Today we’d like to introduce you to Jeniece Waite.
Hi Jeniece, thanks for sharing your story with us. To start, maybe you can tell our readers some of your backstories.
Hi! I’m Jeniece and I am the Co-Owner of Martha Mary’s Home. MMH is an online store where we sell home decor, honey, and custom-designed apparel. I run the store with my mom and two younger sisters. Our mom, Martha (yes, Martha Mary!) was our inspiration. Martha can stage your house to look like a magazine cover with $1 findings from a garage sale and we’ve always wanted a home like hers. We were taught at a young age the joy of going garage sale-ing on Thursday mornings or going to antique stores/flea markets on weekends. As we got older and eventually bought our first houses, we wanted to make our store affordable for people like us. We want to inspire you to create the home you dream of with products we love.
We first sold locally in a booth at an antique store for 3 years. It was so fun staging each week and learning what we liked selling most. As the pandemic hit, we needed a change of pace and were introduced to other female entrepreneurs in the area who had online boutiques. We made the decision to go virtual and marthamaryshome.com was born!
As we grew online, so did our product offerings. We’ve been beekeeping in our backyard for years and friends would ask us if we were selling our honey. This year we started selling honey online and at Sideways in Downtown Plymouth, MI. We’re passionate about our entire home, including the garden so this just made sense. We have partnered with Ink Detroit on honey-inspired apparel and now sell several designs in our store.
We all face challenges, but looking back would you describe it as a relatively smooth road?
Our journey with the store and navigating life in our 30s has been all about self-love, self-worth, and confidence. We’re all about finding the piece you love in your home or the hobby that fills your time and makes you happy.
Learning to balance a social life with working a desk job, on top of the constant learning, has been tough. But the journey has been so fulfilling! We like showing the world what our styles are and that it is ok to be different. With the pressure to inspire people with our products, it’s been hard at times to not compare our journey to others on social media. But reminding ourselves of our worth and that everyone’s life path is different, is what has kept us going!
Alright, so let’s switch gears a bit and talk business. What should we know about your work?
At Martha Mary’s, we combine all of our styles and provide vintage products to decorate your home. We love making each moment special, whether it’s having a few friends over for girls’ night or a large holiday party. Some of our favorite items in the shop are the things we would use for hosting. We hunt for the cutest, vintage bowls to serve your mustards, jams, and of course, honey for the cheese plate. Our motto is to use your favorite vintage dishes year-round. The goal is to find pieces that are versatile in your decor and can be used over several seasons. We also specialize in affordable furniture that gives your home character.
Recently, we started selling our harvested honey and honey-inspired clothing. Each week, we dive into the beehives and check the progress and health. Honey harvest season is so rewarding and to be able to share it with the world has been amazing. Not only is the honey delicious but we love educating people on the complicated life of honey bees and what to pair your honey with. Growing that side of the store this year has been one of our proudest moments and can’t wait to continue that creative outlet.
Contact Info:
- Email: jeniece.waite@gmail.com
- Website: marthamaryshome.com
- Instagram: marthamarys_home
- Other: www.pinterest.com/marthamaryshome/
