The power of investing in people
Meet Amy Peterson, a trailblazer driven by a deep passion that inspires. She keeps a box of rejection letters as a reminder of her determination to succeed and has created a company dedicated to empowering women. Rebel Nell is not just a business; it exists to provide equitable employment opportunities and support for women facing barriers to employment.
Through Rebel Nell, women are encouraged to tap into their infinite strength and create wearable art from repurposed materials. With over 40 graduates and 9+ years of impact, Rebel Nell continues to grow in strength and reach. But the true impact, according to Amy, is yet to be seen and will be appreciated by future generations.
In addition to Rebel Nell, Amy's nonprofit arm, T.E.A. (Teach. Empower. Achieve.), provides women with the resources they need to achieve financial stability, including housing, education, and legal aid. But Amy's mission is more profound than just making a profit. She is in the people business and wants to teach women about sustainability for their own lives, lift them out of poverty, and help them achieve long-term success.
Explore Rebel Nell's stunning jewelry, and you'll discover the true beauty lies in the stories they tell, the resilience of the artists behind the pieces, and the ripple effect of Amy's purposeful life. Listen to Amy speak, and you'll hear the fear of failure not for herself but for everyone who believes in the mission. Join the Rebel Nell movement and become part of the story worth sharing.
Check Amy out everywhere!
https://www.rebelnell.com/pages/our-story
https://www.facebook.com/rebelnelldetroit
https://www.instagram.com/rebelnell/
https://www.teachempowerachieve.org/
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[00:00:00] Monica: Hey, Mel. Hey Amy. Welcome to the show. So exciting. Good morning. Gosh, Amy. Listen, we have a vision board for the Kindling Project podcast, and your name definitely went up there. Mel, and I really had a fun opportunity to attend your women's day empowerment show, which was so incredible, and your lineup that you put together of these fierce women was so amazing. Mel and I left that night so inspired in thinking, okay, how do we get this awesome woman on our show? You really embody everything the kindling project's about and is about really recognizing the fire starters out there who are making a real impact. And also by sharing your story and all your awesomeness, we hope to inspire some of our listeners to really listen to that little tiny fire inside all of us. So thank you so much for being here.
[00:00:57] Amy P: You guys, you're making me cry this early in the morning. I'm humbled and completely honored to be on your show, so thank you.
[00:01:04] Monica: Oh, well, thank you. Well, listen, you are a social entrepreneur. You've got your hands in a lot of things. You're also a mom, a busy mom, a partner, a beautiful sister, a family member. It's, you've got a lot going on. I know a lot of your businesses, and we're gonna get into that, Amy, what drives you? What's your personal why? And every morning when you get up, when you have a million things to do, what keeps you going?
[00:01:32] Amy P: That is such a great question and so appropriate for where I am right now. I think I'm doing, you know, a lot of reflection and I'm driven by challenge. And that can come in many forms, kind of taking the day. I feel so passionately about Rebel Nell and what we're trying to build and proving to the world that you can be a brand with tremendous impact. That motivates me to be a good member and our community motivates me I think frustration with the outside world. Things I can't control, but I can control what I do every day and that motivates me. And you can't always see the change in a day. Of course you guys know that, but it's. It's the persistence of like, okay, just keep swimming. I quote Dory constantly, Dory is, people are like quoting amazing philosophers and brilliant women and they all deserve to be quoted. But for me, and right now it is Dory, just keep swimming.
[00:02:28] Monica: That is so important, right? It's it is that, that keep swimming, that keep going. That's what really gets you going. So, ha tell us about your, you've got three enterprises that you're running. Rebel Nell. T, which stands for?
[00:02:44] Amy P: Teach Empower, achieve.
[00:02:46] Monica: Right. Amazing. And then you also have your coffee, your cafe, the congregation in Detroit.
[00:02:53] Amy P: Yes. It's a, it was another, you know, community driven business. We took an abandoned church and turned it into a cafe. So that has been a wild journey. It took us three and a half years to open and we opened it March 6th of 20, 29 days before the world shut down.
[00:03:10] Monica: Ultimately, how did you land in creating these impactful businesses? Because what I've noticed, and it's obviously a theme and something that you're very driven by, everything you do is really just building a foundation for such a bigger thing. You really are in the business of making a ripple impact in our communities because you go through and you break through and you uplift and you help so many members. Is that by design that as you're building your little empire of, you know, goodness for this world?
[00:03:42] Amy P: Yes. I think so my journey's kind of wild. I started like the whole journey, like even like goes back to like what brought me to Detroit, right? So I never want, I never thought I'd be an entrepreneur. That was nowhere on my radar and I was a pretty motivated young kid. So like at 14, I knew I wanted to, I was pretty sure I wanted to work in baseball, like that was specifically sports, but like I really wanted baseball. If I could get there. I was a really happy, fond memory between me and my dad and my grandfather in particular, my grandpa was my best friend, and we have a small hometown team that's changed many names now. It's like the Jamestown tarpskunks. And so, but as a kid I would go to the, you know, small minor league ballpark, and I really, my grandpa taught me to love the game and as did my dad and keeping track of, The score was something I learned at a really early age, and I went to law school. I went to business school really to have a well-rounded brain to compete what I, I considered the no girls allowed side of baseball on the player development, player acquisition side. I had internships in sports throughout that time. And then ultimately you know, I was applying, once I finished all my education I was applying to work for free with any team that would take me. And it's true. I mean, I have a box of rejection letters at my parents' house still. But that like kind of dates me a bit because it was like when you got the actual letterhead with a really cool logo and now you get an email rejection. So, but I was collecting all the letterhead and I always thought someday if I ever owned a house, I would put it, like, do a wallpaper motif with all the, like, rejection letters. So I literally have a rejection letter from almost every team. And then all I, after three rejection letters, I got the opportunity to come be an intern in Detroit for the Tigers, and that's what brought me here. So that was like what brought me to Detroit. So it was always from that perspective, and this was in 2007, like nobody was moving to Detroit. It was a ghost town, but I came thinking, this is amazing. This is my dream. I have an opportunity to pursue my passion. So I was always grateful to Detroit. And then the other part is I worked in sports for 11 years and I had a lot of great moments, but it was also incredibly challenging being a woman with the particular aspirations that I had. And that was frustrating. So I wanted, even though I wasn't necessarily feeling supported and empowered where I was working, my frustration I took out on kind of creating a company that would be dedicated to empowering women. And at the time I was also living next door to a shelter in Detroit, so I got to know the women there. So that like in parallel with what I was experiencing in my career, I was like, ah, I'm gonna start a company dedicated to empowering women. And then I think my love of Detroit has just kind of spread and I'm crazy. I keep starting new businesses. I've asked really good friends, like if you hear me say I'm doing something else, just like to slap me and like check me into something. Cuz.
[00:06:29] Melissa: You know, I suffer from the same disorder, right? I have a design agency. It's 12 years old. I have the Kindling project. I have a couple software projects that I'm doing. So I 100% relate to that energy.
[00:06:41] Amy P: What's wrong with us? Like what?
[00:06:43] Melissa: I don't know, is it, I don't know. And I've got a couple teenagers and a house and a husband and like all the midlife stuff and I don't know. I just cannot say no.
[00:06:53] Amy P: Yeah, I know. And there's something about the thrill of it. Despite how hard it is, it's an adrenaline rush. When you have a good day, it's something about it.
[00:07:01] Monica: Well, also You are meant to create and you are meant to build these spaces because they're needed and we need more women to do this to sort of, you know, what you did. Is like here you are. You landed what you think is a dream job. You get there and you're okay. Maybe not. But as you're looking around and you're paying attention you're understanding and seeing that there's a need and why not fill that need? I'm sure it wasn't like, to your point, you mentioned earlier it that you had these like, oh, I'm gonna build a social enterprise. That sounds like fun, but I think that you were paying attention to something inside. There was probably an internal tug, a calling that you thought, okay, that itch, there's an itch here and I have to scratch it, which is not very eloquent, but that's really what it comes down to.
[00:07:51] Amy P: It's the tug. I say it in a lot of speeches too because I think we I was silencing it for so long, like the tug to like go do rebel nell full-time. Why would I do that? I worked so hard to get into sports. Sports was my identity. Who would walk away from that job? And I just was like, it ate away at me. And I encourage people to listen to that tug cuz we so often quiet it because it's not what we think or what we had planned for our lives. But sometimes trusting the tug is what you need to do.
[00:08:21] Melissa: It's really at the core of what the Kindling Project and Monica and I wanna do for women is I think, The three of us are the exception. You know, we ha we have that little fire inside and it just wouldn't go away. And we had to put kindling on it, but so many women just dimmed that light, you know? And I get it. It's for the kids or for the relationship, or for the job or for society expectations. But I feel like there's just this massive untapped potential in women who are not listening to that inner tug or that little fire or those inner whispers or however, you know, we phrase it a bunch of different ways and people express it a dif bunch of different ways, but women are not necessarily encouraged to put kindling on their own fire. Right? Or we tend to go out and do for others. So I, it's so, it's inspiring for us to have you here and to talk about, you had a passion and you followed a passion, but you still listened to the inner voice when there was something else, and you still took on more. And it's an important model for women to understand you can do more. I know we're always telling ourselves, like, you can say no, but you can also say yes. Right? And I think that's important here.
[00:09:32] Monica: And what Amy's doing in particular is so impactful is because we always say in our group, in our core listeners, like we're just giving out permission slips. But for Amy's target market is like they believe there are no other options. These women have struggled. They're on the struggle bus. And what Amy's creating is no, not only is it possible, But I'm gonna make it happen because you can land in my space and I will make it happen for you. And that is the difference. That is that change maker, that is what I'm talking about. That is so impactful and trickles down beyond the one or twos, Amy. And that's why I admire you so much because a lot of have people have rid these women off and you haven't. So tell us about that.
[00:10:19] Amy P: That's the adrenaline rush, like is to just be a part of their journey in any way that we can at Rebel Nell, so to, for those who don't know, like So Rebel Now is a women owned business and a verified social enterprise. We exist to provide employment for women with barriers. By providing not only the employment, the equitable opportunity and wraparound support. So, and we make really amazing gifts and jewelry out of repurposed materials, such as fallen graffiti is what we're known for. But we also use a lot of iconic, meaningful, different material like, The Joe Lewis and Come America Park and fun stuff. But the beauty of what we do is, so it is challenging because it's something that cannot be measured. You know, we talk about like investors or foundations. It's the building of the confidence of the women that we employ. So we employ directly from local shelters through our partner with partnership with T, but they like help find women who are ready for this type of transitional opportunity. And we look for three things. We don't do a background check. To me, that does not matter where you've been, it's where you're going. And we talk about, you know so much on this podcast already, is that like kindling that fire. We look for women who have a fire inside of 'em that they are willing to change their situation, can work well with others. And have a willingness to learn. If you have those three things, we can work with you. And so then once they come in, we train them how to make the jewelry the really important piece. And sometimes it gets left out of the story, but the jewelry is such a transformative part of their journey because each one of our pieces are completely one of a kind, it's the woman, not only because of the material, but also the woman who made it. So she gets to take the fall and graffiti, turn it into a work of wearable arts and how great is it when somebody purchases something that she had a vision for. So we see that like immediately. Then we really start tackling along with our partnership with Tee is understanding where are they in life. Everyone who comes in is different and I feel like that's so much the secret to our sauce is everyone's got a different story, a different journey. So we meet them where they are, and year one is focused on, you know, Maslov's hierarchy of needs, food, water, shelter. Let's take care of those first. Next is now that you have that cared for, let's understand your budget, let's understand what are those barriers that have been prohibitive in the past and how do we start tackling them? So I like to think of year one as really that breathing year, and then year two is after they've been able to. Breathe. Then year two is now focused on what have you always wanted to do, and then we work on the next phase of their life, and then we ultimately will graduate them into the traditional workforce and a job more in line with their dreams and their vision because they're able to now hold it based on the work that they did at Rebel Nell.
[00:12:58] Monica: You really are creating art therapy and by default you're yielding some beautiful pieces of jewelry, but it's what the women are pouring into each individual piece. That is the real story, and that's where the heart of the pulse of your operations, because through working with their hands and really working through their trauma, they can now look at a beautiful piece that they too have worth. That there is beauty in them, and I think that reflects on your jewelry.
[00:13:26] Amy P: And I hope the person who wears it as well, like, I think that there's, you know, so many layers to a piece of Revel Nell that are really special.
[00:13:36] Monica: And how many women at any given point do you employ? How many women do you have?
[00:13:40] Amy P: Yeah, our sweet spot is really between four and six women at a time. We would rather hire smaller and go deeper. It's been always our MO. They're full-time jobs and for us that's more important than hiring 50 women, just giving them a couple hours a week here and there. Cause I feel like you can't really just get in and do the work. So that's been a choice that we've made. And I often say like, yes, the work that we're doing right now is important, but the true impact doesn't, won't actually hit until the generation is not born yet. We're a very unique and different approach to a business. And I think that, you know, going back to what motivates me is just showing the world that you can be like this.
[00:14:21] Melissa: Do you find that social enterprise as a business model is something that's growing or taking hold culturally? Are there other rebel nells that you're looking to or learning from?
[00:14:32] Amy P: I think social enterprises are on the rise and they are certainly a trend. They're incredibly challenging businesses to run because you put people at the same importance as your profit. And so your bottom line is it, you know, your margins are tough because you're putting a lot of effort into caring for your people as well as your customers. So you essentially like have two customers. You have to think of it that way. What's beautiful is this next generation that's coming are so socially motivated and this whole new group of conscious consumers are fascinating and they want transparency from companies and they want impact. And I love 'em for it because they are holding companies feet to the fire. There has to be a shift. But they're harder to run. And so it's just kind of like the consumers are pushing in that direction, trending in that direction, but the, you know, investment, the support. To help these businesses grow isn't quite there yet.
[00:15:27] Melissa: If there were a listener who has a social enterprise idea and is listening to this and is inspired by you, do you have any kind of words of wisdom or advice of where to start?
[00:15:37] Amy P: I would certainly not try and invent the wheel, reinvent the wheel. I, there are a lot out there, a great organization to tap into is Rediff on they're over, they're in San Francisco and they've really been on a forefront of being a champion for social enterprises, and they're a nonprofit and they offer a ton of support, and they're just a tremendous resource.
[00:15:57] I wish there were more rediffs on in the Midwest or even, you know, east coast, but they're really strong on the West coast. Go meet with a social entrepreneur. You'd be surprised how many are out there and just ask all the questions. Don't, you know, certainly walk before you leap and you know, that's what TEA also, so we founded TEA in 2016 to actually be a support. TEA is our, is a nonprofit partner that we founded, but now partner with. It's a completely separate organization, separate entity. But the purpose of TEA is to provide that support, to be that bridge between the participant hired by the social enterprise and the social enterprise to kind of create that safety net. So it's successful for both. And we found with a lot of work with Rediff is that, that is. Kind of critical to having a successful social enterprise. You need a little bit of support, cuz to do it all under one roof is really hard.
[00:16:48] Melissa: Is the idea for tea that eventually it would provide that service to other Rebel Nell
[00:16:54] Amy P: yes. So, Rebel nell was its beta test now I think TEA is up to four or five other companies. That it's working with. And especially with like workforce development becoming such a hot topic, TEA is there ready to roll and to work with organizations that are looking, what TEA does to is they provide, they have all the relationships with the shelters and the hiring or the referral partners as we call them. And then they also have the relationships with the hiring partners. So like Rebel Nell when we were ready to hire, we would go to TEA and say, TEA we are looking for two or three more women help us identify. So they would help source the women from the shelters. We would do the interview process. But then TEA also at the same time, they're onboarded by Rebel Nell they're onboarded by TEA to really understand what are those challenges. And then it's really up to rebel now and TEA to work together to ensure the success of the participant. So TEA now houses all of the education and our luncheon learns and they have case workers on staff and they're really the experts. And Rebel Nell is now paying for them to take the classes that are offered by TEA and that's how the support works. So it's actually, it's a beautiful model and works really well. We just need to get it a little bit more to scale. TEA is a nonprofit, so a lot of the funds are coming through donors, private donations, and we've have a, like an army of people that are supportive of what we're doing. So that's TEA. And then Rebel Nell is, we're a for-profit, we're an L three C, which is a limited low profit liability company. And I'm trying to prove that you can be business and put your people first. It's just a, it's just, it means nothing. Realistically. We're not taxed any different. I wish we got a break, but we don't.
[00:18:33] Melissa: But I do think these are some of the questions we're hearing from women that maybe wanna start a nonprofit or maybe want their corporation to have more of a giving arm.
[00:18:42] Amy P: There's many ways for different ways to skin a cat. You know, with a nonprofit, the challenge is there that you gotta have a board and things move slower and just takes time. And for me, the structure of a nonprofit would just, I mean, granted, I started TEA I get it, but my main focus, my day-to-day is running Rebel Nell. And it's a different beast like dealing with getting grants and, you know, you gotta be careful not to mission shift and with Rebel Nell that's the other thing. I I really, especially with what we're doing, I'm trying to teach women about sustainability for their own lives. And how can we, you know, move them out of poverty eventually and be sustainable. And so I wanted to also prove that as a business model, like that was really important to me. I also like the freedom to just run.
[00:19:29] Melissa: Can you share a success story or two of women that came through ne Rebel Nell and now are functioning at a much higher level or pursuing another dream?
[00:19:38] Amy P: Yeah, I think one of our most amazing stories is one of our first hires ever was Karen. She was incredible and she was just such a great, I'm grateful that she was our first three were all truly amazing. And we learned as much from them as they did from us. You know, Karen was, she was, in it. Like she really wanted to take the classes, wanted to learn everything. Always showed up and eventually graduated. Got her dream job and we helped with all of that. Now she serves on the board of tea, which I just think is such a cool full circle moment. A lot have gone on to like start their own businesses. Amazon has been a great placement for us. D t e's been a good placement for us. I have a great business partner, Diana. So she's been with me since the beginning and it's important to have a good business partner to like bounce ideas off of. I have a front of the house staff that's, Helps me with marketing and a lot of stuff that I don't fully understand in the digital ad space. But I am getting smarter because of my great team. Our production crew is really made up of our creative designers. So those are the many of the women that we transition out of shelter living and then a lot will stay. So while we graduate them out, we do graduate people internally at Rebel Nell, into higher jobs, into salary jobs. So that's also part of the puzzle. What else? Got a content creator and Kelly who helps with our, making sure all the orders go out on time. I'd be lost without my team.
[00:21:02] Melissa: So what about growth? It sounds like, I know we said at the front of this conversation that you're already doing all the things and you've already told everyone to stop you if you have another big idea. What do you see as the growth of the things you have your hands in now?
[00:21:17] Amy P: You know, I really, I see so much potential for Rebel Nell. I'm at this stage where it's been really challenging. The past three years have been really brutal on every facet of life. Right? And it has been for everybody. It's not on no exception to the rule, but it's been really hard to, I organize women's small business group here in Detroit. Just mostly is like an absolute get together safe space. And you know, we did one fairly recently and that was just healing in so many ways to know that you're not alone. I think it's very easy to feel like you're on an island. Everyone had a really tough year last year. And I feel that a lot of that was, we had to be so strong during Covid, you know, where everyone else got to have their mental breakdowns during Covid or their freakouts. We had to stay strong for our teams and in 2021, so many small business owners, like the economy wasn't quite ready for us. We were all preparing for a big fourth quarter. A lot of us took out money that we thought would be helpful, but turns out it wasn't the most helpful and we crashed, like absolutely lost our marbles. I did. I am, I'm speaking broadly, but I know for a fact for many others, but I, it was the darkest, some of the darkest times I've gone through have been, you know, in the past year. But then now you just start like, okay, warrior paint on, let's go. Let's go!
[00:22:37] Monica: So you've said that the jewelry makes you feel fierce, and I think in one post I read to you, you commented that even the dress you were wearing was by one of your makers. So I'm curious, Amy, is that something that as you think of Rebel now, the brand do you see yourself going into different categories?
[00:22:55] Amy P: Never say never, but I don't see us adding clothing anytime soon. We're adding more lifestyle goods and what's been really successful for us are like promotional items and corporate gifts. I think we, we hit a sweet spot and you know, my kind of my elevator pitch when I'm in these meetings is we're not your chip clip. We are not the plastic crap you give away with your logo on it. If that's what you're looking for, we are not that for you. And we can end the meeting right now. But if you're looking for something really meaningful and impactful that people will keep and they will wear and they will love and they will be proud of you as a company because you partnered with an organization like us. I am your person.
[00:23:30] Monica: Who says no to that?
[00:23:31] Melissa: I've been giving rebel Nell as graduation gifts for years now cause I have teenagers. So I'm in that phase of life of every June I'm going to graduation parties, and I think you kind of alluded to this, but younger people really get it. You know, if I give the gift to my mom or my mother-in-law, they're like, oh, it's jewelry. But if I give it to an 18 year old, Young woman going off to college. She, you know, reads the packaging and looks at the website and totally gets it. You know, especially like for big life moments, you know, to have gifts that last. Right. You're striking that chord for sure.
[00:24:05] Monica: Amy, what scares you the most as you face your business on a daily basis? Just from Ella and I just starting this kindling project, I can see the ebbs and flows, and I can see the moments where it's like why are we doing this? Let's just pack it up. You step over that fear and you keep going. You keep, like you mentioned earlier, but I'm curious for you in particular, what's keeping you up at night these days?
[00:24:27] Amy P: I have to narrow it down to just one? No. I think. You know, and everybody says, this is such a cop out answer that the fear of failure is real. And it's not a, I don't even think it's the fear of failure for myself. It's the fear of failure for everybody who believed in me and carrying that, you know, we have a smaller team now, but. Ambitious sales goals, and I wear that every minute of every day. I am pounding the pavement because I want so badly to do it for my team. I carry the weight of not only your family, but everybody else's that works for you. And then you're just like ever growing to-do list. It just burns a hole in your brain 24 7. But we're all that way. I lose, I would be lost without a to-do list.
[00:25:11] Melissa: Are you the sole salesperson in your organization?
[00:25:15] Amy P: Right now it's me and an incredible woman named Kim Blair, who a higher power landed her in my lap, and I'm forever grateful for her. She's great.
[00:25:23] Melissa: Was that a natural affinity for you? Because I know I, I'm just selfishly asking. I have a design agency. I also experienced basically 2020 to 2021 was a gigantic hit and I had been so reliant on word of mouth and reputation. There was no salesperson sitting here other than the work. The work spoke for itself. And so now I find myself in this spot of there's not a salesperson and I don't necessarily have an affinity for being the salesperson. You know, I'm the creative director. I'm kind of, more of a behind the scenes, you know, sensitive artistic type. So pounding the pavement like you describe feels like a torture. But then it's that responsibility for others. Like if I don't go out and sell it, I might have to let a writer go who's worked for me for 11 years. I'm curious if it came naturally or you just slogged through it till you got it?
[00:26:17] Amy P: Slogged through it. We've had a series of, and we've had a series of bad hires that really were detrimental to the business and I think when we had to do even our layoffs at the beginning of the year and we had to have a focus on if it wasn't sales forward, Then we had to really readjust and sales can save a company, sales can move a company. So that is, she came as a recommendation from my business partner. They had worked together. I'm always like it's funny, we always go back and forth, like you're always leery about like hiring your friends. But this one worked out great and now we kind of are back on the train of like only hire people we know because the ones we didn't know it didn't work out, so I, you never know. You bounce all over the place.
[00:27:00] Monica: So I'm wondering, Amy, I know that you're super busy selling your jewelry and how do you try to tie in the cafe? Do you do a lot of popups there to try to sell product?
[00:27:13] Amy P: Yeah, we do. We're close in proximity and we have a product line in there that's actually made from repurposed coffee beans, which I think is the coolest thing and we do a lot of popups there. Fortunately I have an incredible operating partner at the congregation who really allows me to only deal with like the really higher level challenges there. She handles the day-to-day cuz I couldn't, I would not be able to be here in front of you today if I had to also manage that as well.
[00:27:39] Monica: I can't help but to hear a exhaustion on in your voice of life. And I'm curious, I understand that you have a full house of loaded with your work. What do you do for self-care? Are you taking time for yourself? I just sort of need, feel like wanting to give you a big hug right now. I'm not sure why.
[00:28:00] Amy P: Oh, I would love it. I'm a hugger. Oh my gosh. And I think I struggled with, during covid not having that, I realized out through Covid how much that physical contact means. I'm a big hugger, so I would welcome it, Monica. Self care is something I preach and I am not the best act. And I'm trying to just, I think in our, in my head, I get caught up in like, well, if I can't do, if I can't climb a mountain, then what's the point of doing it? So I'm starting to wrap my head around, like, just going for a 20 minute walk in the morning is, that's okay. You can do it. I don't need to run five miles. Like I will talk myself out of it to be like, well, was it even worth it? I love paddle boarding and I love surfing. I live in Detroit, so surfing is not really an option here. But I go paddle boarding on the river. I spend a lot of time on Bell Isle is my happy place. I don't get over there, there nearly as much, but just being on Bell Isle is makes me happy. Spending time with my kid. I think that I just need to do a better job of separating, like, being really present for him.
[00:29:02] Monica: Listen, that guilt for the Mommy guild, never doing enough. Never goes away. You could be a full-time stay-at-home mom and it's guilt about something else. It's always there. Take it from someone who's got kids a little, you know, much older than you.
[00:29:15] Melissa: Yeah, and I explained it to my, I was explaining it to my son recently. Look, there's always an opportunity cost Miles. Whatever we decide to do, it means we decided not to do the other thing. And you're gonna have moments where you look back and you say, why didn't you do the other thing? And I was like, we just couldn't pick both of 'em. We gotta, we have to do one thing at a time. It's just motherhood. Right. And parenthood, I think.
[00:29:40] Amy P: You also have to like take it to like, I think with a grain of salt, like he did the family portrait the other day. Of course, you know, the first grader and mom's got her computer like, He drew it in and I was like, oh, son of a bitch.
[00:29:52] Melissa: At least it wasn't like a glass of wine twice the size of your head.
[00:29:56] Amy P: Right.
[00:29:57] Melissa: I've seen those.
[00:29:58] Amy P: Right, totally. I know. Totally. And I was like, you know what though? But mommy's working hard and building something amazing that hopefully he'll be, and he's proud of Rebel Nell he loves to share the story of Rebel Nell and he's proud of the congregation. I mean, my God, he lives there basically. So, He is gonna have a total, the thing, it's funny though he has no clue about church. Cause we call it sometimes call congregations church cause it was a church. You're like, yeah, no, we're gonna walk over the church. Someday he is gonna go to church and be so confused. You know, I got a great story about that. So when we bought the church we bought, we actually bought it from the church. They had left it, they had abandoned it and they moved out Detroit and it actually was insanely hard to find out who owns a church that's been abandoned in Detroit, cuz churches has changed names and I had been trying for a year, I would write notes under the door went down to search the records and just could not, it was all dead ends. And then one day I just had my son, so it was like I mean, six weeks after or eight weeks after. And I don't have to drive by it even though it's a block away from my house. I, my one exit takes me straight to my house, but I went the other exit to drive by it something, talk about that tug. Something told me to do it. There wasn't construction, no reason for it other than something told me to do it. And sure enough, I pull up and the doors are wide open and I called my husband and I was like, I'm going in the abandoned church. The doors are open. This is where I am. And he's like, just wait till I get there. I was like, not a chance. I've got our son. So I like grab and I run in there. Guy was in there and he said, Hey. I said, what's happening? You just, honestly, you wanna see these buildings being used in Detroit? I said, are they getting a congregation back together? Is there a church coming? He said, no. I got a random call from somebody from a church that said this is our listing or our property. Would you take a look at it and see if you can sell it? He's like, I don't even know if I can sell this. I was like, I have wanted to buy this church for so long. Sell it to me! He's like, you gotta be kidding me. I'm like, Nope. And so, but what was important, going back to like why I started this, is I wrote a note to the church and I wanted them to know my intention. I wanted them to know that I wasn't a pastor. I had no intention of starting another church. That was just important for me to let them know who was buying it. So I wrote a note and they wrote the nicest response back saying, your intentions to create a community gathering space are exactly why that building exists.
[00:32:17] Melissa: I love that. I'm kind of getting Monica bought into this dream, but I have a dream of buying, in my mind it's a one-room schoolhouse or an old school house, but another kind of congregation place for women to learn and self-care and grow. And so I always am out driving around looking for those abandoned one-room schoolhouse
[00:32:37] Monica: calls me all the time. There's a building, there's this. I'm like, okay, now
[00:32:40] Melissa: yeah, it's on my list. Yeah, and I know what you mean about like once you set your mind to it, you just have to keep driving by and asking the questions and.
[00:32:49] Monica: Amy, you seem like to be, a per person with such high character and such great intentions and ethics and just always doing good for the community. By the community. For the community. Is it hard for you? Listen, people aren't always as kind or as generous or whatever. How do you deal with disappointment? That, to me I personally enjoy volunteering, you know, giving back to the community, but I have learned that not all my peers are this way. It's because of whatever time, not wanting to or multiple excuses, but how do you deal with that disappointment in humanity?
[00:33:30] Amy P: That is a phenomenal question and talk about an area where I'm continuing to be a work in progress and be stronger. I'm an empath by just definition and you put so much time and love and energy into these businesses and you sacrifice so, so much for your families, for you're taking huge risks. You're risking your whole, like everything. When hater will show up and have a complete misconception to completely misread something or make one flip it judgment after like one visit to a store or something and decide to like blow up the internet. It is so hurtful. And you know, my business partners and I talk about this all the time because we spend so much energy, my, my knee jerk reaction is I wanna sit down with that person. I wanna understand where they're coming from and I wanna do better as a business owner. And I always reach out. I always find that person and I personally reach out and say, I'd love to, you know, buy you coffee or Can we sit down because I need to understand where, why you feel this way. And there's always opportunities for growth and for learning. It really does eat away at your soul. But I'm learning to, like, we gotta focus on the good. The good is so often overlooked and we don't put our energy into all the people that come and enjoy the businesses and all the people that thank us for opening and doing what we do in the community. Putting trust though in humanity, that's where I always end up going is that the world is inherently a good place. There's a lot of bad actors and there's a lot of bad people, and usually what they're going through, they're going through something and taking it out on you.
[00:35:02] Monica: But I do agree with you, Amy, that I believe in the goodness in people and you my friend, are an example of that. So thank you for being one of the good ones, the really good ones.
[00:35:12] Melissa: Thank you for sharing so much of your dream and your vision and your. Success story with us and with our listeners. We just absolutely appreciate it and love it.
[00:35:22] Amy P: I love you ladies. Thank you for doing what you're doing. You're sharing an incredible journey of so many other amazing women, and it's just, it's cool to be included and I'm grateful. I, it's because of, it's because of people like you that gives us an opportunity to share our stories and that is so valuable because we don't often get those opportunities. So thank you.
[00:35:44] Monica: So, how else can we serve you amy? Tell the listeners, tell them how can people support you, Volunteer, what are, give us the details.
[00:35:52] Amy P: My biggest thing is obviously think of Rebel Nell for all of your gifts, for your treat yourself moments, for your college graduations, your corporate gifts, we are the place to go for shopping. We now have a retail store behind the Shinola Hotel, which is really cool and we're about to launch, you guys get the top secret, the a make your own jewelry so you can actually come in and punch your own piece of graffiti and just come check out the congregation. It's a cool vibe. Great place to have conversation, meet some new people.
[00:36:21] Monica: It really is. Mel and I were there for the popup for that Kate and Mel had. So we had a lot of fun doing that.
[00:36:28] Melissa: Yeah. And we definitely put it on our list cuz we're planning events for 2024 and we're like, okay, this is definitely going on the list of a great place to have an event.
[00:36:36] Monica: We will definitely put all your socials and your handles on our show notes, so please, everyone check it out. And Amy, we never sign off our show without giving a final shout out through anyone in your life that has just done something special or means something. This week can be anything. Anyone.
[00:36:56] Amy P: Yes, of course. I, you know, the, this week is my husband. He doesn't get enough credit. I always, you know, thank the women in my life, but that, you know, yesterday we celebrating anniversary and he is a ride or die, and I'm lucky. This is not an easy life to live with somebody. And we're in it together and I'm fortunate for that.
[00:37:16] Melissa: You know what, Mick, my shout out this week is to you, I have had, as, you know, kind of a rough month or two, and so have you, and we're trying, we just graduated our two seniors this week. Just having a business partner who always has my back. That's the key.
[00:37:33] Monica: Oh, thank you. Mel, I feel the same way too. So I'm gonna shout out to you, Mel, to you Amy, to you know why? It's the strong women in my life that show up and To support and not judge and just to feel it. I feel super grateful for that. So thank you both. And listen listeners, Amy has defined to us exactly what it means to be a firestarter. Please remember that it only takes one spark to ignite the fire within. We can do this ladies. Thanks Amy. Thanks for joining us.