It’s been a big year for Nashville newcomer Caitlyn Combs: She got engaged, is getting married this weekend and she recently opened a business on Main Street.

Combs, 23, graduated with an associate’s degree in 2019 then went on to get her bachelor’s degree in elementary education. Two weeks into the BA program, she decided it wasn’t what she wanted anymore.

She decided to continue working as a preschool teacher and continue building her creative business of hand lettering and calligraphy on the side.

It soon became her main focus.

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Combs and her mother were walking around town in January and walked into an antique shop behind the Old State Bank building on Main Street.

Combs began sharing with the owner, Linda Hoff, the work that she does on canvas, wood and more. Hoff said that she had space available and showed Combs the large back portion of the building.

Hoff then took Combs and her mother to the empty storefront right on Main Street.

“When I walked in, I started crying,” Combs said.

It was exactly what she pictured. She used to come down here often in the fall with her family. She even had her first date with her fiancé in Nashville.

“At first I didn’t think I could do it,” she said. “I had just dropped out of school. How was the money going to work out? But it just all fell into place from there.”

Combs began renting out the space, fixing things up and painting the 1906 building that has been a post office, candy store, scooter and wheelchair rental store and more.

Her plan to open on March 21 was put to a brief halt with stay-at-home orders due to the pandemic. But now her store, Sweet Meraki Designs, is open.

Visitors to the shop will find curly lettering with inspirational quotes, Bible verses and more on canvas, wood, cards, ornaments and burlap tote bags.

Combs makes everything in her store with the exception of a few antique items.

“I’ve always been into art and took art classes, but I stopped when I got into sports,” she said. “I doodled all the time, drawing quotes.”

When people began encouraging Combs to set up an Etsy shop, she did and came up with the store’s unique name in the process.

Combs said that Etsy shops need to have unique names, so she was looking up words that might mean something to her. She came across the word “meraki” (pronounced, may-rah-kee) on Pinterest.

A sign that she made hangs behind the cash register with the meraki definition: “To do something with soul, creativity or love, to put yourself in your work.”

“I found the definition of ‘meraki,’ and thought, that’s what I do,” Combs said.

Most everything in the store is handmade by Combs, with the help of her soon-to-be husband Brad Gallagher.

“Brad helps cut the wood, makes canvas trim,” she said. The couple is in the process of building a home in Morgantown and will use spare lumber as art supplies.

“We tear down barns and use scraps,” Combs also said.

Combs and Gallagher became engaged in April and are getting married this weekend on friends’ property.

Combs said she’s been told that it’s “crazy” to own a shop in Nashville and get married in October.

“I always wanted a fall wedding and I didn’t want to wait a year and a half,” she said. “It’s been a crazy year, why not throw in something else?”

Combs said that even though planning everything at once has been a little stressful, it’s been worth it.

“Business has been amazing,” she said. “I am blown away, especially starting in the middle of all this craziness, the first year of business.”

Combs said that she’s become good friends with Emily Wamsley who recently opened the Brilliance Gallery in Nature’s Cabin. They’ll ask each other how business is going at their shops.

“It’s been really nice,” Combs said.

Combs is looking forward to the future including launching a website in November. The goal for the site is to be a sort of portfolio for people to look at when custom ordering signs, gifts and even wedding packages for couples to have signs on their special day.

Someday, she hopes to own her own place, but she wants to stay small.

“It can get overwhelming, since I make everything,” she said.

Keeping up with inventory can be difficult, but Combs said that it’s a “good problem to have.”

“I’m excited for the off-season to get caught up.”

She’s also directing some attention to social media, but mostly focuses her efforts to her storefront, interacting with customers.

Though the saying goes that you should never ask a woman’s age, Combs said she receives a lot of comments about being a young business owner.

“All the time,” she said when asked how often people comment on how young she is. “A lot of older customers think it’s awesome.”

Pursuing her dreams early is something that comes naturally to Combs.

“I’m the type of person who will get an idea and want to do it right away,” she said.

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Location: 76 E. Main St.

Hours: Wednesdays and Thursdays, 10 a.m. to 4 p.m.; Fridays and Saturdays, 10 a.m. to 5 p.m.; Sundays, 11 a.m. to 4 p.m. Closed Mondays and Tuesdays.

Facebook and Instagram: @sweetmerakidesigns

Phone: 317-726-6401

Email: [email protected]

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