By Evan Belanger
The Decatur Daily, Ala.
WWR Article Summary (tl;dr) I love these two sisters who are making their dream of owning a boutique come true! While for now, the business has limited hours,(one sister goes to school and the other has a full time job) the boutique is up and running! WAY TO GO!
EAST LIMESTONE
Sisters Ambria Ridgeway and Adrienne Wright are young for business owners.
Ridgeway is just 26 and works full time for an aviation contractor at Redstone Arsenal. Wright is 23 and is a full-time student at Athens State University, majoring in accounting.
But they haven’t let age or their other activities stand in the way of their entrepreneurial spirit, opening Camille’s across the street from East Limestone High School on East Limestone Road.
Opened Aug. 27, the boutique offers men’s and women’s clothing, shoes, embroidery and vinyl lettering services, locally made jewelry, and honey farmed by local beekeeper Will Preston.
Their clothing line includes New South Rags, an Athens-based clothing brand that features hand-drawn T-shirt designs inspired by locals’ Southern upbringings.
“We incorporate a lot of local stuff in our product line,” Ridgeway said.
For now, the business has limited hours, open mainly in the evenings, but the sisters say they take advantage of traffic related to the nearby high school.
“The style and stuff that we carry is very big right now with the younger crowd and really all ages,” Wright said.
They also said they do a good embroidery and lettering business, making custom game-day gear for students at the high school. As the business grows, they hope to hire a staff and expand their hours.
Jennifer Williamson, president of the Greater Limestone County Chamber of Commerce, said Ridgeway and Wright are atypical of entrepreneurs.
“It’s definitely not the norm that people start a business while they’re in college, but a lot of people start thinking about it when they’re in college,” she said. “It’s incredibly exciting that they’re starting so young.”
Williamson said the chamber plans to announce a program in the spring designed to get more young people involved in entrepreneurship.
Ridgeway and Wright said they were inspired to start a business by Ridgeway’s husband, Dub Ridgeway. He started his own business, Ridgeway Transport, in 2013, when he was just 25.
“You’ve got to be dedicated. When you’re your own boss, you really work all the time,” Dub Ridgeway said of his auto transport business.
Ambria Ridgeway said the name Camille is actually her middle name.
