Meet the Owner: The Brown of Bromley&Brown Boutique

I hesitated writing this post. Do people really care to read an article solely devoted to me? I don't consider myself to be wildly extravagant or out of the ordinary, but maybe, just maybe someone might find some interest in my story.

So here we go. You didn't ask, but please enjoy a little bit about myself and my journey of becoming the Brown of Bromley & Brown Boutique.

The first chapter of this story begins with a 32-year-old stay-at-home mom of two (darling but wild) toddler boys. You could probably find her sleep-deprived with unwashed hair and most likely outside playing with tractors in the dirt. Looking back now, these memories make me smile and feel blessed, but in the actual moment, it felt so monotonous and HARD. If you have ever done the stay-at-home mom gig, you probably know exactly what I am talking about. I truly thought it would be my thing, but after two years in the thick of it, I knew that I needed something more to help fill my creative soul.

Fast forward to New Year's Eve of this same year. We were gearing up to ring in 2017 at my mother-in-law's home as we did every year since Ben and I started dating in high school. Mary would decorate her dining room, provide celebratory hats and horns, and we would eat crab legs and steak under candlelight. Physically writing that out makes it seem so cliche, but it wasn't. It was always magical and fun. Just the way Mary always made everything.

This year during dinner, Mary proposed an unexpected idea. Something she had obviously been thinking about for some time. In between bites and sips of wine, she looked at me and said, "We should open a boutique."

My immediate thought was NO. HOW? I'm sure at the moment one of the boys was asking for something, or someone spilled their drink or some type of chaos was ensuing. How in the world would I be able to juggle everything? I had a bachelor's degree in Journalism and zero idea of how to start and run a business. This was a hard no. I was a terrible candidate for this position.

Maybe it was the wine. Maybe it was the way Mary had it planned out and presented without fear. Maybe it was me craving a creative outlet where I could interact with adults and make people feel pretty. Whatever it was, by the time the clock struck midnight, I became the Brown of Bromley & Brown Boutique. We were off to the races as boutique owners and I was equal parts excited and terrified.

Over the next few months, we researched, dreamed, made Pinterest boards, went to our first market, asked for lots of advice, painted walls, went to Home Goods, prayed A LOT and by the grace of God, launched our boutique in July, just six short months from our New Year's Eve conversation. It was a whirlwind, to say the least, and I would be lying if I said I wasn't still kind of terrified even when our doors opened, but Mary kept pushing me forward and something deep down inside reassured me that I was on the right path.

As the weeks passed, I started to settle into my new role as wife/mom/business owner. We were prepared but definitely had some learning to do. Trial and error events popped up and sometimes I found myself on the error side of the fence. But we were learning and trying our best and it felt like that was ok. As it turns out, you aren't just born with all of the knowledge to open and run a business. You have to listen to experts, learn from your mistakes and really just keep trying! I think that keeping the faith, staying creative and just going for it are some of the most important survival tools for the business.

We kept at it, and six months after our grand opening, we were presented with the idea of buying a building and creating the storefront we had always hoped for. Just when I was finding my stride...here was a new adventure. But it was an opportunity we couldn't sleep on and so off we went again, armed with our Pinterest boards and personal contractor, my husband Ben.

With a vision and some elbow grease, we managed to pull off a remodeled boutique with the existing salon nestled in the back. It all turned out beautiful and my patient husband was able to bring all of our Pinterest dreams to life! Having a space that was truly ours and a storefront to show off our sweet little shop was something I never even imagined. It all seemed to fall into place and solidify that this was the path I was supposed to keep traveling on.

Before I knew it, it had been a full year since I had added "boutique owner" to my repertoire. Was I an expert? Not in the least BUT what I was happy to find was that I had become braver and much more confident in not just my business role, but in life in general. Taking on a challenge that I wasn't well versed in and was honestly terrified of was intimidating. I mean who wants to jump head-first into something you don't know a ton about? I found so many reasons to say no or give up, but I stuck with it and pushed through and when the dust settled, boy did the success feel sweet. It truly gave me the boost I needed and I will forever be grateful for Mary and our little shop on Main St.

That would be a good place to end my story, but like an infomercial on television, "wait, there's more!"Just to keep things interesting, in 2018 Ben and I were excited to find out we were expecting our third child. I'm not going to lie, I was secretly freaking out inside, wondering how I was going to manage everything on my already heaping plate. Not to mention, it is so easy to fall into the mentality that you can't collectively be a good wife, mom and business owner. Immediately the negative scenarios began to override the positive ones and all of those overwhelming feelings started creeping in once again. But what if it all would be ok? What if I could figure out a way to be good at and enjoy all of the different parts of my life? If I had learned anything thus far it was, where there is a will there is definitely a way.

Just as we began styling our community for Spring Break and Easter, the newest girl boss was born! Brooklyn arrived in April of 2019 and became the sweetest accessory to the shop. Her arrival taught me many things, but becoming the master of multi-tasking was what would be the most important for survival. It's amazing how much you can accomplish with a baby strapped to your body and people in your corner to help out. I was blessed in this category and had a lot of support from Mary and our shop girls. Without them, the boutique would have come flying off of the tracks and surly imploded. I guess I had forgotten how exhausting a newborn was. But the show had to go on.

And so like every story ever told, happy times can be followed by some trying and not-so-great times. My story is no exception to this rule and unfortunately, there is some sadness and tragedy peppered into this tale.

Back in 2015, before Bromley & Brown Boutique was ever a thought, Mary was diagnosed with cancer. She took it in stride though and didn't let it stop her from putting on some makeup and heading into the shop to make people beautiful. Her unwavering faith and love for her family and friends is what kept her moving forward. When the doctors told her devastating news, she went on to prove that it wasn't up to them to decide when she left this world. Her diagnosis was never a good one, but Mary lived to defy the odds and was able to fight for seven and a half years. Even in her hardest moments, she was always grateful and never questioned the hard road God had her on. Sadly, on the morning of Christmas Eve, 2022 Mary left this world and went home to heaven.

So here we are in another chapter. One I have dreaded starting in on but have been unable to avoid. It has now been a little over a year since I took the reins solo here at the boutique. This past year has been a strange one, to say the least. A year of learning and coping with the idea of adapting to a world without someone I loved and interacted with on a daily basis. I can only describe her absence as someone blowing out the flame of a candle. A light one second, and gone the next. It sounds dramatic, but I have thought for such a long time about this and it is truly the only way I can put it into words. Grief is weird and hard but life keeps moving and the show continues on.

So here we are! The show is still in full swing and my story as a boutique owner is still being written. Although things are different from the first day we opened our doors six years ago, I would like to think I am still growing and evolving for the better. My love for being creative and helping people feel beautiful is still here but now it is accompanied by my passion to keep Mary's idea for a little boutique on Main St. thriving. And who knows, maybe someday my grandchildren will speak of their "cool Grandma" who was the Brown of Bromley & Brown Boutique.

There are more chapters to write.

Thank you for reading my story.