Owning a small business runs in Halie Conyers’ family. Her paternal grandfather owned car dealerships in Detroit. Her maternal grandfather operated an open-pit barbecue restaurant in Inkster, which her parents reinvented and ran for many years.
Unsurprisingly, when Halie started making a serious run at opening her own business in 2019, her family rallied around her. With that support, she translated a passion for jewelry-making and a fine arts education from the University of Wisconsin-Madison to Halie & Co, which specializes in producing handmade jewelry, candles, and other items.
That family support and her entrepreneurial work ethic has been critical to growing from sales generated solely on Instagram to sporadically selling her products in retail pop-up markets in the area.
“I would not be here if I did not have the help from my family when I got into the markets,” said Halie. “My aunts and uncles were coming over to help me pour candles for six hours straight every single night.”
However, while setting her sights on eventually opening a permanent brick-and-mortar store Detroit, Halie has also turned to the entrepreneurship ecosystem supported by NEI.
The first big step came via the Gilbert Family Foundation’s Downtown Detroit Markets. There, Halie connected with NEI-grantee TechTown Detroit, which provided critical mentorship through the transition and helped her develop plans to maintain inventory through 10 weeks.
“This was invaluable because I had come from only weekend pop-up markets and just making what you need to get through a day,” said Halie. “It’s a different mindset, having a mini storefront.”
From there, Halie landed in Retail Bootcamp, an intensive 12-week program by NEI grantee TechTown that prepares serious entrepreneurs for opening their brick-and-mortar establishments in Wayne County. “I wouldn’t be where I am today without the programs that TechTown has to offer,” said Halie.
Via another NEI grantee, the Accounting Aid Society, Halie also completed the THRIVE program, which focuses on minority- and women-owned businesses and provided her 10 months of business coaching and support. Halie participated as an entrepreneur in the U-M Detroit Neighborhood Entrepreneurs Project’s +Impact Studio for Local Business (+ISLB) summer internship program, where she received assistance on creating a point-of-sale system from the NEI grantee.
“I just shout from the rooftop to anyone that I know that there’s so many organizations that are founded solely to help (small businesses) be successful,” said Halie. “Once you’re in, you get connected to everybody.”
The support has helped her business expand as Halie & Co. now has a 300-square-foot accelerator space allowing her to sell items Thursday through Sunday at Eastern Market, a NEI grantee. It is the next step toward her goal of opening a permanent store in Detroit – and following in those entrepreneurial footsteps forged by the previous generations.
“I had no idea this level of support existed. I learned that literally right next door, everywhere you look, there are all of these organizations that are here to help small businesses now,” said Halie Conyers, Founder & Owner of Halie & Co.
Learn more about the business at halieandco.com.