Out of the millions of local businesses on Yelp, many are owned or managed by hard-working women. To celebrate the 100th anniversary of the 19th amendment, International Women’s Day on March 8, and Women’s History Month this March, we’re calling attention to local spots in St. Louis run by awesome women. We wanted to take the opportunity to get to know just a few women and their spots that make our community such a vibrant place.
Name(s): Christy Augustin (she/her) & Nancy Boehm (she/her), co-owners
Neighborhood of business: Lindenwood Park
Favorite thing about your neighborhood: We love this close knit community of small families and small businesses in South City. We know many of our regular by names…we even know their dogs!
What is your favorite thing you business does to empower and support the STL community? Pint Size’s role in our neighborhood is to provide a bright, welcoming spot for sweet treats & coffee. Somewhere everyone can enjoy a little something special.
If you could thank your consumers for one thing what would it be? Us Pint Sizers have the most LOYAL customers & we simply couldn’t thank them enough.
What is you favorite thing about owning a business in STL? Restaurant owners in St. Louis are a super tight. There’s not a lot of competition, we all have each other’s back. It’s great to have that support.
Anything fun plans coming up in 2020 that you’d like to let us in on? Pi week is really fun for the bakers! The added connection to St. Louis (THE 314!), makes the celebration even more special. We will have different lil pies each day that week.
Name: Helen Petty (she/her)
Neighborhood of business: Chop Shop is located in The Grove.
Favorite thing about your neighborhood: My favorite thing about the neighborhood is the eclectic mix of businesses. And the gay bars 🙂
What is your favorite thing you business does to empower and support the STL community? One of the things I’m proudest of is my shops commitment to equity and support of reproductive justice. We’ve held a fundraiser for NARAL and the Missouri Abortion Fund. We’ve been a base for Planned Parenthood during repro rights rally’s. We’ve sponsored booths at Pride and for The Monthly Cycle, a women’s/femme/non binary monthly bike ride.
If you could thank your consumers for one thing what would it be? I would like to thank our clients for supporting us in being a progressive business voice in the city.
What is you favorite thing about owning a business in STL? One of my favorite things about being a business owner in STL is the community here that is so supportive of people trying new things. Thanks, STL!
Names: Susan Logsdon (she/her) and Amanda Helman (she/her)
Neighborhood of business: Gravois Park / Cherokee St.
Favorite thing about your neighborhood: We love being part of the Cherokee Street community. We think our corner at Cherokee and Compton is pretty special. We have some amazing neighboring businesses and love the variety of shops, art, and restaurants!
What is your favorite thing you business does to empower and support the STL community? We are reminding them that they’ve got what it takes! There is so much negativity in the world. Everyday you are told that you are not enough of this or too much of that. The mission of Golden Gems to inspire and empower you to live life on your own terms, take up space and live life unapologetically. We do it with subtle reminders to be bold and bold reminders that you are here! We love inspiring our community to be their amazing, magic, awesome selves.
If you could thank your consumers for one thing what would it be? All of the continued support. Without them, we wouldn’t be in business!
What is you favorite thing about owning a business in STL? St. Louis is a great place to start a small business. It’s incredibly supportive of entrepreneurs and the arts. We’ve received nothing but amazing support from the people of St. Louis and from other small businesses! St. Louis is also very affordable. We know the cost of doing something similar in Chicago, New York or LA would have been impossible for us. We feel really lucky to call St. Louis home.
Anything fun plans coming up in 2020 that you’d like to let us in on?
Yes! This year we started the #imagoldengem project. We started the project to inspire self-acceptance and self-love. Even the most confident people have insecurities; no one is immune. It’s empowering to be vulnerable about our insecurities and that’s what makes you a badass. Being a badass doesn’t mean you have to be tough, assertive, intimidating, or in a biker gang…but you can be! It’s about being unapologetically you. Because you are magic, you are solid gold, you’ve got what it takes, and you are a gem…a golden gem.
This project started with a sticker campaign. We wanted to ignite that badass inside you with little reminder stickers posted around the city for you to see while stopped at a light on your way to work, walking your dog to the farmers market, or even reapplying your lipstick at your favorite bar! We put stickers up everywhere we went, included them in orders, and gave them away.
We loved seeing the response of the stickers and we wondered how we could do more. During 2020 we will also be sharing stories of individuals in the St. Louis area who are living their best, authentic, badass lives.
Name: Jessie Mueller (she/her)
Neighborhood of business: The Grove / Forest Park Southeast
Favorite thing about your neighborhood: Our neighborhood has a vibrant, independent spirit that champions a variety of causes and small businesses, making it one of St. Louis’ most exciting urban renaissance stories.
What is your favorite thing your business does to empower and support the STL community? Our Coffee for the People concept is a “pay it forward” program that helps create a sense of community while providing place and access to our most vulnerable neighbors.
If you could thank your consumers for one thing what would it be? Donating to our coffee for the people board to help make Rise accessible to our neighbors.
What is your favorite thing about owning a business in STL? There is a real sense of camaraderie and lifting up of one another within the small business community. Many of us are rebuilding the city with a greater awareness of the inequities that many of our citizens currently face after decades of divestment.
Anything fun plans coming up in 2020 that you’d like to let us in on? We are currently renovating the first floor of Rise in and look forward to reopening Feb 20th with a fresh groovy vibe that fits our culture, including a new mural by the lovely Caitlin Metz.
Name: Katie Kelly (she/her)
Neighborhood of business: Maplewood + South City
Favorite thing about your neighborhood: We have two locations and I adore both neighborhoods equally! Maplewood has such a historic charm about it. I love the small business community there and the support the businesses show each other. Our South City studio is located in the Southwest Gardens neighborhood which is connected to a hub of South City favorites like all the Italian flavors of The Hill and Shaw’s historic Tower Grove Park and the Botanical Gardens. Both are really wonderful communities to be a part of!
What is your favorite thing you business does to empower and support the STL community? We strive to make direct connections with our students through building community one mat at a time. Our teachers build relationships with students over time, getting to know about their jobs and life interests. There’s often a sense of networking and friendship that builds with time. We also offer scholarships and work-exchange opportunities to make the practice of yoga accessible and affordable to every-body on every socio-economic scale.
If you could thank your consumers for one thing what would it be?
What is you favorite thing about owning a business in STL? I am so honored to be one of the many women-owned businesses in STL. The vibrance that I’ve witnessed in small business has really contributed enormously to the positive changes this city has seen in recent years. There’s a fresh, young energy with lots of innovation and focus on bettering our community. I’m just proud to be part of this effort in enhancing our wonderful city.
Anything fun plans coming up in 2020 that you’d like to let us in on? We are working on our first ever yoga retreat (hopefully) in the fall of 2020. I traveled and worked in a yoga retreat center tucked away in the hills of Tuscany, Italy back in my 20’s. I am hoping to return and share my passion for yoga and travel with the students of Shanti and citizens of STL and beyond!
Big Heart Tea Co.
Name: Lisa Govro (she/her)
Neighborhood of business: We’re served in neighborhoods all over STL, but our HQ is in the Cherokee neighborhood.
Favorite thing about your neighborhood:Our friends and fellow small business babes Whisk and Mud House!
What is your favorite thing you business does to empower and support the STL community?We are so fortunate to be on this covert mission to heal and support our community every day with this herbal medicine, in shops all over town.
If you could thank your consumers for one thing what would it be? Thanks for being adventurous and trying new herbs, flowers, and teas with us!
What is you favorite thing about owning a business in STL? The community of our fellow scrappy small business owners.
Anything fun plans coming up in 2020 that you’d like to let us in on?We’ve got a special tea releasing soon that honors an amazing woman-owned tea grower. Keep your eyes peeled for the Boss Blend!
We could never exhaust the list of women in St. Louis livening our city one amazing business at a time, but we hope you learned something new about this lovely bunch! If you haven’t been to these local spots, be sure to check them out and support them as they support St. Louis!
