WHERE WE STARTED
While growing up on Mission Road in Prairie Village, Kansas, I was taught to do my part in and for this world. As far as I knew, my father founded the "reduce, reuse, recycle" philosophy. He then, and still, saves most everything, he gives away what he doesn't have room to save, and recycles what he can't give away. My parents are conscientious of our world and all that is in it. They open their home, table and hearts to everyone they meet. They live modestly, humbly share their gifts and are examples of kindness and love.
Inspired by my parents, I wanted to open a retail establishment that has purpose beyond just fabulous products at reasonable prices. I wanted to find a way to use retail as a means of giving back, a boutique for a better world. After years of planning, searching, wishing and dreaming we found our first brick and mortar in downtown Oconomowoc. Overwhelmed with excitement we filled it with what we call "purposeful products", items that are made and sold with the intention of doing good. We are continually looking for and adding new products with purpose, some of the lines we currently carry are Love Your Melon (improves the lives of children battling cancer), TOMS (invests ⅓ of their profits into grassroots efforts, organizations creating change at the local level and driving progress from the ground up), Sips Drinkware (dedicated to solving the water crisis in Uganda), Caus Stainless Steel Tumblers (a multitude of life changing causes), Joyn Bags and Prosperity Candles (fair trade organizations generating jobs and better lives for global makers), Ivory Ella (dedicated to saving the elephants). In addition to purposeful products we look forward to donating a portion of our profits each month to different charities, to date we have donated over $10,000 to our Missions of the Month. I'm proud to say, thanks to the support of people like you, we truly are Doing Good in Style.
WHERE WE ARE NOW
Mission Road Boutique is literally a dream come true but I'm a girl with many dreams and even more ideas. Building, creating, repurposing, refinishing, decorating and inspiring are all things I wanted to incorporate into this new venture but at 122 N. Main Street I was out of space. Well the opportunity gods must have heard me because one day, out of the blue, they dropped one at my door, actually just a few doors down. Another location that would have plenty of space for everything else that I've always wanted to do. The next morning I said to my husband, "you wanna do something crazy?". Being the incredibly supportive, equality optimistic, supporter of my crazy, man that he is, he said, "I love crazy." Then we rolled up our sleeves and got to work, excited to open another store. Two months went by and we had everything but a name. I knew I wanted this store to be the place you could come to buy gifts, the kind of gifts that turn your house into a home and the kind of gifts that translate into love and support for your people but what name relays that? We were out of time and had to decide on something. I wrote our four, not so great, brainstorms down on a piece of paper but felt I needed a fifth. The gods stepped in again, I randomly scribbled the Well, handed the paper to my husband and said, "just pick one". With a confused look he said what's the well, "I don't know, a place you go to get a wish to come true?". He said, "when I think of a well I think of a place you return to, over and over, to get something you need". DONE. The Well, gifts for your home and your people.
WHERE WE ARE GOING
NOT into a third location, I know that for sure! But hopefully, by launching this website we will be able to extend our reach. We look forward to gaining customers nationwide while improving the services and options we offer our local customers. Goals include establishing the Well to be the financial supporter of Mission Road Boutique resulting in more, if not all, of that revenue going to charitable organizations. We are beyond grateful for the support and relationships we have already established. We look forward to continuing to provide the very best products and service to both new and existing customers. Thank you for taking the time to ready our story, we hope to connect with you again soon.
