Clothing boutique focuses on family
Andrea Estep owns her own store, “Charlee Rose Boutique” as well raising two kids. Photo by Peyton McNorton
From the outside, the Agora Downtown Market looks like just another business in downtown Harrisonburg. But inside, it is a community full of seven small businesses inside one building, providing a unique place to shop.
Of the seven stores in the market, the owners and founders of Charlee Rose Boutique focus on their family.
Andrea Estep started Charlee Rose Boutique online in March 2018 and then a brick-and-mortar presence at Agora in October 2018.
Estep decided to name her business “Charlee Rose Boutique” after her two daughters.
“My first daughter is Charlotte (Charlee) Rose and my second daughter is Amelia Rose,” Estep said. “They are the reason for this namesake and also the inspiration behind this brand.”
Estep said she struggled a lot when she had her two kids and couldn’t find comfortable clothes for her to wear. Estep wants to help other young moms that are struggling with clothing that don’t fit them as well.
“I was a young mom when I had Charlotte and Amelia. After having two kids, I started gaining weight and I didn’t liked my body image at that time. It was difficult to find clothes for me to make me look and feel good,” Estep said. “I then started to set out to find affordable and on-trend clothing for other women for their sizes, because I also want to help others.”
Estep business get the clothes from vendors all over the U.S.
“It’s really nice to have a relationship with other businesses,” Estep said. “It’s just so fun working with other people that are doing the same thing as what I am doing.”
Not only has Estep had relationships with the clothing vendors, she is also close with all of the other workers at Agora.
“We’re pretty close,” Estep said. “We have meetings once a month and collaborate together and just help each other out.”
Although Estep is working her own business, she is also busy watching her two girls.
“It can be challenging at times,” Estep said. “The girls and my family have busy schedules, but I’m thankful for my husband that helps out a lot when I’m busy and I’m also thankful for my workers that will work for me.”
Estep’s shop, she said, is worth everything to her and it gives her freedom to raise her two girls.
“It is challenging at times, but I feel like I always learn something new everyday,” Estep said. “It’s very rewarding to see all of my hard work has paid off when I started with nothing.”
