Small businesses big dreams

by Shauna Ferry

This Women's History Month, let's take a close look at some of the big ideas local women have had for their small businesses.

Some small businesses come to fruition after years of planning and investing, but others, like Charlie’s Bows, materialize from just an idea and a little practice.

Karissa Majndle owns and operates Charlie’s Bows out of Westport. She runs her small business mostly online, occasionally selling at craft fairs and consigning at different small shops. The idea for Charlie’s Bows came as a happy accident.

Charlie’s Bows out of Westport. She runs her small business mostly online, occasionally selling at craft fairs and consigning at different small shops. The idea for Charlie’s Bows came as a happy accident.

“I started my business in 2018,” Majndle explains. “I just had my daughter, Charlotte, and the prices of everything were so high. I wanted to buy Charlotte bows, but I just couldn’t budget it, so I started making my own for her, and it just grew from there. My mom and my husband, Chris, pushed me to make them and sell them and that’s what I did. I started with other moms who couldn’t afford the expensive bows, just as I couldn’t, and it took off.”

Having just completed her Bachelor's degree in early childhood education, the idea of stepping away from a consistent paycheck to pursue Charlie’s Bows was daunting, but Majndle did just that and walked into the unknown with nothing but confidence, focusing on the positive aspects of owning her own business. “I choose my own hours, I choose which products I want to release, I choose how hard and how many hours I want to work each day. I get to be home with my girls and I love the flexibility of it. I do miss socializing, and I miss the work parties and talking to other adults. It’s really the only damper of it all.”

Charlie’s bows started with just two styles of bows, both of which Majndle taught herself how to do. “Bows weren’t as popular when I started as they are now. There weren’t really any tutorials online. I just practiced until I got them to be what I wanted.”

Majndle started with the traditional headwrap – her favorite and most popular seller – as well as the matching head clips. She now has a variety of ten different styles of head bows, all ranging in sizes and prices. In addition to bows, she offers different types of clothing, knitted patch hats, and baby accessories. Majndle attributes her rapid success to social media. She grown her following to just over 6,000 followers and diligently posts several times a day with pictures, new items, seasonal products, and more. “I take some time each night to schedule my posts for the next day. I take pictures of my products to really show how cute they can be and what to pair them with. Having children and mamas model my products really makes a difference in people being able to visualize how they’ll look.” With the bow market becoming increasingly saturated over the past several years, Majndle has kept people intrigued with her attractive and thoughtout posts.

Majndle foresees even more growth in her future, potentially expanding into a storefront in addition to her website, adding a more extensive clothing line for kids. She offers advise to other women thinking of starting their own small business: “Do it. Don’t hold back, just do it. Don’t have any doubts. If it’s something you feel you want to do and it’ll make you happy, then just do it. I push myself to be better with my business, increase products, and avidly network. It’s not easy, but if you have the love for it and the drive, you can accomplish what you seek out to do.”

Like so many other businesses, Charlie’s Bows started with an idea and grew into a full-time venture. Majndle’s success speaks to how hard she works and her dedication to her business, “Nothing comes easy in life, but anything can be accomplished if you put your mind to it.”

Charlie’s Bows has a Facebook page as well as a website: CharliesBowCompany.com.

Cut from different cloth

Hard work, passion, and commitment. These are three words that only scratch the surface of what Amy Nadeau-Cantin from Amy’s Fabric Treasures in Westport believes it takes to own and operate a small business. As a woman who began her entrepreneur endeavors at just 18 years of age and who has been sewing custom pieces for homes for 22 years, she knows exactly how dedicated you need to be to help a business thrive.

“I always wanted to own a fabric shop. I knew I couldn’t do it in the traditional way, so I came up with the idea of consignment, and within a month of having the idea, I had the keys in my hand to my shop.” Reaching out to every seamstress and crafter she knew, Nadeau-Cantin received an abundance of support and affirmations. This cemented her confidence that her idea, the first fabric consignment shop in the country, would be successful.

“I’m driven by my passion for sewing. Fabric stores were closing all over the area and I just thought there had to be an alternative to just the chain fabric stores. I knew that this was the area for fabric because of how expansive the textile industry was, so I went ahead and within a very short period of time I had tons of people showing up to my store with rolls and rolls of fabric to consign.”

Nadeau-Cantin not only consigns fabric, craft supplies, and yarn, but sewing machines as well. She also offers a scissor sharpening service, sewing machine repair service, and sewing classes. “I teach general sewing and I have a three-page-long waiting list for people waiting for availability. There is an enormous need and I wish there were other people offering classes.”

Nadeau-Cantin also has another woman collaborating with her each Saturday to teach knitting, crocheting, embroidery, and rug hooking. Nadeau-Cantin’s prices are a huge draw for her customers, from your seasoned sewer to UMASS Dartmouth students just beginning in their fashion classes. Nadeau-Cantin also has an influx of customers who buy fabric for various charity and donatable causes. “I donate a lot to groups that do charitable sewing. I give when and where I can, and there are so many people out there who are doing so many great things, but just can’t afford to get what they need.”

Nadeau-Cantin has brought a unique niche to the area and has had a great response. “I love the people. I’m surrounded by phenomenal, creative people – very generous giving people.” Nadeau-Cantin’s customers are the reason she’s able to overcome the difficulties that come along with owning your own business. “The hardest part of my job is that it’s never done. I go home with work – I work from home every night. There’s always something for me to do. I never sit with my hands idle. This literally runs my life. My husband and son will joke with me sometimes and say, ‘Do we know you? We haven’t seen you in like a week!’”

It’s clear in talking to Nadeau-Cantin that her heart is in her business; she loves what she does, and she wants to share her passion for sewing with anyone who comes into her shop. She has great advice for other women looking to start their own businesses: “You have to go into it with the right attitude. You can’t expect everything you touch to turn into gold. A lot of women become frustrated because they’ve tried other ventures and it hasn’t always panned out. Ask yourself: ‘Do I love it?’ If it’s something you don’t have a passion for or you don’t really love, you’re heart isn’t going to be in it.”

Nadeau-Cantin refers to most womendriven businesses as “passion projects,” because women are caretakers, which is inspirational and relatable. She sets the example that with a little heart, soul, and drive, you can accomplish whichever goals you set out for yourself.

Amy’s Fabric Treasures is located at 1032 American Legion Highway in Westport. Check out Amy’s Fabric Treasures on Facebook for more information.