Today we’d like to introduce you to May Brisebois.
May, can you briefly walk us through your story – how you started and how you got to where you are today.
It started as a hobby, needed for mid-life enrichment as well as a medium to battle culture isolation and depression. Quickly, those sparkly beads beat out the yarns, the fabric, the paint… hobby turned into an obsession. Meanwhile, a part-time work at a local bead store (in Massachusetts) provided a perfect short cut into the valuable business world. After moving to Georgia, the business idea grew stronger and stronger.
16 months after settling down in North Atlanta, BEADiful was born!
Has it been a smooth road?
As an immigrant, culture isolation is grand enough, let alone running a brick and mortar retail business heavily relies on community traffic. It took a 14-hour work day over three years to establish a small business which began to support itself.
So, as you know, we’re impressed with BEADiful – tell our readers more, for example what you’re most proud of as a company and what sets you apart from others.
BEADiful is a full-service bead store. We carry beads from around the world and a wide variety of supplies for jewelry making. We create and provide educational workshops for customers from beginners to advanced levels. There was never a boring day at BEADiful. In addition to running daily business, we also promote local artists by hosting events to showcase their artwork; Polymer Clay, Lampwork, Metalsmith, leather work, so on and so forth.
We love our community and raised funds for women’s shelter. We work with Girl Scout troops to help their members earn their badges.
In 2015, we started trying our hands on developing one-of-a-kind findings for jewelry making. It has been since selling well both online and retail. 2016 we started wholesaling and providing to designers our exclusive findings. It will continue to be one of our business goals in our future endeavor.
Let’s touch on your thoughts about our city – what do you like the most and least?
Atlanta continues to lure multi-billion dollars corporate into moving to Georgia with all sorts of tax incentives slanting the fact that the country’s economy is pillared by small businesses. Georgia’s lack of better and friendlier regulations and tax laws will continue to drive hard-working, community oriented, brick-n-mortar, mom and pop small businesses out of sight.
Contact Info:
- Address: 5912 Bethelview Rd., Ste D
Cumming, GA 30040 - Website: www.beadifulgifts.com
- Phone: 678-455-7858
- Email: beadiful@bellsouth.net
- Facebook: www.facebook.com/BEADiful.LLC
Getting in touch: VoyageATL is built on recommendations from the community; it’s how we uncover hidden gems, so if you know someone who deserves recognition please let us know here.
