Let’s start a business, we said. It’ll be fun, we said. People will love our ideas, we said. Well, it’s all fun and games until you actually do it! It is a labor of love, at least it is for us, that’s for sure!
The idea, a one-stop-shop, where you could renew your body, mind, and confidence, hence our motto! It would also save time by cutting out the running all over town to get your pampering done. We started off with a massage therapist, a hairstyle/makeup artist, an esthetician, a photographer (with an assistance and an apprentice photographer), and a select few people to create items for our small boutique. This was just the tip of the iceberg of what we want to do for people. To say we had more plans is an understatement, but we will get to that. Now all we needed was a building!
Then Covid hit and the country shut down. That’s fine, we though, it just gives us more time to get everything in order. During this time, we found a building that we thought would be our home. We won’t go into detail, but we’ll just say this…it fell through. We told ourselves “Everything happens for a reason” and we kept searching.
In the beginning of July 2021, we found a building. It really wasn’t what we wanted, but we wanted to get started! We were excited. We were getting ready for an opening date by the end of August, but before we could open our massage therapist and esthetician backed out. Once again, we told ourselves, “Everything happens for a reason” so, we kept going and had our opening.
We started off with the name Midnight Star Photography & Spa. What we found out is that people were confused and didn’t understand what the two had to do with each other. We had people coming in to ask questions, but we didn’t see them again after we explained that we were a spa and a place that you could get family portraits, headshot, etc. and that the two really didn’t play off of each other. During our time at the first location, we found a new esthetician/ massage therapist, and added a photographer as well as travel agent services, permanent jewelry, sound therapy, and energy work and Integrated Health would soon be added to the menu.
Also, during this time, we realized that our dream was too big for the small space that we were in, so we found a new location. That started the blogging, and to read about that, please check out the “And So the Journey Begins” blogs. This was truly a labor of love. We started working on this location in February of 2023 and by the time we finished, we added a café and changed our name to Midnight Star & Café Eclipse. We also lost all of the employees that we had at the old building, due to the fact that we were shut down for a year (which is completely understandable).
We hired all new employees and we can’t be happier with these people, these new family members. Liam (café), Laura (salon & esthetics), Ashley (salon) & Jala (receptionist and soon to be medical esthetician), these people are not only family, but also, they are part of the backbone of this business. We are so very grateful to have found these amazing people! And so, we opened the Midnight Star side in November 18, 2023 and Café Eclipse on December 26, 2023.
We started off by asking the people of Collierville what they wanted in the café. They all said something other than burgers, chicken, or anything else that was already in Collierville. So, we did weekly soups and sandwiches, coffees, sweets, etc. Then we were told that we were being to different and cold cut sandwiches were what Collierville wanted. We listened and turned to cold cuts. No one wanted that, so we went back to our original idea…a desert café. We now have cupcakes, cookies, muffins, macarons, coffees, and more. We are will to add back the lunches; however, that all depends on if we have the foot traffic for that in the future.
In our little bazaar boutique, we have added handcrafted items and jewelry made by people around Collierville to the Jackson, TN areas. We have also added some name brand items, such as Hello Mello and Myra Bags. We have added to the permanent jewelry choices and there are also new services in the works as well.
To tell you all the truth, the struggle has been real! We live, eat, and breathe this business. We struggle to find ways to get our name out there and to find ways to bring people in the doors.
However, through all the struggles that we have had so far, we have met some wonderful people. These people are part of our family now and we would like to introduce you to a couple of them. Ms. Joy, she is a beautiful soul that is such a blessing and brings a smile to our faces every time we see her (whether it is at the shop or somewhere in town). Gréat Vibes (Facebook) or @great_vibes_only (TikTok) and he does have great vibes guys! He is an advocate for mental health, a 3-time cancer survivor and most importantly our newest family member! He is our inspiration to keep moving forward! We love adding wonderful people to our family. It just makes everything even more worthwhile.
Besides the people we have met, there is so much more that we want to do for people and this community that we call home. So many more ideas that will come as long as we can survive as a small business, things like; classes, events, goat yoga, etc. We love and support you Collierville and we hope that you will come to love and support us as well! Come by and take a tour, invite your friends for a “friends’ day” at the café, book a service with us, and maybe get a headshot or family portrait taken, or bring a book and a blanket and lay outside under the trees and read. Just bring your good vibes!
Be a small business owner is hard. It takes a lot of hard work, sleepless nights, brainstorming, etc. There are a lot of ups and downs and sometimes the downs are overwhelming, but we will keep it up as long as we can! We are a small business with a big heart and we hope that we will be around for a long time to do all the incredible things that we want to do for people, the community, and the town. Thank you to all that already support us and thank you in advance to all those that will support us in the future. We look forward to meeting you, hopefully soon!