Deaf Owners Prove There are No Barriers to Entrepreneurial Success
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ngie Foster and Amy Phillips came to Frederick, Maryland seeking a school that could best provide a deaf-centric learning environment for their son, Seth, who is hard of hearing. Both Foster and Phillips, who are deaf, Amy Phillips, left and Angie Foster, owners of EmbroidMe in Frederick, Maryland understood well the importance of fostering an environment which is both respectful and conducive for growth. Seth got that environment at the Maryland School for the Deaf and now, nearly three years after their move, Foster and Phillips find that their EmbroidMe business located at 5732 Buckeystown Pike #4 provides the same kind of environment for the Frederick community but not limited to Deaf consumers and businesses. For ten years, Foster ran a home screen-printing and embroidery business of her own. For seven years, Foster was also a supervisor for a screen-printing company in North Carolina. Inspired by her long-standing passion to go into business for herself, Foster found EmbroidMe to be the perfect fit. “I’ve always wanted a business of my own, and I welcome the challenge but I wanted to minimize the risk,” says Foster. “Amy and I thought it would be best to go through a franchise rather than starting from scratch to limit those risks.” The process of purchasing their franchise was made easier by the support they received from United Franchise Group, of which EmbroidMe belongs. “The process was a smooth one,” adds Foster. “We had a lot of help from Troy Thomas, regional Vice President of sales from United Franchise Group, which went a long way.”
Foster hopes to grow the business and one day leave it to her children, who already have an appreciation for what their mom do. “Seth and Rylie are very excited about the store and are fascinated with how embroidery and printing work; I can already tell that they’d be great at it!” Foster adds that the community reception has already been overwhelmingly positive. Since opening their storew, Foster says, her and Phillips have received a tremendous amount of support. “I have got some great positive responses all over, but I take special pride at the response we receive from the Deaf community about being a Deaf business owner,” adds Foster. “It is always inspiring to see Deaf as well as hearing customers coming in the store to ask questions, get a quote or place orders.”
ABOUT EMBROIDME EmbroidMe has more than 300 Resource Centers in 12 countries. EmbroidMe plans to open 70 new resource centers throughout the country by the end of the year, reaching 500 locations worldwide by the end of 2016
For more information, visit: www.embroidme.com or call (877)-877-0234 For more information about franchise, visit: https://franchise.embroidme.com/ or call (877)788-7948