arch is Women’s History Month and supporting local women-owned businesses is a great way to celebrate. Women were excluded from the business world until 1988, when Congress passed the Women’s Business Ownership Act eliminating state laws that required married women to have their husband’s signature for all bank loans. Since then, women have still had many challenges to face in the work field including wage inequalities, exclusion in male-dominated fields and breaking glass ceilings.

“We work twice as hard, and get paid less,” Anna Schram, the owner of Redhead Apothecary said. “There are a lot of challenges women face, inequalities in the workforce which is why I decided to do what I did.”

Schram is a female veteran and partners with other female veterans and entrepreneurs as suppliers. She also lends support to female veteran businesses if they need help with marketing, building websites or business advice. “Everything is women-driven and I love that. Us female veterans tend to find each other.” Shram said.

Redhead Apothecary is a one-stop-shop for natural, holistic wellness products. Schram sells sensitive skin care products, hand-poured soaps, herbal teas, essential oils, incense, sage, books and much more.

Schram also has a men’s specific bath and skin care line.

She even carries many products from Ireland to represent her heritage and Celtic roots. Schram said that redheads will visit the store specifically because of the name and the products she carries that are perfect for sensitive skin issues that many redheads face. There is a ‘Red Wall’ by the door with polaroid photos of redheads that have shopped in the store.

Schram started making handmade products out of necessity after her daughter was born. She said that she has always had sensitive skin, but once it was apparent that her daughter had similar issues she began finding recipes to make her own natural alternatives to skin, bath and baby products. Schram’s daughter, Kayla Kidd helps out at the shop as well.

“Being in the military, a male-dominated field, you learn that you want to be the change you want to see,” Schram said.

Haven Lee Boutique opened their doors two years ago, originally in a partnership with Redhead Apothecary. Haven Lee Boutique is a trendy women’s fashion boutique located next to the Brown County Welcome Center in Nashville.

“My passion is to help women feel beautiful in all walks of life,” Susan Wagler, owner of Haven Lee Boutique said, “to help create every woman’s unique style.”

Haven Lee Boutique carries women’s clothing with sizes ranging from small to 2XL and styles changing with the seasons. Haven Lee Boutique makes fashionable styles accessible without having to travel or break the bank.

Wagler said that she loves being a business owner because every day brings something new. The largest constants at Haven Lee Boutique are the fashionable styles in her revolving inventory and the changes she makes with the store layout.

Wagler said she loves seeing other businesses in Brown County owned by women.

“I think it’s very empowering not just for myself, but to see other women succeed. I think it changes your community, it changes your family dynamics.”

Haven Lee Boutique is very centered around family.

“It is definitely giving me the freedom and flexibility to be more available. My daughter will help me part-time, my daughter-in-law too. And my husband made all the fixtures in here so it’s very much family oriented.” Wagler said.

Wagler said that she loves being a business owner, but having a business comes with it’s own challenges.

“When you open a business, that does not mean it’s a guaranteed profit, so your overhead and initial cost to open is a challenge for a lot of women,” Wagler said, “and to be able to dedicate a lot of time because you are going to be quitting a job to open a business. It’s a challenge and it’s a lot of time, but it’s worth it.”

Sometimes the best business ideas come when you are least expecting them. For Mandy Hall at Lakehouse Candle Company, that couldn’t be more true. “I started my business in November 2020,” Hall said. “I was a professor at Butler and we had a long break because of COVID. Serendipitously, I had a friend with a business and he was looking for someone to make candles. I thought I could try that so I bought the supplies and started making them at my house and selling them.”

Lakehouse Candle company specializes in soy wax candles without carcinogens and other hazardous chemicals. Hall’s candles are completely natural and hand poured in the shop. She also sells wax melts, wax melter liners, wick trimmers and gift baskets. The candles come in different sizes and scents ranging from Banana Nut Bread to Sunwashed Linen. There are even seasonal scents to keep your house smelling fresh all year long!

Lakehouse Candle Company is nestled in the heart of Nashville between a few other women-owned businesses like the Cheeky Owl, the Nashville Fudge Kitchen and Redhead Apothecary. Hall said they have all become friends since having their businesses so close. “I think it’s great (owning a business) in a community of women-owned businesses all the shops around me are women, we support each other. They have been great mentors to me. We even park together.” Hall said.

Hall said that her dream was to open a shop at retirement age, but she was able to accomplish that much sooner. She said that some people will assume her husband is the owner or co-owner because he helps out in the shop sometimes, but he will always correct them.

“This is my first business, so I don’t have much to compare it to but I would imagine one of the obstacles (women-owned businesses) face is that some people don’t think women have the sense for finances, insurance, what to invest in, etcetera. There’s an assumption that if there’s a man in the picture, like your husband, he is probably the one doing all that.”

Hillary Key at the Toy Chest has had very similar experiences with being underestimated as a young woman-busines owner.

“People will tell me about my husband’s business,” Key said. “There’s a constant undertone where people will act like it’s his business and I just run it for looks and fun. As I get older, there is more respect there, but there are always those times when things aren’t taken seriously or are pushed and my husband wants to step in, and I know it would be taken more seriously. But I have to say ‘no’. This is my battle to fight. Sometimes we have to work a little harder to be taken seriously like I’m the woman in charge. There are a lot of challenges, but one major perk of being a woman-owned business is I’m the boss.”

Key opened the Toy Chest a decade ago when she was only 24 years old. Because of her age, many people did not take her seriously. She said she feels like she faced more challenges because of her age than her gender, but being a young woman with a business was not an easy start.

“I had to learn that being a girl who likes pink is not a weakness,” Key said. “I like flowers (see my wallpaper), chocolate and Taylor Swift. If that makes me the biggest female Millennial stereotype possible, that’s fine. I’m more productive if I accept that and don’t try to change or hide it. When we moved the store last year, I was able to explode my identity into the design of the store with the colors, the lighting, the wallpaper, the flooring, and it was so empowering to be able to take this business, which is such a big part of who I am and make it truly represent me. I wouldn’t have had the confidence to do that before I learned to own my identity as a female business owner. As a female business owner, I think it’s important that the image I’m putting forward is truthful. Some days my kids are home from school and have to be around the store. My daughter’s hair is always tangly. My kids made their pumpkins into turkeys in November because I was too busy at work in October to help them carve them into jack-o-lanterns. If I decide not to hide imperfections, I can hope it makes any women watching have more realistic expectations of themselves. “

Key said that it is important for her to make good decisions about who she has around her, and to ask them for help when she needs it. She said that who she chooses as a partner, employee and friend dictates what type of support she has in her life.

The Toy Chest is Indiana’s oldest independent toy store. It has been in three different locations in Nashville during its 51 years and is now on the corner of Van Buren and Franklin streets.

“I was in a position of extreme privilege where the people I bought the store from were willing to work with me when I didn’t have established credit or anything.” Key said.

The Toy Chest has all types of games, puzzles, dolls, puppets, educational toys, crafts and more. One thing that sets the store apart is the custom packaging options. The custom package option allows customers to order a themed box, leave details about who they are shopping for and pick up the perfect gift for any birthday or holiday.

Key said that she wanted redefine what a gender neutral store could look like. Instead of neutral colors like yellow and green, she designed the store with pastel paint and floral designs, elements generally attributed to femininity.

“Do you know what happened?,” Key said. “We get as many design compliments from men as we do from women. I’ve learned gender neutral isn’t a color, it’s an attitude of acceptance. It’s creating an environment where whether you’re a girl who likes glitter or monster trucks or a boy who likes purple or dinosaurs, we see the same power and potential (and nothing that needs changed) in every single person. I have learned that there is endless potential in being a female business owner, and the truer I am to myself, the more I can realize that potential.”

One woman that has been very true to herself even when opening her business seemed nearly impossible was Susan Spagnuolo the owner of the Bear Wallow Distillery.

The Bear Wallow Distillery was the first craft distillery in Indiana opening in August 2014. “We actually helped get the law changed to allow craft distilleries in Indiana,” Spagnuolo said.

“We’ve been in Brown County for almost 10 years now. It was fun, it’s been a fun 10 years. It’s gone really fast.”

Spagnuolo explained that the difference between a craft distillery and regular distillery is that craft distilleries allow for businesses to sell their products where they make them. Not only can people take tours and sample the whiskey, they can also purchase bottles directly from the distillery.

“That’s the difference between a distillery and a craft distillery, we have the ability to sell bottles to customers that come in,” Spagnuolo said. “And we have un-aged Whiskeys, we have Bourbon and Rye, and we have flavored Hoosier Hooch Moonshine so we kind of run the whole gamut of whiskey. Whatever type of whiskey you like we’ve got something that will fit the bill and then we make cocktails, seasonal cocktails with all of our Whiskeys so people will come in and have a tasting flight, they’ll have a cocktail, on Saturdays we do tours and then they can purchase.”

Spagnuolo said they will be celebrating their 10-year anniversary all year by releasing their oldest eight-year-old Bourbon. Spagnuolo lives in Columbus and said that she and her husband fell in love with Brown County.

“We were kind of tourists over here for a while, we loved going to the wineries and the breweries here whenever we had company we would come. One day we were actually vacationing in Asheville, North Carolina and we saw a small craft distillery there. I didn’t know you could do craft distilleries on a small-scale. I’d never seen a small distillery, we’d been to the big distilleries. And I literally just looked at my husband and I said ‘that would be cool in Brown County’ because I knew there was moonshining and stuff here and so it was this little seed of an idea.”

Spagnuolo said they came back home and immediately started researching how to open a craft distillery in Brown County.

“The first wall we hit was when we found out it wasn’t legal to operate craft distilleries here in Indiana at the time. So it took us about two-and-a-half years to help get the law changed. We didn’t do it by ourselves but we got involved with a group (of business owners). There were other people who were thinking the same way I was … we just had to work with the Indiana Legislature to allow them to do that here in Indiana. We were actually the first ones to open Aug. 1, 2014 was our first day of business. This year will be 10 years that we’ve been open.”

Spagnuolo said that during the pandemic they were able to produce hand sanitizer for the community to sell and donate. Because they were considered essential workers, the distillery was able to stay open during the shutdown.

“Brown County is a great place to own a business because of the support it had from the beginning. From day one, there was lots of support.” Spagnuolo said. She said that being a woman does not affect her running a business and that there have not been any obstacles in the industry because of her gender.

“Being a woman doesn’t affect running a distillery on a day-to-day basis either negatively or positively. It’s just not something that you see very often, a little bit more and more. It’s not such a rarity anymore. The biggest thing that has been kind of funny as a woman-business owner is it surprises people. And then they just assume that I don’t know anything about Whiskey so they’ll try to lob me some questions to kind of see what I know. Then they’re always kind of pleasantly surprised because maybe they think I’m just a front for it, I’m not really involved, when they know that I know what I’m talking about, then it’s always a positive experience.”

Brown County has many more woman-owned business including Brown County Bikes, Nashville Fudge Kitchen, Kith and Kindred, Foxfire Boutique, Common Grounds, Abe’s Too Cute Corner Boutique, New Leaf and many more.