Queen Beads: Young Business Owners Are Working Hard for the Honey
Sasha Bush
The Ashland Beacon
Business ownership at any age can be a daunting task to embark upon, but it’s the complete opposite for one young group of local entrepreneurs. Emma Hieneman, Ava Mcalister, Mia Young, Lucy Compliment, and her sister Piper Compliment have truly found the secret to running a successful business. In late May of 2023, these ambitious young ladies came up with the idea to start up a business that would offer custom bracelets, phone charms, rings, and so much more.
With the help of their supportive mothers, this young team of soon-to-be business owners quickly came up with the name, Queen Beads. “So, the idea for the business was actually my mom’s. But, I came up with the name, and then we just kind of went with it,” shared Young. Due to the determination of these young business owners, Queen Beads became an overnight success. The girls soon found themselves filling custom orders left and right. News of this sweet new business was spreading like wildfire.
With what seemed like overnight success, the girls continued with that momentum, and soon word had spread of these busy little bees and their creative works of art. I recently ran into four of the five owners of this business, which was all the buzz at one of Ashland’s Makers Markets on The Square events. I have to say they couldn’t have picked a more appropriate name than Queen Beads for their little business. There sat five young ladies completely focused on the work at hand. I observed five young ladies who were completely dedicated to the success of their business and one another.
Queen Beads offers a wide variety of premade designs for purchase, or you can place a custom order via their Facebook page. Emma Hieneman noted that she and the other girls would have brainstorming sessions where they would just get together and come up with ideas for their creations. One might say this is where all the magic happened. Piper Compliment was excited to share, “My favorite thing about running a business is coming up with the ideas for the bracelets and stuff with my friends. It’s just really fun to work together on it. The hardest part about owning our business is trying to keep all the beads organized and not letting them get mixed up.” Young agreed with Compliment, “My favorite thing about owning a business is for sure being able to do it with my friends. It’s just so much fun.”
Since the grand opening of Queen Beads, the girls have made and sold over 100 custom bracelets and have no plans of stopping there. In fact, they all share the same goal. A year from now, they hope their little locally-owned business can spread its wings and branch out to other local areas. Behind every successful businesswoman is that businesswoman’s mother. All five of the girls’ mothers are beyond proud of the success their daughters have experienced thus far. “It’s exciting to see them coming together, making custom orders, and interacting with the people. It’s also great to see them do so well with it. I just love that they are spending time together making money and learning new things,” Hieneman’s mother shared.