Hi, I’m Cherie—and Shop Local Co started with hair bows. Literally.
After having our second child (two down, two to go!), I was soaking up the stay-at-home mom life but needed a creative outlet that didn’t involve fruit snacks or folding tiny socks. One Pinterest rabbit hole later, I taught myself how to make hair bows. Even without a daughter at the time, I was putting them on nieces, neighbor kids, and probably any toddler who stood still long enough. People started asking for custom ones—and just like that, I was in business.
What started at local craft fairs turned into my first handmade product business. I got an LLC, built a website (with help from my husband, Robert—who luckily is a web developer), and started selling online as well. Eventually, I made it onto Amazon and into a few retail stores. Things were going well.
But the big turning point came during a holiday craft fair… in a snowstorm. Just one customer showed up the whole time. One. I called Robert and said, “Bring the kids. Let’s support these businesses.” As they shopped from the other vendors, I realized just how many incredible business owners were sitting behind tables, unseen and unheard, hoping to make sales when no one would see their goods.
That day, we had a new idea: what if these vendors could reach customers every day, not just at events? What if we built an online marketplace that felt local—where their stories mattered as much as their products?
So we did.
We launched our first local marketplace supporting the makers in our community. Then we joined a startup accelerator to bring the concept to more communities. By 2018, we were working with chambers of commerce in two states to help small businesses get found and grow together online.
Then came 2020—and suddenly, the need for an online way to shop local exploded. Our marketplaces expanded across the country, supporting 26 states and counting.
But our evolution didn’t stop there.
We realized communities didn’t just need e-commerce—they needed connection. So we leveled up with our 2.0 platform: a digital hub for events, services, products, announcements, requests—you name it. Now, Member Marketplace powers vibrant ecosystems across the U.S. with local partners like chambers of commerce, economic development orgs, main streets and SBDC’s.
Shop Local Co is our new initiative starting in 2025, and it gives us a way to go straight to small businesses and community members without the need for a local partner. This is a movement, to empower connection from the heart of the business owners trying so hard to stay in business, make their dream continue, and do it with a collective of people that care.
It’s all still powered by that same heart: supporting the small businesses that make our communities feel like home.
And it all started with some hair bows, a booth, and a snowstorm.
Today, Cherie is raising her four kids in Marion, Iowa with her husband Robert. While continuing to raise her family and grow her business, Cherie is working to become a published author, as well.