In St. James, women business owners work together. 'It's community over competition.'

Pam Atkinson, owner of My Darling Jeans, is one of a group of six women business owners working together in the hamlet of St. James to stay connected, gain a greater sense of community and help one another succeed.

Branding themselves as the "Boss Babes of St. James," the ladies say their bond is "the Hallmark shopping experience, like in the movies where people shop in a little hometown," explains Atkinson, 38. She opened her children's clothing shop last August.

The owners behind the five St. James boutiques — Atkinson's My Darling Jeans, Katrina Cicero's Kat + Mouse Photography, Suzanne McEnroe's This 'N That Gifts, Cat Rosenboom's Rose & Boom and Gray’s Jewelers, owned by Donnalee Gray and Danielle Roth — have been finding ways to support one another since joining forces last holiday shopping season to host a "Sip 'N Shop" event. The women meet or text each other to toss around ideas, assist in each other's business branding and organize shopping events for the community. Their brainstorms often expand to involve other women business owners in the area. 

Their motive: "It's community over competition," explains Cicero, 37, of St. James, who also sells her TreenaRose Soap at Kat + Mouse. 

“It can be a little bit of a lonely place to be when you’re an owner of a business and you’re out on your own,” says Atkinson. “So, it’s nice to have someone that can support you and kind of pump you up.”

Beyond business, the group enjoys the camaraderie of other like-minded women.

“We’re busy with work,” says Atkinson, of Greenlawn. “We’re busy with kids and it’s just having somebody that’s going through the same thing and could commiserate with you.”

View From Lake Avenue

Since opening This ‘N That Gifts in February 2020, McEnroe, 58, has done an annual Sip ‘N Shop evening to launch the season with her holiday wares.

After seeing a line out the door, Cicero, whose business is across the street on Lake Avenue, stopped in to check out the buzz and told McEnroe she wanted in. “So, the next one we did together and I was like, ‘This is so amazing. We should open it up to other people,’” Cicero recalls.

Each time they did some kind of networking event or ran into each other, their circle grew bigger.

"It’s all amazing females who are all entrepreneurs and all of us are moms,” says Cicero, adding that some are actually “dog moms.” “We all just feed off each other,” she adds.

In November, they held their first neighborhood Sip 'N Shop, where the stores stayed open late, shoppers went from shop to shop and were eligible for gifts and gift certificates from each. The evening also served as a fundraiser for the Smithtown Children’s Foundation.

Now the group is looking to do Sip ‘N Shops several times a year, notes McEnroe.

“Isn’t there room for everyone to be successful?” she says, adding, “Everyone’s in it for the right reasons. We’re all here to help each other because I think we can all bring something to the table, and all just be successful in our own way and still empower each other at the same time.”

McEnroe recently collaborated with Cicero to rebrand This ‘N That with a new logo and sign for the shop.

An artist, photographer and marketing pro, Cicero has also taken lots of photos for the group’s businesses and they’ve referred customers looking for photography services.

“Whatever you give out, it always comes back,” Cicero says. “ I feel we all have that mentality of ‘How can I help you?'”

Neighbors Helping Neighbors

In addition to giveaways she’s done with Gray’s Jewelers in support of breast cancer charities, Rosenboom, 45, who owns Rose & Boom Boutique, says she does lots of pop-ups of Long Island-based businesses — mostly women-owned — in St. James and at her other outposts in Babylon and Mount  Sinai, “just to introduce other small businesses to our customers and cross-promote each other.”

Known for her pop-ups, Rosenboom, of Miller Place, will often get calls from customers looking for restaurants, caterers and any number of services.

“It’s actually become well known: We really just promote small and local businesses, which is kind of cool,” Rosenboom says.

While some businesses might be vying for the same customer base, Rosenboom believes that the St. James shop owners maintain the right outlook on working cooperatively.

The group recently offered a $500 gift card to be used at the five shops through an Instagram promotion, notes Roth, 39, who’s owned Gray’s Jewelers Bespoke with her mother, Donnalee Gray, 62, since April 2018. For Women's History Month, they're hosting an Instagram giveaway offering one winner $100 gift cards to each of their stores. 

“I think it’s really important to collaborate, especially with each other,” says Roth, of St. James, adding that those who are better at social media help others who are less skilled at it. “It’s nice to throw ideas to one another and share our experiences to help us grow our following.”

Roth praises the women's group for how well they work together. My Darling Jeans sells Communion wear, while Gray’s sells religious jewelry and Cicero takes family photography, so the owners will recommend each other to their customers. 

“It definitely is a breath of fresh air and I’m eager to continue the togetherness of promoting each other’s businesses and helping each other grow,” Roth says.

Concurring that the women strive to benefit one another, Atkinson says, “If my business is thriving, we hope that we can keep that going for someone else. I think the more shoppers we have and the more people that have a good experience with us, the more it kind of trickles it out to the rest of the girls.”