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With open arms and joy in the undercurrent, this month’s women are chasing their dreams and inspiring others in the process. Their pursuits vary, but these entrepreneurs focus on more than just revenue. The most important thing is how they affect the people around them. And it is indeed a noble way.
Katie Chaney
Katie Cheney’s philosophy is evident even before entering the Hester General Store. ‘Love your neighbors’ – the mural says it all. She does it in myriad ways, from delighting customers with handcrafted pies in her cozy and inclusive space, to breathing new life into old buildings and creating community hubs in the process. Achieved.
The Dacusville store includes Chaney’s bakery and mercantile, catering business, and more.
“It’s all about the community, and we’re focused on the communities we serve,” says Chaney. “I always had this dream of starting a general store. I also had this dream of doing something myself. I call it my passion at night school. It It was baking and cooking, but I didn’t have enough confidence or ideas to do something like that. I think we’ve all had that moment of, “What are we doing with our lives and does that really align with where we want to go?” ”
Cheney worked in the corporate world, helping other people launch startups.
“It was fun and exhilarating, but it wasn’t really my passion in life or what I ultimately wanted my daughter to see,” she says.
Cheney’s dream centered around creating a “very American pie shop.” When her friends encouraged her to check out her old general store for sale, it was simply meant to be.
“I drove there and fell in love immediately,” Cheney says. “It was kind of an emotional connection. It resonated even more when I started learning the history and background of it. had three children, and Frank was the person people knew best associated with the store because he took over after Michael passed away.”
Frank Hester has been the face of the store for nearly 50 years, but her research shows that his two sisters, Anne and May, were actually the key force behind it.
“There was real entrepreneurship going on behind the scenes. It was women who were doing it, but their stories were really forgotten,” she says. “It resonated deeply with me in the postpartum period, where life really changed before my eyes and was redefined by becoming a mother. And I really want to tell my family’s story as part of this and leave that mark on it.
Chaney will close the property in late 2021 and begin renovations in 2022. While still steeped in history, the building has truly been reborn as his second act. Cheney also has a new vision for her future.
“Through this project, I think I found the confidence I was missing,” she says. “The fundraising journey has not been easy and has required a great deal of persistence. And it also helps me connect with people.That kind of self-exploration and definition has changed my life.”
For more information, visit hestergeneralstore.com.
Tallinn Shah
Taryn Shah didn’t set out to start her own business with a bang, but this month she celebrates TK PR’s 15th anniversary. This is a very special kind of company that she runs on her own terms.
“This was not planned,” says Scher.
When her husband’s medical residency moved her from New York to Greenville, Cher was in the midst of a job she loved: doing public relations for a fashion company. In order to continue her job, she had to start her own company.
“At the time, I was so young and immature that I didn’t even really understand what that meant, essentially when it came to starting my own business,” she says. was my first client, the company I worked for in New York, I met people here in Greenville and I started telling them what I had done, people were intrigued by PR. There weren’t many PR firms in Greenville at the time, and the idea of PR was still relatively new in Greenville, but I’m from a place in New York where your dog had a publicist.
Shah connected to Southern Exposure when she met people in Greenville. This is the festival that will become an annual euphoric Greenville food and music event that benefits upstate charities. She volunteered to help.
“That alone has led to the transformation of this business to focus on the hospitality and travel industries,” says Scher. “Right now, 90% of his clients are in the travel or hospitality industry.”
For those clients, Shah says she makes them shine.
“I’m always joking. I’m a one-trick pony, but I’m really good at tricks,” she says. “We do earned media reporting. Our clients have no buying power, even when it comes to advertising or paid content. The only thing we can do is work with journalists to tell our stories.” am.”
Shah’s creativity played a central role when the pandemic rocked the tourism industry to its core.
“Of course, like everyone else, I had to get really creative,” she says. “We looked for other stories that hadn’t been told before or were suddenly much more relevant than before.”
As she grew her business, Scher made it a priority to help bring others along with her. I spent several years as a coach. Her first rule for business? It’s the golden one.
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“We have such a great track record of what we can do for our clients that people always want to know what our secret sauce is,” she says. We don’t have that.Basic human decency is the secret sauce.Treat people the way you want to be treated.Treat people the way you would treat a mother or a child. just do it right.”
For anyone with an idea for a “weird business out of the norm,” Scher says go for it.
“If you have something different that sets you apart in the long run, it’s something you take and do with it,” she says. .”
For more information, visit tkpublicrelations.com.
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