A Sweet Aroma

Having been a hairstylist for nearly sixteen years, Tamara Reed takes pride in beautifying her clients with the latest hairstyles. And with a keen eye for fashion, she chose to incorporate more options for clients at her salon, Studio 31. Tamara didn’t stop there, though. Her love for fragrance influenced her to turn an idea into a reality, which was creating her very own perfume line. This soft, elegant aroma is an oil-based perfume called Aramat.

Never Unraveled

As a lover of clothing with a longing to become a fashion designer, nothing could have deterred me from introducing myself to a group of women whose sewing flourishes with creativity and design. Most of you may know these women as none other than the Wilbourn sisters. These talented women have been a household name for the past thirty years, not only in the surrounding counties of West Tennessee but all over the globe.

StoriesGuest ContributorFebruary 1, 2017Jackson TN, Tennessee, local, local business, family business, family, sisters, mother, Asanta M. Brooks, Wilbourn's Sewing & Alterations, clothing, sewing, alterations, West Tennessee, Johnetta Black, Mary Adams, customer service, African American, women, entrepreneur, business, seamstress, Jason Hollowell, quality, Queen Mother Elizabeth, daughters, Bible, Christianity, Christian, work ethic, fashion, fashion design, Jackson-Madison County General Hospital, Martha Hampton, Ruth Osborn, Midtown Jackson, Susie Ferguson, interior design, Carolyn Wilbourn, Janice Wilbourn-Woods, Wilbourn Sister Designs, Lithia Springs GA, Georgia, California, local shop, New Orleans LA, Iyanla Vanzant, Nene Leakes, Regina Love, Black History Month, Women's History Month, female entrepreneur, woman of color

Homemade Christmas

Ross Priddy is the man behind Douglass Gray. He is also my older brother. We grew up under the same roof with the same traditions, which formed many of the same memories. His childhood— I was there for that. Which, I assume, is why I was asked to tell the story of Douglass Gray—because that really is where it started . . . in his childhood. My brother was an imaginative kid. He took everything to the next level. If he was playing army, there was ketchup blood and little sisters on sleeping bag stretchers.

StoriesGuest ContributorDecember 22, 2016Jackson TN, Tennessee, Abby Helms, Christmas, holiday, Douglass Gray, Our Jackson Home: The Magazine, Vol. 1 Issue 2, family, business, hobby, handmade, stocking, craft, Etsy, New Brunswick NJ, sewing, Laura Priddy

Proudly Made In America

As I pulled up to Alamo Pride Cut & Sew Factory in March of 2014, I had to focus on the bold colors associated with spring that had taken hold across the Mid-South. The air was clean, and the morning dew blanketed fresh azalea and dogwood blossoms. I needed to focus on the beauty around me to keep from crying and mourning the life in Hong Kong I had left behind. “This is what the South is,” I said to myself as we drove past farmlands and well-manicured lawns heading into town.

Fishes & Loaves

We gathered in a living room of earthen walls painted mint green with a dirt floor covered by tarp. Our hostess sat aside from the group on a bench lining one of the walls so that we could all have a seat in a circle of sunk-in couches and ottomans. Alemaz Bola is a mother of five and an entrepreneur. She wore a head wrap striped with the green, yellow, and red of the Ethiopian flag and sat meekly aside as if to stay out of the way, despite the fact that we came to hear her story.