Brandy McCoy

Brandy McCoy is the manager of T.J.’s Country Store in Hatfield. Her journey to becoming the manager was by accident, akin to cooking and accidentally spilling a spice into the mixing bowl and something good and unexpected comes out of it. She began working at T.J.’s in 2014, nine years ago, as a cook.

McCoy said, “I got kitchen manager within like three months of being there. I’ve cooked my whole life since I was 16. Cooking is my dream. I was 16 when I started cooking at Vicki’s Café in Hatfield.”

Two years into her job was when the unexpected occurred. “I never thought about [becoming store manager]. When Tim [Scott] got ready to retire from Walmart, he wanted to travel. That was their goal. His dad owned Scotty’s, so he wanted a convenience store, as well. Their goal was to hire kids so kids could get a start. But they wanted to travel, so they needed somebody to run the store.

“It was a shock for sure. I was like, ‘Okay, that’s a big step,’” McCoy said with a laugh. “They had actually gone on vacation to Alaska — that’s where they had lived — so they went back to Alaska for a month. So, I had the whole store for a month.”

It was a bit nerve wracking for Tim’s wife Leona.

McCoy said, “One thing was Leona was scared, saying, ‘We can’t leave.’ I asked Tim, “We have insurance, right?’ and he said, ‘Yeah.’ I said, “It’ll be either standing or it won’t when you get back. It’s still standing,” she said, laughing more. Now the comment has become an on-going joke when they get ready to leave.

Since the store is still standing, they offer a full-menu breakfast, as well as lunch and dinner specials. Due to Hatfield being a few miles outside of Mena, many of the local residents stop in at T.J.’s because they don’t want to drive all the way to town. With their being few options to eat or get fuel around Hatfield, McCoy stated that the store stays quite busy during their business hours of 5 a.m. – 10 p.m.

McCoy manages 16 employees, five of whom are teenagers. Plus, she has Crystal, an assistant cashier manager who works when McCoy is off duty. McCoy generally works four days per week, but as any manager will tell you, being in charge also means being available.

“If we have employees in the store, I’m on call. Crystal and I take turns being on call every other weekend.”

Some may wonder how difficult it could be to sell snacks and fuel, but operating and managing a convenience store takes a lot of organization, prioritization, and dedication.

“It’s a lot harder than people think. I’ve had some of our young people come in that we’ve hired and it’s like, ‘We’ve learned so much. We never thought it was this hard.’”

McCoy sits and takes the time to talk with her employees, especially the teenagers who have questions and are wanting to improve their skills and training for the business world.

“I have one girl who has a dream of having a little sandwich shop. She asks me all kinds of questions and we go over invoices. I show everybody what I know. I tell them, ‘I’ll teach you my ways,’” she replied with a laugh.

McCoy knows the community, being born and raised in Hatfield. She’s actively involved in what’s happening in Hatfield. She’s on the committee for the June Jubilee, which occurs the last weekend of June.

“It is Hatfield’s Fourth of July. It is when Hatfield was founded.

“Last year I put on a pageant, which was a big deal because I have three boys. My sister said, ‘Do you know anything about girls?’ We had a few bobbles, but it went off pretty good. We had about 150 in the audience.

Then come October, there’s Hatfield’s Light the Night, which is their Halloween celebration.

“Several years ago, the churches actually started it. It was an alternative to trick-ortreating; a safe place for kids to go. When COVID hit in 2020, they didn’t want to do it anymore. Me being me, I thought it wasn’t fair to these kids. They’ve lost school.

They’ve lost everything. So, we headed outside, me and a couple of people from work.

In 2020, we had it in the baseball field behind the auditorium. The next year we had it in the auditorium. Last year we did it at the park.”

She’s also involved with Breakfast with Santa. “I actually had approached our pastor at First Baptist Church and he said they did something in Florida called Breakfast with Santa. I thought Hatfield needed to do something for Christmas.”

They put on their first Breakfast with Santa in 2021 and it turned out pretty good according to McCoy. In 2022, they decided to improve upon it.

“This last year we decorated the stage. It was like coming into a Winter Wonderland. We had all of the elements. We had a snowman giving out hot chocolate. We had a Nativity scene. We had Santa. We had train whistles for The Polar Express.”

McCoy was in charge of wrangling Santa and his elves. The preacher was in charge of feeding everybody.

In 2022, McCoy stepped into the political ring and became a City Council member.

“Back in the summer, one of the girls had resigned. I was voted in, in her place. It is

new… very new.”

McCoy had tossed the idea around in her head a bit about running for City Council. She hadn’t even talked to her family about it. Once she decided to take the first step, she had already missed the deadline by one week. McCoy figured that gave her a little more time to learn. Instead, the woman who was resigning did so the following week and asked McCoy if she was interested in taking her place.

Her main reason for wanting to be on the council: “I don’t want to see our town die. I want to see it grow. I want to see it prosper. I’m involved in the community. The only way to do that, is to be a part of the city.

“I’ve learned a lot already — things I had no clue. We did have to create a water board this year, so I am on the Water Board Committee.”

She and her husband also joined the Lion’s Club, so this year will be their first big Easter event with the organization.

“My family stands behind me 100%. Without God’s presence, I couldn’t imagine being where I’m at now. And the opportunity that Tim and Leona gave me to be able to try and even do it.”

Malissa Fields

“Immediately, I started a fiber group at the art gallery. They used to have one and it broke up, so I started a new one.” side on the sidewalk here.

The group eventually moved to Suzy Q’s, then The Ouachitas, then she and her husband decided to open up a yarn store, which is located at 700 Mena St.

“There’s a worldwide Knit in Public Day and I am planning something for that as well. I have lots of plans.” male instructor who teaches macrame. When they gather in groups, the group sort of teaches as a whole, helping one another.

Malissa Fields has been knitting since 2008. Although she found it frustrating at first, she persisted and not only knits, but crochets and does macrame, all in her own store, the Rich Mountain Fiber Co. Fields said, “After you learn how to do it, knitting and crocheting can be a Zen therapy. The learning of it can be frustrating. People will look at you like you’re crazy when you say this is going to relax you, because learning new things is hard.”

She’s been promoting fiber here since she moved to the Mena area on Halloween of 2016.

“I love Mena. I see so much potential and hope here, but I am a city girl. I love the city. My husband hates [the city] He likes the slow, easy pace.

“I always wanted a shop… . For years I would say, that would be a great place for a yarn store. My husband would say no. I would keep saying that’s where my yarn store is going to be, and he would say no. Then May of last year, he said let’s just try it.”

She opened her doors July 8, 2022.

“Our focus here is crocheting, knitting and some macrame, but fiber arts encompasses a lot more. There’s needle felting, weaving, spinning. Eventually, we will get into fibers like spinning.”

Fields sells a variety of fibers and plans to expand the selection.

Fields also has classes for spinning fiber. Most of them come in with old-fashioned portable spinning wheels.

“When the weather gets better, we are planning what is called a ‘spin-out,’ which is where they will bring their machines and sit out-

Prior to opening her business, Fields worked at Mena Medical Associates. During COVID-19 she worked from home, scheduling appointments for doctor’s offices that come to people in their homes for urgent care.

She didn’t let the pandemic slow her down. Her fiber group interacted through Zoom and Skype.

If you’ve never worked with fiber, but have an interest, it’s something almost anyone can do.

“My goal of the shop is to build a community. I want people to come here and sit and do their craft. I want us to be able to teach each other. I do teach, but I feel it’s more of a community. I feel like new people, when they come, they sense that and they want to be here. I try to keep everything super-positive and edifying. I want people to be built up. I think that helps them know their worth.”

Fields has a couple of other teachers for the various fiber techniques such as advanced crochet. Her teachers also include a 14-yearold girl teaching amigurumi, and a

For those old enough to remember quilting bees, “That is exactly what I’m trying to get here. I feel like when you bring [people] together and you just have normal interactions and conversations, that helps to keep depression at bay.”

“Another goal of this type of business is to get away from fast fashion, which is a huge polluter, not just in the process of making the fabrics and garments, but… people are like, ‘It was just $3. Let’s just throw in the garbage.’ It ends up in a landfill and it’s a huge polluter.”

“If you have a dream, you can manifest it, but you have to be willing to do the work. It’s a lot of work and it’s a lot harder than you think is. It’s so gratifying. I’m so happy. If people have the dream, I think they should try it, but be willing to do the work that goes into it.”

Malissa’s store brings people from everywhere in the community together to enjoy fiber arts.