We're delighted to introduce you to Entrepreneurs of Impact Award winners Stacey Pierce and Julie Weldon of OME Gear. They are two of the amazing, everyday entrepreneur heroes doing good things for the world & their community during the COVID pandemic. We hope you're just as inspired by their story as we are!

Tell us a bit about your business & how it came to be.

We are the Founders & Co-CEOs of OME Gear. We are launching our flagship product, The Wanderr, the first-ever 5-in-1 transformable outdoor gear product that easily converts from a cart, to a low chair, to a higher chair, to a lounger to a camping cot. The journey started 20 years ago in 1998 when Jules’s parents came up with the first transforming 2-in-1 beach lounger cart concept, so we’re excited to finally bring it to market!

Along with OME Gear, we also co-own A Salty Rim, a coaching and consulting firm where we focus on small to medium size businesses and help them develop a strategic plan for growth. And we have two podcasts, GSD Entrepreneur and Do It In Nature. A final thing we’ve done that we’re thrilled about is writing a children’s book that’s about to be published, called Rescued By Rico. It’s a true story of a 12-14 year old Chocolate lab fur baby we rescued from Puerto Rico. With it, we hope to highlight the love of rescue pups and help others have the often difficult conversation of the “rainbow bridge” with their little ones. 

(Jules) I come from an entrepreneurial background from being raised in an entrepreneurial family, I have worked in the non-profit space, traveled to 11 developing countries on a year-long adventure, worked in the business management consulting industry, and ultimately ending up at PricewaterhouseCoopers. (Stacey) My background includes 20 years in the medical field as a therapist and 25 years experience in the start-up world including a catering business which we still do as a small side hustle (when we have time). 

We are proud to call Charleston home, and you can often find us at the beach or doing something outside in nature.

How was your business affected by the COVID pandemic? What shifts did you have to make in order to continue operating?  

From the beginning of Covid, we knew a shift in both of our businesses would happen but we didn’t realize just how much. We did our best to meet those challenges and changes as they presented themselves head-on. We strapped up our boots and got to work figuring out our next steps to avoid being a statistic of business closures. With a Salty Rim, our coaching and consulting business, we cut our fees to the bare minimum so we could help others who are trying to figure out their pivot. We started a weekly call, inviting all the women entrepreneurs we have had on the GSD Entrepreneur Podcast to join. This call is a platform of learning, leaning in, and leaning on other women entrepreneurs encountering the same challenges. OME Gear has presented our biggest challenges due in part to having to shift manufacturers mid-stream and find investments in the middle of a worldwide pandemic shutdown. Covid has completely stopped all production of our product but at the same time has allowed us to make the shifts we need to make in order to assure quality to our customers.

You were recognized by the community as an Entrepreneur of Impact! Tell us about your efforts to create a positive impact during the COVID crisis.  

First, thank you so much for this opportunity. We are sincerely grateful, and so appreciate all that Hatch Tribe is doing for our community and beyond. From the very beginning of the national shutdown, we knew we had to do something. This is when we decided to use our GSD Entrepreneur Podcast platform to bring together all the women entrepreneurs on a weekly Zoom call. We have been doing this weekly call now since March 19th averaging 20-30 women business owners on each call. The purpose of these calls are for women entrepreneurs to lean in and lean on each other during these strange and heavy times. We have brought in experts to talk to us about the PPP, EIDL, and Unemployment (UPA) along with a Doctor of Human Behavior to talk through the way we process our exterior world (super interesting). This weekly call has not and is not about being stuck in the unknown but focuses on the  “call to action” with the amazing community of women we have here in the Charleston area and beyond. We have also done a lot of free consulting and have cut our fees in half to try to make our services more accessible to business leaders who need help and guidance in creating a plan to make it through to the other side of all this. 

What quote/motto do you live by? 

Stacey: “The biggest risks in life are the ones not taken.”   

Jules: “The desire to reach the stars is ambitious. The desire to reach hearts is wise and most possible.” - Maya Angelou

What does the world need more of? 

Understanding and kindness. So many of us could use lessons in listening which could lead to more understanding creating space for more empathy for those around us.

In 3 words, what does it take to be successful as a business owner? 

Wonder Woman, Weeble Wobble (intense determination to not fall, pivot, and flex), and lots of Wine :)  Is that 3 words??  ;)

If you were to impart one tidbit of wisdom to up-and-coming entrepreneurs, what would it be? 

Go for it! Do not let anyone tell you can’t, there are plenty of resources out there to help you navigate through. But go in it with eyes wide open, knowing that it surely will not be easy!

To connect with Stacey and Julie and learn more about their work, visit the links below.

Website

Facebook

Instagram

We help women entrepreneurs build powerful, purposeful, and profitable businesses. Through actionable education and meaningful opportunities to connect, we cultivate growth-minded entrepreneurs to achieve personal success, while positively impacting their local community, economy, and causes they care about. We believe entrepreneurship is a force for greater good and our mission is to help YOU succeed. Join us inside the Hatch Tribe Collective!