Morgan Bissell

didn’t really think twice and think it would be around three years later.”

Bissell laughs when asked about branding and hindsight.

“Think about the long haul. Think about is it easy to say and remember? Does it represent what you plan on doing forever?” keep up with the demand and to attract attention with her pop-ups.

Bissell points out the Cowbabes portion of the name is easy to remember because it’s different, but the Designs title tends to confuse people.

“I started with boutique-style jewelry, then it started to get a little bigger so then we did clothes. Then I did a mobile boutique that was an enclosed trailer that I take with me to rodeos and pop-ups. I knew when I was pregnant that carrying tables and stuff was not going to work. After that, I was really trying to find a storefront.” in the dental office, but it’s nice knowing you’re the one raising them, teaching them, getting to watch them grow. You don’t miss out on anything. That’s what really drove me to get the store and have those girls up there.”

Despite her hectic schedule, Bissell still finds time to design jewelry.

One of the newer businesses around Mena is Cowbabes, an interesting name that has to pique the curiosity of anyone who hears or reads it for the first time. The owner of Cowbabes Designs, LLC, is Morgan Bissell.

Bissell said, “The name was kind of funny, because when I first started, I was just doing handmade jewelry and I really didn’t think it was going to be anything. I just wanted to do it for myself and some family and friends for gifts. When I posted about it, people and my family and friends really liked it.”

From there, Bissell decided to do a small business in 2019. “I put on my personal page, asking for recommendations for a name. One of my friends on Facebook said, ‘You should call it Cowbabes.’ I called it Cowbabes Designs because I was designing the rings.

“Once I did it, everyone kind of knew when they saw my jewelry that it was Cowbabes Design, so I couldn’t change it. Now that I’ve gotten bigger and into the boutique stuff, I really don’t want to change it because a lot of my people know when they say Cowbabes that it is us.

“I didn’t think it would ever be like that. I

Bissell’s designing grew to more than just as gifts. It was a way to help pay for textbooks while in college. She studied to become a dental hygienist and has a bachelor’s degree in health science that is specifically dental hygiene. She currently works part time for Dr. Pepper here in Mena. She also worked at a dental office in De Queen until she opened her storefront in Mena, then decided to quit traveling to De Queen.

But, if you were to look at her Facebook page, her website, or visit her boutique store, you’ll find a combination of her jewelry designs alongside items such as clothing, freshies (they hang in your car but look cooler than a cardboard Christmas tree), purses, wallets, and more from vendors.

“We’ve expanded to the point where I was doing a bunch of pop-ups and stuff.”

A pop-up is a temporary retail space, also known as flash retailing, that allows shop owners to meet customers where they live and get their brand out there in front of the public. Shops can range from setting up in a mall to a rodeo if one was selling items such as Cowbabes sells. Pop-ups around the western half of Arkansas and getting into the BrickCity stores seems to have helped get Bissell’s brand noticed.

Bissell needed plenty of inventory to

Bissell finally found a location at 809 Mena St., between Coast to Coast and the signal light. The shop is so new that she moved in, in January. It’s a location close to a high-volume of traffic and potential customers. It’s also the perfect place for Bissell and her two employees to bring their kids to work with them because they have had such a difficult time finding childcare.

She has pop-ups in both Fayetteville and Fort Smith at The Shops at BrickCity and a third one in Sharla’s Selectables in Waldron. Bissell and her husband spend a lot of their weekends traveling throughout northwest Arkansas to restock. She said it’s very time consuming. Her husband Aaron is a journeyman lineman for REA.

Being a new business, Bissell is reinvesting her profits back into the business. “I haven’t had anyone really backing me. It’s just what I make I put directly back into the business. I don’t pay myself.”

Bissell does have employees that assist with the pop-ups, as well as two employees in Mena, Rhyen and Bianca. Each have a child they also bring to work. Bissell encourages it.

“I had reps before that helped me rep my business and they got a discount. When word got around I was opening my place, these two were new stay-at-home moms for the most part. This would be a good opportunity to come to work, but I don’t want to have to have them pay for someone to watch their kid, because they’re not going to get to work all the time. I know it’s hard to take care of kids. I understand that aspect. But it’s also hard to be a mom trying to pay for that, and work and then pay for other things, too. It’s a clothing store. For the most part, they tend to get into things here and there… the customers love it.”

“Part of the reason I want them to be able to have their kids there is to be able to be the one who raises them. I know people have to have people take care of their kids, and I do on the days that I work

“A lot of times I’ll have someone send me a message online or come into the store and order a custom design. I have other stuff — some leather wristlets that I make, hand—painted cowboy hat mirror hangers that people can order online. My mother-in-law makes freshies, and I help her with that.”

Bissell finds herself in the middle of a boom as popular TV shows such as “Yellowstone” and the spin-offs or similar shows see growing ratings. There are also Western influencers on social media that have helped boost the popularity.

“Western fashion has really got a new aspect on it. It’s starting to be really popular, so people are bringing in all these different styles and they will style it Western. We may have a shirt that’s not very Western, but you can style it 10 different ways.

“Our style in the store is more like modern Boho. We have mom jeans. We have ripped jeans that are just cropped. We don’t just have all bell bottoms or flares. We try to have a little bit of everything for everyone.”

In doing so, Bissell tries to get in everything from clothes a mom or grandmother might wear to a teenager’s tastes. The sizes range and include plus-size jeans. They even carry men’s items.

“I feel like that if you don’t have something set in your mind that you want to go to school to do, you’re probably going to waste your time doing it. My mom’s a college teacher, so I’m not saying don’t go to college, because I obviously did. But, if there’s something you’re really passionate about, you’re obviously going to put your time and effort into it, and you’re really going to try and make it succeed. If you have a hobby or have a trade or something like that, take a leap of faith and really push. Don’t give up after the first few months. Don’t give up after the first year, because it’s not always going to be easy. It’s not always going to be successful. You might have months where you’re not quite paying the bills. You really just have to keep trying to put back into the business, push it out there, and figure out new ways… .”