May 31, 2025 • 21 mins
Stepping through the doors of Seahorse Lane Boutique feels like discovering a carefully curated treasure trove—beautiful displays of jewelry, clothing, and gifts that immediately catch your eye. But behind this inviting space lies a remarkable story of courage, faith, and entrepreneurship that began with a single, life-changing decision.
When Audrey Mosel found herself studying agricultural economics at Auburn University, something deep within told her she was on the wrong path. In a moment of bravery that would define her future, she packed up her belongings and headed home, unsure of what would come next. During that fateful drive with her then-fiancé Mike, she confessed her dream of owning a boutique—something she had relegated to "retirement dreams." Mike's response was simple but transformative: "Why would you wait? Start now."
From her bedroom on Seahorse Lane (the namesake of her business), Audrey began crafting jewelry, making pillows, and curating affordable yet distinctive items that embodied her vision. She set up shop at local beach markets with makeshift displays—complete with repurposed shutters and a chandelier hung in her tent—building a following through Facebook when social media for business was still in its infancy. Working multiple jobs simultaneously, she gathered skills in retail, floral design, photography, and customer service while nurturing her growing side hustle.
The turning point came when Audrey spotted a vacant storefront in downtown Vero Beach. After prayer and contemplation, she received the simple message: "Go." What followed was a whirlwind two weeks of preparation, fueled by community support—friends painting walls, family building displays, all often paid in pizza and gratitude. This collaborative spirit has remained central to Seahorse Lane's identity throughout its ten-year journey as a storefront.
Join us for this heartwarming conversation about taking leaps of faith, the power of community in building a business, and how sometimes the most important business decision is simply having the courage to begin. Whether you're an entrepreneur, dreamer, or lover of local business stories, Audrey and Mike's journey reminds us that our most meaningful paths often start with listening to that quiet inner voice urging us forward.
The Vero Beach Podcast & MyVeroBeach.com is presented by Killer Bee Marketing, helping local businesses in Vero Beach reach more customers. Learn more at killerbeemarketing.com
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Transcript
Episode Transcript
Available transcripts are automatically generated. Complete accuracy is not guaranteed.
Brian Curee (00:00):
Hey, everybody, welcome back to, I guess not
back.
This is the first episode ofthe Vero Beach Podcast.
My name is Brian, my name isShawna.
And we're your hosts today, buttoday, like let's really get to
our special guest that'sjoining us today, we have Audrey
and Mike from the Seahorse LaneBoutique, right?
Is that correct?
Okay, that's correct.
I had to make sure I had thatright Good job, yeah, I yeah.
Mike Mosel (00:22):
I was like oh no.
Brian Curee (00:23):
Well, I've been looking at your website and your
social media so I was like,okay, it is Seahorse Lane
Boutique.
But that's what the beautifulthing about Shawna being on the
podcast is she can correct mewhen I make mistakes.
I'll only do that if it'sabsolutely necessary.
Mike Mosel (00:38):
Yes.
Brian Curee (00:39):
And sometimes it is necessary.
But we're so glad that you guysare joining us for the podcast
for episode one.
Audrey (00:45):
Thank you for having us.
We're excited.
Brian Curee (00:47):
That's awesome.
We're new to the area, so welove being able to meet locals
that are running businesses inthe area.
Today's all about the SeahorseLane Boutique, and I have to
admit, when I first walked inhere, audrey, I thought there's
going to be nothing but girlstuff in here.
But my wife's going to love itbut not me.
(01:08):
Right behind me we're sittingin the store right now.
Audrey (01:10):
Right in front of the checkout counter, in front of
our E Newton display, right infront of the Vero display.
It feels really fun anddifferent to be doing this in
here.
Usually I'm taking pictureslike outfits and making reels
and Instagram posts, but no,we're podcasting tonight.
Brian Curee (01:30):
Tonight you have a podcast studio.
Mike Mosel (01:34):
I'm waiting for someone to knock on the door
like can I shop please?
Audrey (01:37):
Oh, and they will.
Brian Curee (01:38):
We'll probably get people peeking through the
windows.
The point of this podcast is tobring out your story, the story
behind your business, how yougot here we want to talk about
during this first episode.
We want to just really kind ofdive into how it all started.
How did you start the SeahorseLane Boutique?
So tell us first, audrey, tellus a little bit about who you
(02:00):
are and what you do.
Audrey (02:02):
Yeah, so I'm Audrey.
I own Seahorse Lane Boutique.
We are celebrating 10 yearshere as a storefront.
I started the business back in2012 after I left graduate
school, so I was in schoolstudying ag economics.
Actually, I thought I wanted togo to law school for a while.
Brian Curee (02:25):
Can you explain to me what is ag, for those that
might be listening?
Audrey (02:29):
Yeah, so I went to Auburn University.
I was in the College ofAgriculture, and so ag is like
anything from growing plants tostudying bugs, grass studying
animals.
So that's what ag would mean,gotcha.
Brian Curee (02:48):
Yeah.
Mike Mosel (02:48):
So Audrey was kind of in the business side of the
ag school, yeah, so she wasstudying ag economics, you know
we're talking about things likefinancing for farms and
commodity trading and that kindof stuff is where her focus was
at that time of her life.
Audrey (03:04):
Yes, I go about a semester and a half and I just
really start getting like tuggedon my heart that like, hey, I'm
not in the right place.
So I went through a kind of atough season of deciding like,
hey, this isn't right for me.
I'm not sure what is, but Ijust need to leave.
And so I'm telling Mike thisstory.
(03:26):
Earlier I was like do youremember when he came up to
Auburn to help gather all of mythings and we were driving home?
Mike Mosel (03:36):
Yeah, we were probably.
We were engaged at the time,right I?
Audrey (03:38):
think we were engaged, yeah, so spring of 2012,.
I'm like, hey, this isn't right.
I'm feeling like I need to gohome and it's such.
It's a weird feeling whenyou're like you have no idea
what you're going to do, right,and you feel like, what did I
just do all this school for?
Mike Mosel (03:55):
You know, audrey and I both have always been good
students.
You're on this path where it'slike I'm going to go to school,
I'm going to get good grades,I'm going to get good grades,
I'm going to get into thecollege that I want to go to,
I'm going to get good grades,and I'm going to go get the get
a job that you know and havegood salary and life's just kind
of mapped out.
And then you hit this spotwhere you're like wait, the path
that I'm on isn't right for me.
(04:16):
And and Audrey was feeling thatlike deep down in her heart,
you know that that this wasn'tright but but making that leap
to say I'm going to go adifferent direction, and I don't
even know what that directionis yet, but I know it's not this
one.
I think it took a lot ofbravery on her part.
I came up to Auburn I wasworking at Vera at the time
(04:36):
Rescued me, came up to Auburn.
Audrey (04:40):
I said I'll come get you , babe, and all your stuff
Packed up and we started headingback towards Vera, yeah, and so
we were in the car I think weborrowed my dad's truck too and
we were driving back home and Iremember him looking at me
saying, well, what do you reallywant to do?
And I was like, well, I want tohave a store, but I'll probably
(05:01):
just do that after I'm retired,like I'll go get a job.
I'll probably just do thatafter I'm retired I'll go get a
job, I'll work hard, I'll saveup my money and that will be my
fun retirement job.
And he was like why would youever do that?
You need to start now.
And I didn't understand that youcould just start where you were
(05:22):
at.
And so I was like well, how doI do that?
And I remember him saying well,you started a Facebook page,
you know, 10 years ago.
That was like the thing.
Oh, sure you have a business,you start a Facebook page.
So I remember we got home Idownloaded this free app on my
phone because I think I had aniPhone at the time, right, that
was like pretty cool 10 yearsago and I made a logo that said
(05:47):
Seahorse Lane Boutique and it'sSeahorse Lane because I started
the business from my bedroom onSeahorse Lane.
Mike Mosel (05:55):
That's where my parents lived at the time.
Audrey (05:57):
I'm so glad you answered that I was so curious.
And you're like what is thisname?
Yeah, I love it.
And so I legitimately startedthe business from my bedroom on
Seahorse Lane and from there Istarted buying jewelry making
jewelry making pillows.
My mom is very crafty andsupportive and fun and she was
(06:20):
so excited she's like yeah,let's start this boutique, let's
do this thing.
She was the person that took meto my first wholesale jewelry
market where we could meetdifferent vendors and buy
different beading components andthings and also find jewelry to
(06:40):
curate this look that I hadn'treally seen in Bureau for a
really long time.
Like we used to have a boutiquedowntown here.
I think it was about where youknow where the ice cream shop is
, like a downtown dipper, butthere used to be a boutique
right in there is called KittyKitty and some people listening
like may remember that and theyhad such.
(07:03):
It was really small, they hadreally cool things.
It was very curated butaffordable and that's what I
wanted to create downtown.
Mike Mosel (07:13):
She had the kind of the model of what she wanted to
do.
She was always looking attrends and knowing kind of like
what people wanted.
She was good at that, and sothen she started setting up at
this beach market that was overin Sexton Plaza on Thursday
evenings, I think, so she workedwith her mom at State Farm at
(07:36):
the time, and then after workshe'd load up her dad's truck
with tables and a tent and allthis stuff With.
So much stuff, we'd haul it overthere and set it up for the
evening, and that was where shestarted kind of like being able
to like, explore, you know, thejewelry making or the clothing
that she wanted to carry and thecuration of what I wanted the
(08:00):
boutique to look like.
Audrey (08:02):
And so y'all, it wasn't just like a table in a tent,
Like I had a chandelier in thereand I had lights and I had.
That's cool I would take theseshutters.
So at the house on SeahorseLane they had redone the
shutters and I found these oldshutters in our like in the
garage.
I was like can I take these,dad?
And he was like, yeah, what doyou want to do with them?
And I was like I'm going towire them to the front of my
(08:24):
tent so then I can hang clothesand other things and to catch
people's attention, we're makingit work.
I was just like anything free,anything like kind of not too
expensive Actually at the time,at the time we didn't have this
term, but nowadays you wouldcall that kind of like a side
hustle.
Mike Mosel (08:42):
Yeah Right, and what a lot of people like to do.
They like to turn their sidehustle into like their full time
kind of dream jobs.
Audrey (08:48):
Yeah.
Mike Mosel (08:49):
And so that's basically what Audrey did.
She had this side hustle andshe was, you know, kind of
growing a following of folksthat would come out to shop with
her.
Audrey (08:58):
So I'd post on the Facebook page yes, like, hey,
I'm going to be at Mulligan'sthis Thursday from five to eight
.
Come out and see me.
And my boss at State Farm wasso kind and generous and very
supportive of me doing this.
I think he could see thepassion in me.
So I would work through lunchand then be able to leave at
(09:19):
like 3 or 4 in the afternoon.
I would get my dad's truck andI'd usually have it already set
up or almost all set up and Iwould go pick up my cousin
Bailey OK, shout out to Bailey.
She was like 12 or 13 at thetime in middle school.
I would pick her up from herhouse.
She would come over to themarket with me help me set up.
(09:39):
I'd pay her $5 to help me setup and work the evening, right,
oh, that's great.
Her mom would come pick her upat, like you know, 7 or 8
o'clock.
I'd be like here's your $5 cash, bailey.
But she still works with metoday.
Mike Mosel (09:58):
Oh, that is cool, isn't that crazy.
She gets paid more than $5 whenshe works.
Audrey (10:03):
She's become a super valuable person to me and she
has her own project in the works.
Okay, I'll give a little shoutout to this because this will be
fun later on.
Sneak peek.
She is in the process ofrenovating a boutique hotel
downtown near the freshmanlearning center.
It's going to be a nine room,really cool bed and breakfast,
(10:26):
wow.
It's called the Ronita and it'sjust.
It's a cool project, it's a bigproject.
Brian Curee (10:33):
Yeah, we need to get her on here.
Mike Mosel (10:34):
And like slip our name in, for, like the test run
you know.
Brian Curee (10:37):
Right, yeah, yeah, that is so cool.
Oh, that's so amazing, goingback to your story, of being
willing to press pause when yourecognize that this wasn't
exactly what you want to do.
That had to be very difficultat that time Cause, like you
were saying, michael, you saidit perfectly.
That was very brave and I thinkit's important for anybody
(10:59):
that's listening to this as well, especially when you're young,
like we talked to our son Okay,you're talking about, like, the
days of Facebook.
We started doing it.
It was in days of MySpace.
So now for all you youngerpeople that are listening, that
would be like you starting yourbusiness on TikTok.
Let's kind of make it relatablefor everybody that's listening.
(11:19):
But our son, he's turning 21this year and one of the things
we always kind of encourage himis he's got an entrepreneur's
heart.
He wants to run businesses.
He's gifted in so manydifferent areas.
He's got an entrepreneur'sheart.
He wants to run businesses.
He's gifted in so manydifferent areas and we try to
lean into it and encourage himlike this is your time to
experiment with different thingsthat you like doing, to find
out what you're reallypassionate about.
(11:40):
And I think it's good foranybody to listen.
If you're starting a businessand you have this dream, that
dream and goal might evolve andchange through different seasons
to help lead you to where youare today, and I'm sure you
could probably look back at someof the things that you've done
in the past and like, wow, Ineeded to learn that so I could
do this today.
(12:00):
Has that happened?
Has that been part of it?
Audrey (12:03):
Well, it's so funny.
I feel like you perfectlysegued into like what I did in
between.
That time that I came home, Iremember, like very vividly,
standing on the steps of myschool in Auburn and thinking
I'm leaving here today and I'mnot coming back, and Lord, give
me the strength to keep moving.
Brian Curee (12:23):
Right.
Audrey (12:25):
We're going to do something different.
And so I remember getting homeand being like, oh my gosh, what
do I do next?
And so I remember getting homeand being like, oh my gosh, what
do I do next?
I just got a bunch of randomfun jobs.
So I worked at JCrew for thatsummer.
So I did learn aboutmerchandising and selling and
(12:47):
talking to customers and justhandling money and handling
transactions and all of that.
So that was part of the summer.
I also got connected to aflorist in town Laura's theme
florist and I would set up likeone time I set up an entire
wedding of flowers and I didlike helped her put flowers
(13:08):
together and that was anotherpassion of mine.
I just love being creative andI feel like throughout school I
didn't have the opportunity tolike unleash this like creative
part of me.
I was very much numbers, likehead down in a book learning
numbers, but there is like ahuge creative drive inside.
(13:31):
So I worked with her for thatsummer.
I also worked as a photographerfor it's PS Photography, so I
learned photography that summer.
I learned like about floraldesign and I also worked at
JCrew and just learned aboutretail.
Wow, and it was sometime likethat fall I think that I moved
(13:52):
into more of a you knowfull-time position at State Farm
.
So that was when I really honedin on my skills on the phone,
talking to customers, talking toreally upset customers.
Mike Mosel (14:06):
Oh my gosh, we don't have any of those.
Brian Curee (14:08):
Not generally, not Like.
I looked at your reviews, atyour reviews, I think it's all
five stars.
Well.
Audrey (14:14):
I honed in those skills.
You have to really learn tohandle and manage a lot when
you're in insurance and I alsolearned that I really didn't
want to do that for the rest ofmy life.
I remember I was doing well atState Farm but also growing my
side hustle.
I was telling Mike this story afew days ago.
(14:36):
I had read that verse,Ephesians 3.20,.
Now to him, who is able to doinfinitely and abundantly more
than we ask or think.
And this is like before thedays of Canva.
I did not make it cute.
I typed it up right on a Worddocument and I printed it out
and I stuck it to my wall and Iwould read that verse.
(14:57):
And this office had no windowsand I was like, lord, this—like
I need this to be my story, likeI need this.
And you know, a few years go by, that we were setting up at the
Mulligan's Beach Market.
I remember I was downtown.
Okay, there's so many downtownstories, y'all Places that
(15:18):
don't—.
Brian Curee (15:18):
There's so many downtowns, like when we first
moved here.
We're like wait a minute thisis downtown Vero.
Audrey (15:22):
This is downtown Vero.
Mike Mosel (15:23):
We're like wait, so we're still wrapping our minds
around that as well.
Don't sleep on downtown Vero,y'all.
Audrey (15:30):
So I was bringing my dog to the groomer who's at
Groomingdale's Okay, so it'swhere Faces by Linda is now
Dropped my dog off at thegroomer.
I come across the streetbecause I'm like that little
space is for rent, huh.
So I remember walking over herelike super nervous.
Like what am I nervous about?
I look in the window and I'mlike, okay, it's not that big,
(15:53):
it's not.
It looks kind of.
And I'm like, okay, it's notthat big, it looks kind of like
a good size.
I just like the look of it.
There's something about it.
I just like the look of it.
Remember I took a picture of thesign, brought it back to the
office I showed my mom and shegoes oh, that's Scott Chisholm's
place, I'll call him.
So she calls him, gets somedetails.
She tells me she's like youjust need to go meet with him.
(16:15):
And so I remember going andmeeting with him and sitting in
his office like super nervous.
He's like, well, what do youwant to do?
And I was like, well, I want tohave a boutique.
And you know, all I know rightnow is just setting up at
Mulligan's and being like thisis my boutique.
This, like you know, eight byor 10 by 10 tent with some
(16:35):
things on it and some things onmy shutters, out, you know, in
the front of the tent, likethat's my boutique, and he said,
okay, well, I've been waitingfor someone like you to come up
so you can have it.
And I said I have to go prayabout it and he was like well,
okay, that's fine, that's fine.
I remember going home and welived in this little apartment
(16:58):
on the beach and I just rememberbeing in the apartment and
thinking like Lord, is this?
It Is this, it Is this thatinfinitely and abundantly more.
And I just heard the word goand I thought, well, let's go.
I remember typing up this niceletter to my boss, chuck, and it
(17:18):
was like thank you for my job,thank you for everything you've
done for me.
It's time for me to go andpursue this passion.
And within like 14 days or 15days, we did so much in here,
like it was it was a crazy time.
Mike Mosel (17:34):
So if there's one thing I can say about
entrepreneurship, it does take alot of different skills, as you
mentioned, brian, and thethings that she picked up along
the way at those other jobs youknow filtered into.
You know what we have here andyou know we.
She does all of her ownphotography and um.
You know she does a lot of themerchandising and coaches the
(17:56):
ladies up on that um.
But the other thing you needwhen you know getting started in
entrepreneurship is a networkof friends and family that are
willing to kind of just step inand help you out.
You know you don't have a lot ofmoney.
You're getting things off theground and you gotta call in
some favors favors, you know,and that's what we did, that's
what we did.
We had, we had a group offriends in here and had a
(18:17):
painting party.
I bought some pizzas and wejust we painted the walls.
You know, audrey's uncle camehelped us build the racking,
which is no longer here, but Imean, it was a friends and
family affair to get this thingoff the ground.
Um and amazing and yeah, it wasjust a.
It's a testament to just havinghaving a solid community around
you, having, you know, we wewere lucky enough to grow up
(18:39):
here in Vero Beach, so we had alot of roots here and and we
leaned on them.
You know when, when we wantedto get this thing off the ground
.
Brian Curee (18:47):
Big shout out to all those people then, because
that's huge.
Audrey (18:49):
We've paid a lot of people with pizza then, because
that's huge, we've paid a lot ofpeople with pizza.
Mike Mosel (18:55):
Pizza, you guys, pizza is a form of currency,
yeah, so yes, that's beautifuland that hasn't stopped.
I mean, some of the nicestthings you see in here the
checkout counter, the dressingrooms, sorry, and like even that
shelf over there those are allmade by my best buddy.
He cares.
He cares so much aboutsupporting our business and what
(19:17):
the customers are going toexperience when they're in here,
so it's just continued.
You know, over the years last10 years, honestly, it's been a
real like friends, family,community effort alongside of us
to keep this business rolling.
Brian Curee (19:30):
I love it, I love it side of us to keep this
business rolling.
I love it, I love it.
That is.
I think that's a good place toend this first episode, because
if you guys haven't been here,you guys need to come check it
out, see the store for yourselfso you can visualize what we've
been talking about here.
But I really love that partabout you know that word that
was given to you go, and it canbe scary to step through those
doors if you don't know what theyou don't know what's on the
(19:52):
other side of that door untilyou go and you step through it.
So that's how it all started.
So next episode we'll talk aboutwhat the day is like at the
seahorse lane boutique every dayand give you a little bit more
of behind the scenes of whatit's like to be an entrepreneur
and running a local business.
And hey that if you have anyquestions that you would like to
ask, you can click on the shownotes.
There's a text us a Texas link.
(20:14):
Just click that.
Share any of your questions.
Or if you have some localbusiness people or musicians or
anything in Vero Beach thatwould like to be a part of this
podcast, shoot us a text.
Mike Mosel (20:25):
See you later, neighbor.
Hey, everybody, welcome back to, I guess not
back.
This is the first episode ofthe Vero Beach Podcast.
My name is Brian, my name isShawna.
And we're your hosts today, buttoday, like let's really get to
our special guest that'sjoining us today, we have Audrey
and Mike from the Seahorse LaneBoutique, right?
Is that correct?
Okay, that's correct.
I had to make sure I had thatright Good job, yeah, I yeah.
Mike Mosel (00:22):
I was like oh no.
Brian Curee (00:23):
Well, I've been looking at your website and your
social media so I was like,okay, it is Seahorse Lane
Boutique.
But that's what the beautifulthing about Shawna being on the
podcast is she can correct mewhen I make mistakes.
I'll only do that if it'sabsolutely necessary.
Mike Mosel (00:38):
Yes.
Brian Curee (00:39):
And sometimes it is necessary.
But we're so glad that you guysare joining us for the podcast
for episode one.
Audrey (00:45):
Thank you for having us.
We're excited.
Brian Curee (00:47):
That's awesome.
We're new to the area, so welove being able to meet locals
that are running businesses inthe area.
Today's all about the SeahorseLane Boutique, and I have to
admit, when I first walked inhere, audrey, I thought there's
going to be nothing but girlstuff in here.
But my wife's going to love itbut not me.
(01:08):
Right behind me we're sittingin the store right now.
Audrey (01:10):
Right in front of the checkout counter, in front of
our E Newton display, right infront of the Vero display.
It feels really fun anddifferent to be doing this in
here.
Usually I'm taking pictureslike outfits and making reels
and Instagram posts, but no,we're podcasting tonight.
Brian Curee (01:30):
Tonight you have a podcast studio.
Mike Mosel (01:34):
I'm waiting for someone to knock on the door
like can I shop please?
Audrey (01:37):
Oh, and they will.
Brian Curee (01:38):
We'll probably get people peeking through the
windows.
The point of this podcast is tobring out your story, the story
behind your business, how yougot here we want to talk about
during this first episode.
We want to just really kind ofdive into how it all started.
How did you start the SeahorseLane Boutique?
So tell us first, audrey, tellus a little bit about who you
(02:00):
are and what you do.
Audrey (02:02):
Yeah, so I'm Audrey.
I own Seahorse Lane Boutique.
We are celebrating 10 yearshere as a storefront.
I started the business back in2012 after I left graduate
school, so I was in schoolstudying ag economics.
Actually, I thought I wanted togo to law school for a while.
Brian Curee (02:25):
Can you explain to me what is ag, for those that
might be listening?
Audrey (02:29):
Yeah, so I went to Auburn University.
I was in the College ofAgriculture, and so ag is like
anything from growing plants tostudying bugs, grass studying
animals.
So that's what ag would mean,gotcha.
Brian Curee (02:48):
Yeah.
Mike Mosel (02:48):
So Audrey was kind of in the business side of the
ag school, yeah, so she wasstudying ag economics, you know
we're talking about things likefinancing for farms and
commodity trading and that kindof stuff is where her focus was
at that time of her life.
Audrey (03:04):
Yes, I go about a semester and a half and I just
really start getting like tuggedon my heart that like, hey, I'm
not in the right place.
So I went through a kind of atough season of deciding like,
hey, this isn't right for me.
I'm not sure what is, but Ijust need to leave.
And so I'm telling Mike thisstory.
(03:26):
Earlier I was like do youremember when he came up to
Auburn to help gather all of mythings and we were driving home?
Mike Mosel (03:36):
Yeah, we were probably.
We were engaged at the time,right I?
Audrey (03:38):
think we were engaged, yeah, so spring of 2012,.
I'm like, hey, this isn't right.
I'm feeling like I need to gohome and it's such.
It's a weird feeling whenyou're like you have no idea
what you're going to do, right,and you feel like, what did I
just do all this school for?
Mike Mosel (03:55):
You know, audrey and I both have always been good
students.
You're on this path where it'slike I'm going to go to school,
I'm going to get good grades,I'm going to get good grades,
I'm going to get into thecollege that I want to go to,
I'm going to get good grades,and I'm going to go get the get
a job that you know and havegood salary and life's just kind
of mapped out.
And then you hit this spotwhere you're like wait, the path
that I'm on isn't right for me.
(04:16):
And and Audrey was feeling thatlike deep down in her heart,
you know that that this wasn'tright but but making that leap
to say I'm going to go adifferent direction, and I don't
even know what that directionis yet, but I know it's not this
one.
I think it took a lot ofbravery on her part.
I came up to Auburn I wasworking at Vera at the time
(04:36):
Rescued me, came up to Auburn.
Audrey (04:40):
I said I'll come get you , babe, and all your stuff
Packed up and we started headingback towards Vera, yeah, and so
we were in the car I think weborrowed my dad's truck too and
we were driving back home and Iremember him looking at me
saying, well, what do you reallywant to do?
And I was like, well, I want tohave a store, but I'll probably
(05:01):
just do that after I'm retired,like I'll go get a job.
I'll probably just do thatafter I'm retired I'll go get a
job, I'll work hard, I'll saveup my money and that will be my
fun retirement job.
And he was like why would youever do that?
You need to start now.
And I didn't understand that youcould just start where you were
(05:22):
at.
And so I was like well, how doI do that?
And I remember him saying well,you started a Facebook page,
you know, 10 years ago.
That was like the thing.
Oh, sure you have a business,you start a Facebook page.
So I remember we got home Idownloaded this free app on my
phone because I think I had aniPhone at the time, right, that
was like pretty cool 10 yearsago and I made a logo that said
(05:47):
Seahorse Lane Boutique and it'sSeahorse Lane because I started
the business from my bedroom onSeahorse Lane.
Mike Mosel (05:55):
That's where my parents lived at the time.
Audrey (05:57):
I'm so glad you answered that I was so curious.
And you're like what is thisname?
Yeah, I love it.
And so I legitimately startedthe business from my bedroom on
Seahorse Lane and from there Istarted buying jewelry making
jewelry making pillows.
My mom is very crafty andsupportive and fun and she was
(06:20):
so excited she's like yeah,let's start this boutique, let's
do this thing.
She was the person that took meto my first wholesale jewelry
market where we could meetdifferent vendors and buy
different beading components andthings and also find jewelry to
(06:40):
curate this look that I hadn'treally seen in Bureau for a
really long time.
Like we used to have a boutiquedowntown here.
I think it was about where youknow where the ice cream shop is
, like a downtown dipper, butthere used to be a boutique
right in there is called KittyKitty and some people listening
like may remember that and theyhad such.
(07:03):
It was really small, they hadreally cool things.
It was very curated butaffordable and that's what I
wanted to create downtown.
Mike Mosel (07:13):
She had the kind of the model of what she wanted to
do.
She was always looking attrends and knowing kind of like
what people wanted.
She was good at that, and sothen she started setting up at
this beach market that was overin Sexton Plaza on Thursday
evenings, I think, so she workedwith her mom at State Farm at
(07:36):
the time, and then after workshe'd load up her dad's truck
with tables and a tent and allthis stuff With.
So much stuff, we'd haul it overthere and set it up for the
evening, and that was where shestarted kind of like being able
to like, explore, you know, thejewelry making or the clothing
that she wanted to carry and thecuration of what I wanted the
(08:00):
boutique to look like.
Audrey (08:02):
And so y'all, it wasn't just like a table in a tent,
Like I had a chandelier in thereand I had lights and I had.
That's cool I would take theseshutters.
So at the house on SeahorseLane they had redone the
shutters and I found these oldshutters in our like in the
garage.
I was like can I take these,dad?
And he was like, yeah, what doyou want to do with them?
And I was like I'm going towire them to the front of my
(08:24):
tent so then I can hang clothesand other things and to catch
people's attention, we're makingit work.
I was just like anything free,anything like kind of not too
expensive Actually at the time,at the time we didn't have this
term, but nowadays you wouldcall that kind of like a side
hustle.
Mike Mosel (08:42):
Yeah Right, and what a lot of people like to do.
They like to turn their sidehustle into like their full time
kind of dream jobs.
Audrey (08:48):
Yeah.
Mike Mosel (08:49):
And so that's basically what Audrey did.
She had this side hustle andshe was, you know, kind of
growing a following of folksthat would come out to shop with
her.
Audrey (08:58):
So I'd post on the Facebook page yes, like, hey,
I'm going to be at Mulligan'sthis Thursday from five to eight
.
Come out and see me.
And my boss at State Farm wasso kind and generous and very
supportive of me doing this.
I think he could see thepassion in me.
So I would work through lunchand then be able to leave at
(09:19):
like 3 or 4 in the afternoon.
I would get my dad's truck andI'd usually have it already set
up or almost all set up and Iwould go pick up my cousin
Bailey OK, shout out to Bailey.
She was like 12 or 13 at thetime in middle school.
I would pick her up from herhouse.
She would come over to themarket with me help me set up.
(09:39):
I'd pay her $5 to help me setup and work the evening, right,
oh, that's great.
Her mom would come pick her upat, like you know, 7 or 8
o'clock.
I'd be like here's your $5 cash, bailey.
But she still works with metoday.
Mike Mosel (09:58):
Oh, that is cool, isn't that crazy.
She gets paid more than $5 whenshe works.
Audrey (10:03):
She's become a super valuable person to me and she
has her own project in the works.
Okay, I'll give a little shoutout to this because this will be
fun later on.
Sneak peek.
She is in the process ofrenovating a boutique hotel
downtown near the freshmanlearning center.
It's going to be a nine room,really cool bed and breakfast,
(10:26):
wow.
It's called the Ronita and it'sjust.
It's a cool project, it's a bigproject.
Brian Curee (10:33):
Yeah, we need to get her on here.
Mike Mosel (10:34):
And like slip our name in, for, like the test run
you know.
Brian Curee (10:37):
Right, yeah, yeah, that is so cool.
Oh, that's so amazing, goingback to your story, of being
willing to press pause when yourecognize that this wasn't
exactly what you want to do.
That had to be very difficultat that time Cause, like you
were saying, michael, you saidit perfectly.
That was very brave and I thinkit's important for anybody
(10:59):
that's listening to this as well, especially when you're young,
like we talked to our son Okay,you're talking about, like, the
days of Facebook.
We started doing it.
It was in days of MySpace.
So now for all you youngerpeople that are listening, that
would be like you starting yourbusiness on TikTok.
Let's kind of make it relatablefor everybody that's listening.
(11:19):
But our son, he's turning 21this year and one of the things
we always kind of encourage himis he's got an entrepreneur's
heart.
He wants to run businesses.
He's gifted in so manydifferent areas.
He's got an entrepreneur'sheart.
He wants to run businesses.
He's gifted in so manydifferent areas and we try to
lean into it and encourage himlike this is your time to
experiment with different thingsthat you like doing, to find
out what you're reallypassionate about.
(11:40):
And I think it's good foranybody to listen.
If you're starting a businessand you have this dream, that
dream and goal might evolve andchange through different seasons
to help lead you to where youare today, and I'm sure you
could probably look back at someof the things that you've done
in the past and like, wow, Ineeded to learn that so I could
do this today.
(12:00):
Has that happened?
Has that been part of it?
Audrey (12:03):
Well, it's so funny.
I feel like you perfectlysegued into like what I did in
between.
That time that I came home, Iremember, like very vividly,
standing on the steps of myschool in Auburn and thinking
I'm leaving here today and I'mnot coming back, and Lord, give
me the strength to keep moving.
Brian Curee (12:23):
Right.
Audrey (12:25):
We're going to do something different.
And so I remember getting homeand being like, oh my gosh, what
do I do next?
And so I remember getting homeand being like, oh my gosh, what
do I do next?
I just got a bunch of randomfun jobs.
So I worked at JCrew for thatsummer.
So I did learn aboutmerchandising and selling and
(12:47):
talking to customers and justhandling money and handling
transactions and all of that.
So that was part of the summer.
I also got connected to aflorist in town Laura's theme
florist and I would set up likeone time I set up an entire
wedding of flowers and I didlike helped her put flowers
(13:08):
together and that was anotherpassion of mine.
I just love being creative andI feel like throughout school I
didn't have the opportunity tolike unleash this like creative
part of me.
I was very much numbers, likehead down in a book learning
numbers, but there is like ahuge creative drive inside.
(13:31):
So I worked with her for thatsummer.
I also worked as a photographerfor it's PS Photography, so I
learned photography that summer.
I learned like about floraldesign and I also worked at
JCrew and just learned aboutretail.
Wow, and it was sometime likethat fall I think that I moved
(13:52):
into more of a you knowfull-time position at State Farm
.
So that was when I really honedin on my skills on the phone,
talking to customers, talking toreally upset customers.
Mike Mosel (14:06):
Oh my gosh, we don't have any of those.
Brian Curee (14:08):
Not generally, not Like.
I looked at your reviews, atyour reviews, I think it's all
five stars.
Well.
Audrey (14:14):
I honed in those skills.
You have to really learn tohandle and manage a lot when
you're in insurance and I alsolearned that I really didn't
want to do that for the rest ofmy life.
I remember I was doing well atState Farm but also growing my
side hustle.
I was telling Mike this story afew days ago.
(14:36):
I had read that verse,Ephesians 3.20,.
Now to him, who is able to doinfinitely and abundantly more
than we ask or think.
And this is like before thedays of Canva.
I did not make it cute.
I typed it up right on a Worddocument and I printed it out
and I stuck it to my wall and Iwould read that verse.
(14:57):
And this office had no windowsand I was like, lord, this—like
I need this to be my story, likeI need this.
And you know, a few years go by, that we were setting up at the
Mulligan's Beach Market.
I remember I was downtown.
Okay, there's so many downtownstories, y'all Places that
(15:18):
don't—.
Brian Curee (15:18):
There's so many downtowns, like when we first
moved here.
We're like wait a minute thisis downtown Vero.
Audrey (15:22):
This is downtown Vero.
Mike Mosel (15:23):
We're like wait, so we're still wrapping our minds
around that as well.
Don't sleep on downtown Vero,y'all.
Audrey (15:30):
So I was bringing my dog to the groomer who's at
Groomingdale's Okay, so it'swhere Faces by Linda is now
Dropped my dog off at thegroomer.
I come across the streetbecause I'm like that little
space is for rent, huh.
So I remember walking over herelike super nervous.
Like what am I nervous about?
I look in the window and I'mlike, okay, it's not that big,
(15:53):
it's not.
It looks kind of.
And I'm like, okay, it's notthat big, it looks kind of like
a good size.
I just like the look of it.
There's something about it.
I just like the look of it.
Remember I took a picture of thesign, brought it back to the
office I showed my mom and shegoes oh, that's Scott Chisholm's
place, I'll call him.
So she calls him, gets somedetails.
She tells me she's like youjust need to go meet with him.
(16:15):
And so I remember going andmeeting with him and sitting in
his office like super nervous.
He's like, well, what do youwant to do?
And I was like, well, I want tohave a boutique.
And you know, all I know rightnow is just setting up at
Mulligan's and being like thisis my boutique.
This, like you know, eight byor 10 by 10 tent with some
(16:35):
things on it and some things onmy shutters, out, you know, in
the front of the tent, likethat's my boutique, and he said,
okay, well, I've been waitingfor someone like you to come up
so you can have it.
And I said I have to go prayabout it and he was like well,
okay, that's fine, that's fine.
I remember going home and welived in this little apartment
(16:58):
on the beach and I just rememberbeing in the apartment and
thinking like Lord, is this?
It Is this, it Is this thatinfinitely and abundantly more.
And I just heard the word goand I thought, well, let's go.
I remember typing up this niceletter to my boss, chuck, and it
(17:18):
was like thank you for my job,thank you for everything you've
done for me.
It's time for me to go andpursue this passion.
And within like 14 days or 15days, we did so much in here,
like it was it was a crazy time.
Mike Mosel (17:34):
So if there's one thing I can say about
entrepreneurship, it does take alot of different skills, as you
mentioned, brian, and thethings that she picked up along
the way at those other jobs youknow filtered into.
You know what we have here andyou know we.
She does all of her ownphotography and um.
You know she does a lot of themerchandising and coaches the
(17:56):
ladies up on that um.
But the other thing you needwhen you know getting started in
entrepreneurship is a networkof friends and family that are
willing to kind of just step inand help you out.
You know you don't have a lot ofmoney.
You're getting things off theground and you gotta call in
some favors favors, you know,and that's what we did, that's
what we did.
We had, we had a group offriends in here and had a
(18:17):
painting party.
I bought some pizzas and wejust we painted the walls.
You know, audrey's uncle camehelped us build the racking,
which is no longer here, but Imean, it was a friends and
family affair to get this thingoff the ground.
Um and amazing and yeah, it wasjust a.
It's a testament to just havinghaving a solid community around
you, having, you know, we wewere lucky enough to grow up
(18:39):
here in Vero Beach, so we had alot of roots here and and we
leaned on them.
You know when, when we wantedto get this thing off the ground
.
Brian Curee (18:47):
Big shout out to all those people then, because
that's huge.
Audrey (18:49):
We've paid a lot of people with pizza then, because
that's huge, we've paid a lot ofpeople with pizza.
Mike Mosel (18:55):
Pizza, you guys, pizza is a form of currency,
yeah, so yes, that's beautifuland that hasn't stopped.
I mean, some of the nicestthings you see in here the
checkout counter, the dressingrooms, sorry, and like even that
shelf over there those are allmade by my best buddy.
He cares.
He cares so much aboutsupporting our business and what
(19:17):
the customers are going toexperience when they're in here,
so it's just continued.
You know, over the years last10 years, honestly, it's been a
real like friends, family,community effort alongside of us
to keep this business rolling.
Brian Curee (19:30):
I love it, I love it side of us to keep this
business rolling.
I love it, I love it.
That is.
I think that's a good place toend this first episode, because
if you guys haven't been here,you guys need to come check it
out, see the store for yourselfso you can visualize what we've
been talking about here.
But I really love that partabout you know that word that
was given to you go, and it canbe scary to step through those
doors if you don't know what theyou don't know what's on the
(19:52):
other side of that door untilyou go and you step through it.
So that's how it all started.
So next episode we'll talk aboutwhat the day is like at the
seahorse lane boutique every dayand give you a little bit more
of behind the scenes of whatit's like to be an entrepreneur
and running a local business.
And hey that if you have anyquestions that you would like to
ask, you can click on the shownotes.
There's a text us a Texas link.
(20:14):
Just click that.
Share any of your questions.
Or if you have some localbusiness people or musicians or
anything in Vero Beach thatwould like to be a part of this
podcast, shoot us a text.
Mike Mosel (20:25):
See you later, neighbor.
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