Meet Emily Geist | Entrepreneur, Small Business Owner

We had the good fortune of connecting with Emily Geist and we’ve shared our conversation below.

Hi Emily, what habits do you feel helped you succeed?
I really don’t feel like I have succeeded, yet, but I think the main habit that has gotten me as far as I am is my persistence. There are plenty of months where sales are slow and I’m not sure how I will pay my bills or afford groceries. The state of our economy has been devastating for many small businesses selling luxury handmade items like mine. I just… don’t give up. I have a habit of telling myself I will find a way, something will come through, etc. I keep trying my hardest and putting in all the time and energy I can spare until I am able to make ends meet. It gets really hard and mentally exhausting but it works.

What should our readers know about your business?
Getting here has been anything but easy. Not even a year into this journey we had some life events throw a big wrench in my plans and it honestly derailed me quite a bit. I’m still recovering mentally and emotionally from it all, and it has definitely impacted my ability to focus when faced with overwhelming task lists and debts. It has gotten to the point where many days I feel like my business is failing and I waste hours looking up part time jobs to supplement my income. The idea of having to regress into a job working for someone else is almost embarrassing to me since I fought so hard to be my own boss. Unfortunately it might be my only way to get back on track and bring in some cash flow to refuel my business. These are the not-so-glamorous struggles of entrepreneurship that they don’t tell you about on social media. It sucks, it hurts, but when you get through it and things start to turn around it can be so incredibly rewarding. You get to look back and feel proof of yourself for weathering the storm and working your hardest to protect your dream. I look forward to that moment every day & remind myself how close it may be when I start to feel down and doubt my life choices.

Let’s say your best friend was visiting the area and you wanted to show them the best time ever. Where would you take them? Give us a little itinerary – say it was a week long trip, where would you eat, drink, visit, hang out, etc.
Cleveland gets a pretty bad rap but there’s sooo much to do here. It would depend what the friend was into, but if they are a friend of mine they probably like plants, food, and shopping as much as me so that’s what we would do! We would grab brunch at Astoria, Grumpys, Brewnuts just to name a few. We would take trips to some of my favorite thrifting spots like Value World and hit up Urban Planting for some new plant babies. The Botanical Gardens would of course be a given followed by Mongolian grill for lunch and if we were still on the east side and the weather was nice we would check out the Shaker Nature Center too. I would insist we visit Edgewater park, weather permitting, or even just bike around downtown for fun. A whole week wouldn’t be anywhere near long enough to enjoy all of my favorite restaurants and breweries.. but to name a few we would have to do Barrio, The Lit, Masthead, Townhall, Whiskey Bar, Harlows, Haufbrauhouse, Coopers Hawk, Happy Dog… ok that’s enough I’m getting hungry!

The Shoutout series is all about recognizing that our success and where we are in life is at least somewhat thanks to the efforts, support, mentorship, love and encouragement of others. So is there someone that you want to dedicate your shoutout to?
I have to give my husband some credit for supporting me on this journey. We used to work for the same company back in 2021 and were equally fed up with their mistreatment, so we decided we needed to make a change. He was able to return to a previous job that payed enough to cover us both in a pinch, which gave me the freedom to focus on my business full time without the pressure of needing to bring in my previous salary. For the most part he listens to my ramblings about margins and product ideas (or pretends to at least) and has always been very understanding if I was a little short on a payment here or there. I put an immense amount of pressure on myself to pay my way and not need to go to him for financial help, but knowing that he can help in worse case scenarios is a comfort that I recognize I am very lucky to have. I definitely wouldn’t have dared to go full time when I did if it wasn’t for his willingness to pick up the slack.

Website: www.flfshop.com

Instagram: Ftlofshop

Twitter: Ftlofshop

Facebook: Ftlofshop