the property in August of 2021 and were gutting the inside of the old house to be transformed into a salon and boutique. We were one month to opening when one night flipped our town upside down. Literally! A one mile wide F4 almost a F5 tornado destroyed our small town. That Friday night will forever be a part of our lives. The next morning when the sun came up, it looked like a bomb had leveled everything. It looked like war!!!
The devastation was heartbreaking. Homes and businesses were lost but the worst is 14 people lost their lives.
How could we come back from this? How can we ever rebuild?
Well we will and we have. Not just Simplicity so many have pivoted to overcome this tragedy.
This will be hard to believe but only 6 months after that night we opened the doors to our small business with Faith, Prayer, and help from so many people. We have all come together as a community and family to make Simplicity come back to life.

Contact Info:

• Website: https://Simplicityboutiqueandsalon.com
• Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/simplicity_boutiqueandsalon?igsh=OHBteGtsOW5reDd1&utm_source=qr
• Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/share/19A6HcTjKU/?mibextid=wwXIfr
• Yelp: https://yelp.to/zo8PkNKncE

Image Credits

Shanna Dowdy (I took all photos)