Melissa Siedlik: Welcome back to The Vault, where we unlock stories that matter here at FNBO. I'm Melissa Siedlik, your host today. I lead our Small Business Advisor team.

Before we get into it, did you know that 99.9% of businesses are small, and they employ nearly half the workforce? Pretty amazing, right? But even more powerful, um, are the people and the business owners behind those numbers?

May is Small Business Month, which is a fantastic month to celebrate our small businesses, and the owners behind the scenes that help make our communities thrive. I am joined today by a very special guest, Sarah Spooner, owner of Four Sisters Boutique here in Omaha, Nebraska. Um, Sarah, welcome to The Vault.

Sarah Spooner: Thank you so much. Thank you for having me.

Melissa Siedlik: We're going to get into it and talk a lot today about your story, and I'm super excited for our listeners to hear, um, you know, what's inspired you and challenges that you faced. But before we go there, why don't we just start from the very beginning? Tell me a little bit about what inspired you and what is Four Sisters?

Sarah Spooner: Okay, so my name is Sarah Spooner, and I'm born and raised in Omaha, Nebraska. I grew up always not knowing what I wanted to do. And I'd always go shopping with my grandmother. And I decided to start planning for a clothing boutique, and I named it after my grandmother and her three sisters. I wanted a meaning behind the name instead of just kind of like, I didn't want just Sarah's Boutique. I wanted a story that was behind it. So when people walk in the store, they see a huge photo of the four sisters and each fitting room door is each sister. And so that's kind of the meaning behind the name of it.

Um, and I really didn't, again, going back to, I didn't know what I wanted to do, and I really planned out Four Sisters for three years before opening the doors. Kind of seen, you know, what Omaha needed. What was the trends? Could I do it? I was 26 years old. Yeah, so that's kind of what Four Sisters is.

Melissa Siedlik: How long has Four Sisters been around?

Sarah Spooner: It was 2013 when I started planning it, and I opened the doors in March 2015. So, it's been 11 years this year.

Melissa Siedlik: 11 years.

Sarah Spooner: Yeah!

Melissa Siedlik: Fantastic.

Sarah Spooner: So, it's really exciting.

Melissa Siedlik: Congratulations. That is exciting. So, you mentioned, you know, you weren't sure if you were going to be able to do it. What was it that kind of got you over that hump that allowed you to take that first step?

Sarah Spooner: When I first started researching how to open a business, I was really young, a lot of people didn't believe in me, and I think that was the hardest part is, you know, even getting my dad to believe that I'm sitting in the basement planning out a boutique, which it was really uncommon for a 26 year old to really jump and do that. It was hard to find people that believed in you. I always give this advice, like make sure you find an accountant, a lawyer, a bookkeeper. People that can help you plan it because you're, I was going in blind. I was Googling everything. And so, I kind of started with that and then, researched small business loans and found First National Bank. Um, so, yeah, that's kind of how I jumped into it.

Melissa Siedlik: Oh yeah, love that. It takes lots of planning. Lots of effort, lots of work, lots of.

Sarah Spooner: The biggest advice I give people always is plan it out. Make a business plan, really follow that so you have a guideline in a way.

Melissa Siedlik: That’s great. Yeah. We're going to get more into advice here in a little bit, um, but what I also think is really important is to talk about some of the challenges that you faced as you are getting started. You know, we hear that about 20% of small businesses don't make it past the first year. And so, you know, what that means is, um, small businesses and owning them and running them, it's not for the faint of heart. The stakes are really high. Um, can you talk a little bit about just what were some of the challenges that you faced? Can you share a couple of those stories?

Sarah Spooner: I would say my biggest challenge was location. Um, again, going back to people didn't believe in me. I was very young, and so a lot of locations wanted me to have a cosigner. I knew going into opening a business, I could fail. I didn't want to fail, and so I would work hard not to. Um, so a few locations had turned me down or asked for a cosigner, and that was really hard because I wanted that location in Omaha, but because I'd always learned in college location is number one, marketing is number two. Social media was out. So we were, you know, that was a challenge too, to get my name out there. Um, but Rockbrook and the Daubs really believed in me and signed me at 26. But I would say the biggest challenge was just proving to people that I could do it.

Melissa Siedlik: So, Sarah, was there ever a moment that you thought, as you were getting started, this might not work.

Sarah Spooner: You can ask all my employees to this day, but every time we have an event. I am so scared no one's gonna come. Um, so my first event, I was so scared that people wouldn't come, and Omaha showed up, and it was like really exciting that from then on, I just always was like, I need to promote events and keep doing these things that bring people in.

There were times, I mean, COVID, it was a big time when I was really scared we wouldn't survive, but I always just had that mindset and I was always positive about, okay, we can make it work. If something wasn't working, say a marketing tactic that we had planned or something wasn't going how I would want it to, I would find a way to pivot.

Melissa Siedlik: It didn't maybe work, but you learned, which, um, being an entrepreneur in a small business is really vital to success.

Sarah Spooner: Yeah - I feel like I still do that.

Melissa Siedlik: Yes - every day, right?

Sarah Spooner: Oh, yeah.

Melissa Siedlik: That’s Great. Um, you are inspired, as you said earlier on in your story by your grandma and her sisters, four women. Um, you employ a lot of young ladies who, I'm sure, love working there. In fact, I know one of them, my daughter, who worked for you. Um, and so, talk to me a little bit about what being a woman-owned business has meant to you on your journey.

Sarah Spooner: You know, when I was looking to open, I was always looking at other states and how they did things and there was a woman named Kirsten who owned a boutique in Arkansas, and I always looked up to her, and now it's crazy to think that I'm that woman that these young girls that I employ or anyone out there looks up to me. And I got a lot of passion from that and determination that I can do it, and I want the young girls that I employ to see that as well. So that's a big reason I think that pushes me to always be as successful as I can because I have young girls that I employ and want them to be happy in the workplace.

I love training girls and teaching them. Like, I remember when I first opened, one of my employees came and said, thank you for teaching me how to talk to people. But to be told that I'm teaching someone how to communicate was really eye-opening to me, but also like, made me realize they're looking up to me as well. And so, and I was always so close to my grandmother and her sisters that I always looked up to them.

So I think bringing that into my business has been amazing.

Melissa Siedlik: Yeah, that's fantastic. Yeah, you're doing so much more than selling clothes.

Sarah Spooner: Yes, there's a lot more behind the scenes that people don't know.

Melissa Siedlik: Yeah, that's right. That's right. I'd like to kind of talk and hear you share a bit about what it is about Four Sisters that makes it special.

Sarah Spooner: I'm very particular of how my store looks. I'm all about the aesthetic. I go every Thursday morning at 6:00 AM and revamp the racks. Because what I've learned through the years is people will come weekly and they'll turn to the left and if they see the same thing that's been hanging there, they're not going to want it. So, changing it out, more people are constantly like, “oh my God, it's cute, it's new, like, ever changing,” I guess.

But, we’re unique in the way that I try to bring something to Omaha that no one else is doing. Obviously, I have other competitors in the Omaha market that sell the same things, but I try to like style it a different way or bring gift items that I've only seen, you know, in Dallas, Texas, or something.

Um, I'm very much about how the store looks, and I want it to be an environment that is, you know, happy and fun and girly, and I want my employees to give the best customer service they possibly can. So, like my number one is you have to say “hi, how are you” to every person that walks through that door. And so I'm very particular about that, but I feel like it helps us in the long run because I constantly hear great experiences and I want to continue that.

Melissa Siedlik: Yeah. Yep, well, I can vouch for that. That's true. I think you've set really great standards. I think anybody that walks into the store experiences that. So, well done. That's leadership.

Sarah Spooner: Um, so yeah, it's been a learning experience. I've had to grow with my store, to learn how to lead a team. I was not probably the best in my beginning years, but-

Melissa Siedlik: Well, 11 years of experience.

Sarah Spooner: Yeah, a lot of experience.

Melissa Siedlik: Yeah.

Sarah Spooner: We do make a lot of our own unique sweatshirts, so we're very well known for cute Nebraska-color sweatshirts. We're licensed with Creighton. We're licensed with LOVB Volleyball and we have a graphic designer on staff that makes designs that you can't get anywhere else.

Melissa Siedlik: Um, is there anything new and fresh and exciting that's coming or what's the future look like?

Sarah Spooner: So, kind of what's next is we were chosen to be in the airport. So, when the new airport opens in like 2028 – they're not sure of the year yet – we will be selling all of our sweatshirt designs for all the teams in the airport. So, we're very excited that we were chosen for that.

And then we also created another business called FSB Designs, which we will wholesale our sweatshirts out. So, we'll sell wholesale, and we also will create for businesses, like custom merch type of things.

Melissa Siedlik: So fantastic. So exciting.

Sarah Spooner: Yeah, we're very excited.

Melissa Siedlik: That is very common with so many business owners, whether it's boutiques or other industries, they're constantly looking to,” how can I grow, how can I expand, how can I spin off of what I'm doing today” and look at you!

Sarah Spooner: I know, right, I'm trying.

Melissa Siedlik: And as a customer, it's been so fun to watch too. Just walking in the store and just looking at it going, wow, it's getting bigger!

Sarah Spooner: I know, we still hear people coming and they're like, “whoa, it's bigger.”

Melissa Siedlik: And I can vouch for your merchandise too, especially your sports merchandise, it’s all great.

Sarah Spooner: Thank you.

Melissa Siedlik: Yeah. So fun. I'm also very honored that FNBO has been a part of your growth journey along the way. Can you talk a little bit about how FNBO has been a part of your journey? Um, and, you know, how you've thought about a bank being involved with that?

Sarah Spooner: Yeah. I am a very big people person and I'm very social, an extrovert, and I talk to anyone, and you will hear my whole life story, and I think finding a bank, you know, was very high up on my to-do list, finding a good bank that understood what I wanted to do, who believed in me. And I went and talked and you guys were very open to the small business loans and I was able to make a business account with you guys and a personal account and it's been great.

It wasn't just some corporate bank. They're actually local and wanted to like do things together, and through the years, we've constantly collaborated, and I've loved that. I made sweatshirts for First National Bank, you know. I was excited to work together.

Melissa Siedlik: Yeah, I'm happy that we've been there with you along the way. It’s been so fun watching your growth journey. You know, Sarah, we have a lot of listeners out there who are building their plan, excited about this journey, um, and ready to take a leap, but what advice would you share with them?

Sarah Spooner: You have to have passion. You have to have the drive. If you don't have the work ethic, then don't open a business because you're going to be working all the time. Um, I didn't stop work – I mean, I still don't stop working – but I constantly worked for five years nonstop at my store. And so, the advice I give is like, go into it knowing that you may not have a life for a little bit, but the positive result of it is so great.

Um, I have an amazing employees that work for me. I love inspiring people. I love talking to people and giving advice like I am right now, but I would say the biggest advice is figure out what you want to do, try different things. You're gonna fail at some things, but-

Melissa Siedlik: Go for it.

Sarah Spooner: Yeah. Follow your gut. I'm all about intuitiveness and trusting and knowing yourself and yeah, all that.

Melissa Siedlik: Yeah. You know, you've been at it for 11 years. What do you wish you'd have known then that you know now?

Sarah Spooner: How business taxes work. But, um, that's just a learning experience. I had no idea what that was. Um, how to lead a team. I don't think I was very good at that. I was, you know, in high school, I was on the cheer squad and, you know, I’m a social butterfly, like I said, and in college, I was new member educator. So, I learned how to, like, be a leader in that sense, but running a business and having employees who, you know, want to be paid, who need to be taught how you like things, like they're not me. And so I had to really train what I want you to do at the front desk. How do you ask a customer if they want a fitting room? Um, yeah, but yeah, I think leading a team and learning how to lead was probably my hardest. How to talk to my employees and be the best boss I can be.

Melissa Siedlik: What is one of the things that people underestimate about owning your own business?

Sarah Spooner: They definitely underestimate what all goes on in the back. Like, we're going to post a fun reel, laughing and being goofy, but like, I could be dealing with payroll in the background and the 20 other things that are on my to-do list. So, I definitely think people sometimes think it's easier, which then goes back to your statistics of how many small businesses fail, because I feel people just need to really focus on what is their passion. And if they have that drive to do it, then they can definitely succeed.

Melissa Siedlik: When I think about where you started and where you are today and how you've grown, you know, you probably 11 years ago didn't expect to be at the airport or make sweatshirts for FNBO. Um, you know, talk a little bit about your, your preparedness or readiness to take on these additional opportunities that come your way.

Sarah Spooner: I mean, I had no idea where this would take me. I just, I did it. I knew I could fail, but I did it and I kept doing it and every year I would be like, okay, how do we grow this bigger? I really have to applaud my employees because they have the young creative minds that always gave me ideas to constantly grow Four Sisters. I would, you know, the airport thing, I never would have imagined being involved with that, but I remember walking through airports and seeing sweatshirts like, I can do that.

I go back to my business plan a lot because it's really fun to see what I made in 2013 to today at 2026. I never would have thought I'd be this far along. I just think I always believed in myself. There were a lot of sad days, a lot of tears, a lot of sad and anger and everything, but I always knew deep down I could do it, and I relied a lot on employees and help and people that guided me.

Melissa Siedlik: You've worked really hard to get to where you've gotten. Um, I also know there's a lot of other small businesses in our communities. How have you or do you work with other small businesses in the community?

Sarah Spooner: So I love working with other small businesses because it's, you know, other small business owners from Omaha, so you bond together knowing that you guys are doing something that not everyone else is. Four Sisters is really well known for our events. We do a tailgate, a Galentine's, a Mother's Day event, and we always love to bring pop-ups. So, we'll support a coffee shop and a candle company, and permanent jewelry companies, and they're all local to Omaha, and we don't charge anything. So, we say, come pop up. They get business, which is amazing. And people are also shopping at Four Sisters. But that's something where I like to collaborate a lot. We do a lot of collaborations with graphics as well. And yes, we like to support each other. And I've, you know, some of my best friends are other small business owners, which is nice to talk about the hardships with someone that actually understands.

Melissa Siedlik: You don't feel like you're in it alone. You know, do you have any just practical tips that you would share as people are listening?

Sarah Spooner: I would say something I learned really early on is I am good at a few things and I wanted to be good at those few things so, I hired a bookkeeper, an accountant and a bank, a lawyer, things that I don't have all the time in the world to do, but I think as a business owner, you kind of have to delegate. And I learned, you know, sometimes I learn the hard way how to delegate. You know, I don't have to work the front desk from 9:00 to 5:00 every day. Um, I can hire employees to do that. But I think the biggest tips I would give is find a bank who is, you know, the professionals at financials and the accountant that can help with all your taxes and the bookkeeper who can help do your payroll. Because I don't have all the time in the world. But I trust people to come in and do those things for me so that I can focus on other things that I'm passionate about and that would help me grow Four Sisters. So that's kind of how I started and it's been amazing to just have those relationships with those people from day one to now.

Melissa Siedlik: No, that's great. We say that a lot here. Business owners are really good at their craft. They're not necessarily experts in those other areas you're talking about.

Sarah Spooner: Yeah. I did not do well in math. So I trust the people that are good with money -

Melissa Siedlik: Yeah.

Sarah Spooner: To help me out.

Melissa Siedlik: Yeah, that's great. You know, Sarah, as you have grown and expanded, you've also increased your presence digitally and through social channels as well. How has that impacted your growth journey?

Sarah Spooner: Social media has been a huge part of Four Sisters. You know, we started with zero followers and we've gone up to 65,000 followers. And every year it's a new social media. I mean, TikTok came to play a few years ago. So now we're learning how to grow sales from that, but I will say my online store has grown tremendously through the years. We shipped to almost all 50 states. Um, and that's just been the biggest part of our growth is constantly changing and doing things that are in trend for social media.

Melissa Siedlik: Well, I have one final question. Um, you know, when you think about your business and all you've done, what is it that you're most proud of?

Sarah Spooner: I love hearing stories of people that found a dress for their engagement photos or their graduation. I love seeing girls out and about wearing their Creighton sweatshirts. And that all came from me, and it makes me so happy and proud that I'm able to dress people in Omaha and have a store that people feel comfortable coming in and trying on and finding things. I think makes me really proud. Also, seeing my employees excel, who aren't obviously with me for, you know, as many years, but all my shop girls that have gone off and graduated college and getting, you know, huge internships in Chicago, things like that really makes me proud of what I've created.

Melissa Siedlik: Thank you so much for taking the time. I know you're busy for being here, for talking about your experience, and just sharing your story.

Sarah Spooner: Thank you. Thank you for having me.

Melissa Siedlik: To our listeners, thanks for joining us on The Vault today. For more information regarding small businesses or additional financial resources, visit us at fnbo.com/small business. The Vault is brought to you by FNBO, Member FDIC, equal housing lender.