Anna Schram and Susan Wagler have joined forces to bring confidence and empowerment to shoppers in Brown County.
Schram owns Redhead Apothecary (named after her and her daughter’s hair color), which sells a wide variety of handmade skincare products and Haven Lee Boutique is owned by Wagler, who sells clothing, jewelry and accessories.
The two separate businesses not only share a storefront, but a common goal to empower and bring confidence to their shoppers.
“The giving back, helping and mentoring others has been worth it. You get women and girls of all ages who come in and have issues with their body,” Wagler said.
“We will try to help them see the beauty in who they are. It’s very rewarding.”
Wagler has been the owner of Haven Lee Boutique since January of 2021, after taking it over for a friend.
The shop was originally in Loogotee, southwest of Brown County, so Wagler was commuting more than an hour from her home in Morgantown.
Wagler then worked at the Nashville Spice Company, which she said was “business 101,” learning from owners Greg Fox and Mark Schmidt.
After pandemic lockdowns, she knew she wanted to try something different.
Being a boutique owner or even a clothing designer has been a dream of Wagler’s for years, and she found herself at a stage of life that allowed her to pursue that dream.
Before Nashville Spice Co., Wagler had been a server at Out of the Ordinary for five years, where she met Schram.
Schram said the two hit it off.
Schram is a Brown County transplant, moving from Greenfield with her husband eight years ago.
She’s also an United States Army veteran and worked in the IT department for Community Hospital in Indianapolis, where she retired four years ago.
After her retirement, she and her husband planned on traveling, then COVID hit.
She has always created her own skin products, coming from a family which has always been in the soap-making game because of their own skin issues like eczema or psoriasis.
Family members found that many popular products from larger brand names would irritate their skin, so Schram decided to enter into the business professionally.
During the pandemic she found herself wanting to do something for other female veterans and entrepreneurs.
Her daughters work in the health care industry, and called her asking for sanitizer and face masks, so she started producing sanitizers to send to other nurses.
“I decided we need a business to set up to help other females — veterans or not — that’s how it started out. Bored at home due to COVID.”
Then began the process of building her own business: Redhead Apothecary.
“It was one of the things we could do to help give back,” she said.
She has plans to break into hair care products.
Connecting with Wagler, who was ready to bring Haven Lee a bit closer to home, the two found a storefront in Nashville.
They found the old location of Ooey Gooey Cinnamon Rolls and So Much More on Washington Street, in the Brown County Visitor’s Center building.
Soon they were hard at work, revamping the space with new flooring, paint, a handwashing sink and a fitting room.
In March, they opened for business.
“It’s working out really great,” Schram said.
“It’s a lot of fun. We get to meet a lot of interesting people. …I think for two separate businesses we pulled it off pretty well.”
Her daughter, a registered nurse, also helps with the business, doing online marketing and helping to come up with soap names.
In addition to soaps, bath bombs and beard oil, the shop carries sage sticks, which are not just for witches, Schram said. They make great bug repellent when thrown into a fire.
The Redhead Apothecary and Haven Lee Boutique each have their own signature scent of soap at the store, too.
Wagler’s own style shines through the merchandise, in classic and trendy clothing and accessories. Most sizes run small through extra large.
They offer a 10% discount for veterans.
For Schram, the most important thing is to help other women, whether they’re offering support to customers or other businesswomen.
“Women have to work harder for a lot of things in their lives, whether in the military or not,” she said.
In the military she saw not only physical differences between men and women, but in the IT world too.
“It’s a male-dominated profession. We have to work harder, we have to prove ourselves, a lot of them think we have to be home making cookies. I love making cookies, I love to bake. But I also have an education and years of experience.
“I can run my own cable and set my own house up, or my own business. I wanted to use those skills without being under somebody else and trying to help other women.”
She said too many people forget to “stop and help the next person in line.” At this point in her life that’s all she has time to do, she said.
Schram said she and Wagler love working with ladies and helping them walk out of their store happier and more comfortable with themselves.
“You hear so many coming out of the fitting room,” Wagler said.
“’I don’t like my arms, I don’t like this.’ I think we all have that one area but it shouldn’t affect your entire being. My favorite is when they come out and ask if they can wear something right away. ‘Yes you can! I’ll take the tag off and you can wear it out the door.’”
