Seahorse Lane Boutique - Part 3: The Vero Initiative

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What happens when hometown pride meets entrepreneurship and a desire to give back? Seahorse Lane Boutique owners Audrey and Mike reveal their journey from Vero Beach roots to creating a beloved local business with community impact at its heart.

Audrey shares how an unexpected high school relocation to Mississippi sparked her passion for boutique retail—experiencing firsthand the personal connections formed in small-town shops where owners knew customers' preferences and needs. When life brought them back to Vero Beach, the couple embraced their hometown, creating a boutique that embodies that same welcoming atmosphere on 14th Avenue.

The conversation takes a fascinating turn as they reveal the story behind the Vero Initiative, which began in 2016 with a simple desire to create a cool, non-touristy hometown shirt. That initial 40-shirt order has blossomed into a significant community fundraising effort that has generated over $27,000 for local nonprofits. Their quarterly partnerships now extend through 2025, showcasing their methodical, purpose-driven approach to business.

Beyond retail success, Audrey and Mike open up about balancing entrepreneurship with raising young children, staying "faithful in the little things" while remaining open-handed about future possibilities. Their story perfectly captures why Vero Beach remains special—locals committed to preserving its character while actively investing in its future.

Whether you're a Vero Beach resident, small business owner, or someone who appreciates the power of community connection, this conversation will inspire you to think about how your purchasing power can create positive local change. Subscribe to the Vero Beach Podcast for more inspiring stories from the people making this coastal community so unique!

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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Episode Transcript

Brian (00:00):
All right, well, welcome back to the Vero Beach Podcast.
We are back here with Audreyand Mike at the Seahorse Lane
Boutique and we're excited toget into this next part, and you
guys have done awesome.
We have really enjoyed sittingwith you both, getting to know
you more and know more aboutyour story, and I just want to
encourage anybody out there, ifyou're shopping and you're

(00:22):
downtown in Vero, downtown Verowhich part of downtown Vero is
this?
Because like I said there'smultiple ones on Monday.

Audrey (00:27):
We're on 14th Ave Main.

Brian (00:28):
Street.
Main Street, Vero Beach thereyou go, make sure you stop by
here and see Audrey.

Mike (00:34):
Or really if you're in any of the towns surrounding.
It's not that long of a drive,it's worth it.

Brian (00:38):
All right.
Why did you choose Vero Beach?
It's home.

Audrey (00:43):
It's home, like there was no other place we wanted to
be.
I was born here at Indian RiverHospital.
I grew up in Vero.
I went to Osceola Magnet School, went to Gifford.
One part of my story that a lotof people don't know is that I
went to high school inMississippi.
So my dad's job.
He got transferred out toMississippi so I went to high

(01:06):
school in Mississippi.
Can you imagine transferringfrom Vero to the middle of the
Mississippi Delta?
So shout out to all myMississippi friends, do you?

Brian (01:19):
hear the little accent come out right now.

Audrey (01:22):
That's where I really started developing a love for
small boutiques.
So in Mississippi we reallyonly had Walmart or you had your
downtown shops and I just lovedgoing down there after school
browsing the different stores,finding something cute different
stores, finding something cuteand I was met with just a

(01:44):
friendly and welcoming face andthey knew what you liked and
where you were going and whatyou needed your outfits for.
And I think their one storethat I really liked in high
school was called Mud Puddles.
So Cleveland, mississippi, iswhere we lived and they still

(02:08):
have a fabulous downtown.
I actually have multiple friendsthat own stores down there and
they are doing so well.
Their downtown is amazing, andactually two of the girls that I
was friends with in high schoolown boutiques in Mississippi.
How fun.
So shout out to Mod and Properand H Squared so that was my
Mississippi connection.
And proper and H squared, sothat was my Mississippi
connection.
So my dad let go from that jobin 2007, 2008, during that

(02:32):
recession period right.
A lot of shifting around in theeconomy.

Mike (02:39):
He moved back to Vero and Vero was home.
Yeah, vero is definitely home.
As Audrey said, we have rootshere, a lot of family and
friends to support us.
I mean, that's been a big partof this, as we mentioned in the
first episode, having ourparents here just to watch the
kids so we can get some workdone occasionally.
You know what I mean.

(02:59):
Having free babysitters, likecome on.

Brian (03:02):
Shout out to free babysitters.

Audrey (03:04):
Yes, yes, why would you live anywhere else?

Mike (03:07):
But you know, we went off to school, we came back, we got
married.
There really hasn't been eventhe slightest thought of moving
anywhere else.
We love this place.

Brian (03:20):
I get it.
If I would have been born here,I never would have left either.

Mike (03:23):
No, don't get me wrong.
We love vacationing, you know,and checking out other places
and getting inspired.
I think that's what Audrey wasgetting to with Mississippi.
It was like she got inspirationfrom that and she's been able
to now recreate that here indowntown Vero and give that
small town friendly atmosphere.
You know, yeah, we absolutelylove this place.
We spend most of our weekendsthis time of year.

(03:47):
I mean, we're getting over tothe beach, you know, these days
with young kids it's poolparties and you know that kind
of stuff, family events.
We have a.
Audrey's parents have a littlebit of property out west and
we've got a little farm outthere, and so it really is it's
home.
What's not to love?
One of the things that we'vebeen talking about getting into
here is the Vero Initiative, andI think it's that love for Vero

(04:11):
and feeling like we've gotten alot from Vero.
We've always felt the need andthe desire to give back to Vero.

Brian (04:18):
Talk to us about the Vero Initiative, because that was a
big surprise when we reached outand I had no idea that that was
you, and so tell us a littlebit about that.

Audrey (04:28):
I think it was in 2016.
So we've had the storefrontabout one year and I just really
wanted to create a t-shirt thatsaid Vero.
That was cool.
Like a local would want to wearit, a visitor would want to
wear it A guy would want to wearit.
I kind of wanted to createsomething that wasn't super

(04:50):
touristy but that representedour hometown right, and the love
that we have for Vero.
So we designed the logo.
It's very simple.
It has the X with V-E-R-O andour R is at the bottom.
And yes, I did try to put the Rwhere the O is.
Okay, if anyone asks like whydoes it just go like clockwise?

(05:11):
Well, like, aesthetically thatdidn't look as good.
I promise I tried it.
Y'all like, jot it downyourself and try it.
Grab a napkin it.
Y'all like, jot it downyourself and try it.
So we made our first round ofshirts.
It was about 40 shirts and Iwas like, oh my gosh, this is a
lot Like.
I'm so invested here.
Remember, like, driving back tothe store with all these shirts

(05:33):
in my car, I told my dad I wastalking to my dad.
I was like, dad, I got allthese Vero shirts now but I just
I feel like I need to dosomething more than just sell a
Vero shirt, like I, I want togive back with it.
And he said, well, that's great, do whatever you want Like,
pick whoever you want give, givesomething back.
Well, I want to pick thewomen's refuge and I didn't know

(05:53):
a ton about them at the time,but they're like a local
nonprofit in town that helpswomen out of tough situations
and they do a lot of reallywonderful things, and so I sold
the shirts and wrote them a giveback check.
And they were so thankful andgrateful and I was thankful and
then we kept doing it monthafter month.

(06:15):
We would pick a different localnonprofit to partner with.
So we did it monthly for likethe first three or four years.
Yeah, then we realized, this isthis is a lot of work, a lot of
work back and forth.

Mike (06:29):
You know we were reaching out to nonprofits.
You know building out thiswhole plan around.
You know what month they'regoing to have.
How are we going to co-promoteit?
You know all that to that tomaximize the benefit.
And then we realized to reallymaximize the benefit to the
nonprofits that we're workingwith, we should probably extend
the amount of time that we'refocusing on them.

(06:50):
So I think now we do itquarterly.
Is that right?

Audrey (06:54):
Yeah, so we do it quarterly and we actually have
it mapped out through 2025.
It's nice because I can goahead and set up the partnership
and we have it set up throughthe rest of this year.
So we are looking for partnersfor 2026.
It's a short application.
I got it online now, y'all.

Mike (07:15):
And I think that was the challenge early on is that there
are so many good ones in Bureau.
Yeah, I think the numbers areup to like over 27 grand that
have been donated back throughthese partnerships, but I want
to be clear that that's notreally about us giving that back
.
It's about the customers comingalongside this initiative to buy

(07:37):
these products and supportthese nonprofits.
I mean, that's what this storyis all really about.
Is a community like showingtheir local love, showing that
love for these nonprofits bybuying these items?
So many of these decals are onthe back of some cars, you know,
and then people see it and it'sjust this snowball effect of
just more good happening in thecommunity.

(07:59):
I mean, I think there's a,there's a rally around.
You know being able to identifythat, you know you're from Vero
and you're proud of that.

Audrey (08:07):
I always say the Vero logo to me is a symbol of like,
love and respect for ourhometown.

Brian (08:12):
What a blessing and it was just a blessing wrapped up
for us when we met with you,audrey, and, and started hearing
this story, and I was excitedto hear more of it, because we
think that's what really makesVero, the Vero community, so
important, such a beautifulplace to be, and we're glad that
we're able to call this VeroBeach our home now.

Mike (08:32):
I think kudos to the folks that have been here before us
and that have done a lot of theplanning around here to keep
this local beach town vibe thatmakes it so special.

Brian (08:45):
And the most beautiful way to do that, to keep it this
way, is for everybody to supportlocal, to really get out here
and support your localbusinesses, the people that are
making this community so great,and it's not just the business
owners, it's everybody, it'syour neighbors, right?
That's what this whole podcastis about is helping us meet our
neighbors, the neighbors in VeroBeach, and actually, at the
same time, learn the stories ofthe heart behind the people in

(09:08):
Vero and how can we comealongside them and support them.
So, audrey, mike, I want to sayboth of you guys, thank you so
much for being our guests on thepodcast.
This has been awesome.
What would you say is comingnext for you guys?
Oh man.

Mike (09:22):
Yeah, we're kind of waiting to see what God has in
store.
In a lot of ways, we've got acouple of kids.
Maybe there's a third at somepoint down the road.
I don't know, you know this isnot a reveal.

Brian (09:34):
No, no, it is.
It's not not a reveal, no nodefinitely not no, we're in.

Audrey (09:40):
I we're just really deep into parenting right now and we
didn't get into that too muchin this whole podcast, but we're
very into learning to balancebusiness ownership, parenting
like you know, motherhood andfatherhood and creating really
good rhythms to set our familyup and ground us in this season,

(10:00):
because I do think, like youknow, we were talking about this
the other day when you'refaithful in the little things,
god can bless you with moreright.
Like he wants to right.
He's a generous Father.
So right now I feel like we'rereally grounding in to be
faithful in the little things,and the little things I mean
like our children right now.
And so for Seahorse Lane I'malways kind of open-handed and

(10:26):
prayerful in what I choose toput in our store and I think
that's the season I'm in now.
It's like really like curating.
You know what we want here sothat one day, if you know God
willing, right, if he does wantto grow us into a bigger
presence online or anotherlocation in another town or

(10:47):
something new altogether, likewe want to be ready for that.

Brian (10:52):
Well, I love that.
What I hear a lot, what you'resaying about the future is
really making sure everythingthat you're doing is dialed in
and is purposeful, Purposefuland meaningful behind everything
that you're doing, thedecisions you're making, and
that's a beautiful thing, Well,hey.
Well, thanks for joining us andthank you guys again for
sharing your story.

(11:12):
I know it's going to be ablessing to many people in the
community and they're going toget to know your hearts more.
So, thank you to our neighborsthat are listening.
We want to thank you for tuningin.
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(11:33):
going to be told here on theVero Beach Podcast.

Mike (11:35):
Okay, see you next time, neighbor.