Like all businesses created out of a personal place, Hummingbird Boutique in Fort Smith is a reflection of its owners and a message to its customers speaking hope, faith and love.
Opened in 2020 by Michelle and Hailey Hadley, Hummingbird was nothing if not a leap of faith, created by a mother and daughter who had both vision and a desire to bring something unique to their community. “Hailey had the idea to open the boutique,” Michelle notes. “She wanted to do something to share her faith and her love of fashion. Meanwhile, I had the experience in business and the desire to do something meaningful with my time and my family. Together, our idea was to offer unique gifts including faith-based merchandise, stylish clothing that is on trend but not over the top, home décor, and anything with a positive message—all for a reasonable price.”
With bestsellers that include an almost equal amount of clothing, gifts, and jewelry from such brands as Splendid Iris, Christian Brands, Parkhill Collection, and Sympli, Hummingbird sells the perfect mixture of casual clothing including tee shirts, everyday wear, and dressy clothing, while the gift department is well stocked with books, devotionals, personal care items, home décor, and plants.
“At first, we thought we were going to have a very small place with some clothing and religious gifts,” Michelle explains. “As we fleshed out our plan and brought it to fruition, we looked at many location options, which were both fortunately and unfortunately plentiful during the peak of the pandemic. We knew how important our location would be for us professionally, but also personally, so we chose GreenPointe Shopping Center, which is conveniently located in the middle of all four of my kids’ schools. Once we picked the location, we found a space that was perfect for us, but it was much larger than we originally planned. The extra space unexpectedly provided us quite the opportunity for an expansion of our product mix.”
Unexpected expansion aside, Michelle and Hailey had a very specific vision in mind for décor and the type of atmosphere they hoped to create. “We just wanted our boutique to be a very peaceful place—especially if we were going to be spending so much time there!” Michelle says. “We knew we wanted to incorporate nature from the very beginning, and I guess that became an underlying theme. We had a challenging layout, with two suites that were only halfway open to each other, so we had to get really creative. We even designed a front counter that is twenty-five feet long to display plants inside and offer shelving and counter space that spans the two suites. Aside from the carpentry of that front counter, we did absolutely everything ourselves! We even deconstructed a bar and counter that was left behind from the previous owners. The two of us plastered, sanded, painted, stained, wallpapered, and even laid some additional floor tiles. I think we spent so much time in the space that it just became what it needed to be: an extension of us!”
Consequently, Hummingbird is very much a labor of love—which shows in every aspect of the business. And, looking at mother and daughter, it seems the apple has not fallen far from the tree. A serial entrepreneur, Michelle has been a business owner since the age of sixteen, when she and her now husband started a parking lot striping business in high school. She later owned children’s boutique Katiebug’s while her kids were small. Now, Hailey is following in her mother’s footsteps, diving into business ownership at the age of seventeen.
“This is Hailey’s first rodeo in retail, but she has so many ideas,” says Michelle. “She’s incredibly passionate about this and working together has been a blessing. Honestly, we weren’t sure how it would go. Would we drive each other crazy? Disagree on merchandise? Be able to separate mother/daughter and business partner relationships? Surprisingly, it has been better than we could’ve imagined. Sure, we don’t always have great days or agree on styles we should buy. We do, however, see eye-to-eye on almost everything. Not only that, but we also think our differences actually make us even stronger. It took us a few months to figure it out, but we soon discovered that the inventory items—especially clothing—that we both agree on buying, turn out to be the best sellers. Now, we don’t buy anything unless we both agree on it—even if it’s something that one of us really loves!”
Naturally, Michelle and Hailey each play their respective roles in the business, each geared toward their strengths. With regards to daily operations like entering inventory into the POS system and on their website, Hailey focuses on clothing, while Michelle focuses on gifts and jewelry. Business hours worked in the shop are split evenly, as well, and Michelle handles most of the business management responsibilities, while Hailey researches new lines. Both build and place orders depending on the generation or category of merchandise.
Clearly, mother and daughter see the importance of carrying equal weight in the company and shouldering shared responsibility. And, in working together, they have learned things about one another that they might otherwise never have. “I’ve learned that Hailey has an innate business sense,” Michelle observes. “She always wanted to be a teacher and still does, so I never really considered business know-how as a strength. To my surprise, she understands the complexities and balance with regards to decision making on both sides—as owner and as customer. Hailey is also a very good communicator, and her maturity and ability to see the bigger picture, at the age of seventeen, still amaze me. Don’t get me wrong, she is still a teenager,” Michelle goes on with a laugh. “But she has the gift of kindness and empathy and can relate to almost anyone. I love watching her interact with our customers and the way she sees the best in everyone. I am also impressed with her ability to ‘read the room’ at such a young age.”
In working with her mother, Hailey has unexpectedly found common ground. “I’m obviously very young to be a business owner, and I kind of thought that, since my mom is so much older than I am, that she wouldn’t understand me as well as someone my age would,” Hailey admits. “But opening Hummingbird has made me realize that my mother is someone who knows me better than anyone else and also someone I can relate to the most. Our customers often make comments about how similar we are. And although we are very similar, we also have some great differences that make owning Hummingbird together amazing. We both get to play different roles in the business, but always agree on specific decisions we make.”
As much as the dynamic pair consider their customers to be a rewarding part of their work, Michelle and Hailey have found something even more invaluable. “Obviously, we were already very close to open a business together, but the time spent together during this process has only further strengthened us,” says Michelle. “I think we both went into this with much prayerful consideration and knew we would work hard, learn something new, do the best we can, and hope that others would enjoy what we created. The best part is that we are both still growing and enjoying it.”
“Hummingbird has helped us hold our relationship to a higher standard, and we have used our special bond as an advantage in our business,” Hailey adds. “We may be bickering at each other while we are home, but once we get to work, we learn how to set our frustrations aside and work together to improve and grow our business. We know each other very well and can count on one another. Trust is a huge thing when opening and running a business, and my mother is one of the few people in the world that I can completely trust one hundred percent.”
4300 Rogers Avenue, Suite 33, Fort Smith, Arkansas
479.420.4008
