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East Tennessee's Business Women

(2 votes)

Written by EW Staff

Friday, 01 August 2008

Next to New's manager, Martha Bryant, has had an interesting career. She became a pharmacist in the 70s then spent 35 years working in that field before switching to fashion.

When she and her husband returned to Knoxville after working in Alabama for four years, she decided it was time for a change even though she knew it was a risk. Acquainted with the owners of Next to New, she also knew a great opportunity when they asked if she'd like to take over running this store near West Town Mall which offers high-end, slightly used clothing.

In her previous career, Martha often managed an entire drug store. Laughing, she says, "For some reason people think that if you can fill a prescription, you can also sells cosmetics and T-shirts." But those skills have proven useful.

Martha believes that women need encouragement, saying, "Just because we haven't done something doesn't mean we can't." She adds, "You have to find the skills that you didn't know you had." An art lover, she's worked in pen and ink for years and was pleased to discover that the same creativity flows in fashion.

She also enjoys being able to help her customers and tells the story of a recent sale. A customer brought in the high-end dress she'd recently worn on a cruise and showed everyone a photo of her wearing it on the ship. Soon, a young mother with two children came into the store and was able to buy the dress because it was being passed on.

Her new career has turned out well and, Martha says, "My goal is to maintain the quality people have come to expect at Next to New."

Martha Bryant, manager of Next to New, located at 7212 Kingston Pike in Knoxville. Phone 865.584.2878

Cherie Welsh of Digitize It Now works with her husband Derek in their business which helps people transfer memories recorded on older technologies onto new, digital technologies. She says, "Derek's the idea man and he's always been the idea man. I fine tune the day-to-day." A former surgical nurse, she takes the skills she used in her earlier career to keep everyone on track today. Cherie adds, "I'm very structured."

Her role in the business keeps her busy as she screens and hires employees, helps instruct new employees and handles the business's books. She also enjoys helping clients with their projects such as combining wedding photos with the perfect music to turn them into a movie and a great gift. Her creativity also extended to designing Digitize It Now's interior. She drew the design for the architect and carpenter and chose everything from the brick wall with the fountain that you see when you enter to the dark chocolate hardwoods and turquoise accents inside.

The couple has two boys, ages 3 and almost 6, and Cherie says, "I'm definitely a full time mom. I'm juggling business and parenthood." Here's a tip for other busy parents; to stay organized, she has a white dry erase board. She explains, "That's how I keep up with things, make sure everything important is taken care of."

Life as an entrepreneur suits Cherie. "I enjoy the challenges of doing new things every day. I have to be able to multi-task and think totally out of the box." The goal for Digitize It Now is to have branches throughout Knoxville and eventually in other states. About her life, Cherie says, "It's a wonderful journey. A very busy, wonderful journey."

Cherie Welsh, owner of Digitize It Now, located at 12752 Kingston Pike, Suite 103 in Knoxville. Phone 865.686.5756

Some people would think that transitioning from a career as a nurse to a career in interior design would be difficult, but for Carole Brailey it seems like a natural progression.

"A lot of people think that nursing and interior design don't have anything to do with each other, but they really do. In nursing I helped people have better health, and now I help people have a better home."

Brailey moved from nursing to design because of the desire to be her own boss. "I wanted to do something different that didn't require the hours and the scheduling. I wanted to do something more self-directed."

After she decided to leave her job as a nurse, Brailey completed her design education at the New York School of Interior Design and at Atlanta College for the Applied Arts. She is a Tennessee registered interior designer and a professional member of the Interior Design Society.

She opened her own business immediately upon graduating, and she owned several stores in her first few years of being in the business, including owning the first retail shop in Tellico Village.

A few years later, Brailey sold her business in Tellico Village. She had plans to retire, but her passion for design wouldn't let her rest.

"I tried to retire, but I just couldn't. The retail bug bit again!"

This was the beginning of Carole's Interiors & Gifts. Brailey opened this shop in the Renaissance Center a year ago, and she recently relocated to her new Campbell Station location in order to gain more foot traffic and business in general.

Carole's Interiors & Gifts offers a wide variety of furniture and accessories, including mirrors, lamps and artwork. In addition to home furnishings, she sells men's and women's gifts along with baby items.

"Everyone should be proud of their home and be able to represent themselves through design, and I enjoy helping people do this."

Carole Brailey, owner of Carole's Interiors & Gifts, located at 607 N. Campbell Station Road in Knoxville. Phone 865.671.2220

Jennifer Douglas is co-owner of one of Knoxville's trendiest clothing stores, Elle Boutique. Since opening the boutique in May of 2007, Douglas and her best friend and business partner, Sarah Reid, have been dressing women in unique brands of clothing and accessories not readily found in other Knoxville stores.

As young girls, Douglas and Reid shared a love for fashion. "Sarah and I have known each other for over thirteen years, and I can even remember times in high school where we'd casually talk or joke about how we would like to open a boutique together," said Douglas.

After both girls completed college, they realized their dream of opening a boutique was still alive. Douglas said, "About three years ago, we started seriously discussing opening some sort of clothing business together. There were times we were anxious about the unknown, but we knew that we had to do this. It was amazing to see how things just started to fall into place, and we knew this was right. We are very blessed to be able to do what we do, and it's even more evident in hindsight that this was right for us."

"For us," continued Douglas, "being women in business isn't necessarily how we think of ourselves - we love what we do and, most of the time, it doesn't seem like work! When starting our business, it was so helpful to us to talk to other women in business about their experiences, what did and didn't work for them. Advice from others who have been there before was and continues to be invaluable. We are always learning, and the longer we are in business, the better idea we have about our niche and customer."

Jennifer Douglas, co-owner of Elle Boutique located at 11384 Parkside Drive in Knoxville. Phone 865.675.2901

Sarah Reid is co-owner of Elle Boutique, a high-end clothing store that is fast becoming the favorite boutique of fashion minded shoppers in and around Knoxville. Reid's partner is her childhood friend, Jennifer Douglas. While Reid and Douglas shared a love for fashion as girls and sometimes talked of one day owning a boutique-Reid's desire to own her own shop was inspired by her grandmother.

"I grew up in North Carolina where my grandmother owned a women's clothing store for over forty years. I always enjoyed going to the store and helping her; I loved being there and a part of her business," said Reid. "I always thought this might be what I wanted to do in the future! We moved to Knoxville when I was in the fourth grade, but when we would go back and visit my grandmother in the summer, I always wanted to spend most of my time at her store."

Reid went to college at the University of Tennessee and graduated with a degree in Retail and Consumer Science. After completing a number of internships at several smaller businesses, many of them locally owned, she and Douglas decided to follow their dreams of owning their own business.

"We first started with the idea of a bridal boutique," said Reid, "but we realized how much we loved the fashion world and thought a women's boutique was much more suitable for the two of us! It's been a learning process but a very fun, rewarding experience so far! We are very blessed to be able to do this together, and we look forward to what is in store for us in the years to come!"

Sarah Reid, co-owner of Elle Boutique located at 11384 Parkside Drive in Knoxville. Phone 865.675.2901