Lady Entrepreneurs Curate their Own Paths

Three Uniquely Coweta Women-owned Businesses

Written by JENNIFER LONDON    |    Photographed by SARA MOORE

Kenya Brantley owns and operates Greenhouse Mercantile with locations in both Newnan and Senoia.

Kenya Brantley:
Appreciating A Beautiful Life 

Kenya Brantley launched Greenhouse Mercantile in downtown Newnan in 2016 and opened a second location in Senoia last year. She lives in Newnan with her husband Robert and three children, Issachar, 21; Alyssia, 17; and Leona, 5; and the family dog, Charlie.

“I feel like since we got here, Newnan has welcomed us with open arms,” says Kenya. “I always tell people our Newnan location and the Senoia location are the same but different.”

Kenya has always had an appreciation for older things and recalls visiting antique stores and estate sales with her parents as a child. In blending the new with the old, her stores have something for everyone. Along with the items it carries, Greenhouse Mercantile provides space for pop-up shops to sell products without the high price of overhead.

“My parents come from an educator community, so going to their friends’ houses and seeing all of their beautiful pieces, I will say it was definitely like cultural awareness for me of where I come from with beautiful African statues, beautiful art and sculptures,” says Kenya.

The business owner travels for her collections, gathering primitive, mid-century modern and antique pieces. She also enjoys local picking, thrifting and estate sales.

“We definitely jump on those opportunities to put a new life to old things,” she says.

Kenya offers interior design for customers, with knowledge she gained from her travels and studying different cultures. She says her secret to success comes down to her strong circle that includes her husband, her team members, her friends, and self-care. She loves getting massages and pedicures – and also pausing and paying attention to the details, noting, “It’s these small moments that add up to a beautiful life.”

Alicia Amey encourages clients (and women and minorities with dreams of entrepreneurship) to blossom.

Kenya credits team member Emmanuel Brooks with helping her business flourish. With his help in the stores, she says, she’s allowed the time to serve on several boards and be increasingly active in the community.

Alicia Amey: 
Proving How It’s Done, So Naturally!

Alicia Amey and her family moved to Newnan in 2019, the same year she started Blossomed Posies. Last January, she opened her studio in Summergrove Market Square where she offers lash extensions, basic facials, brow services, lash lifts and men’s skincare services.

Amey promotes natural healthy skincare solutions without chemicals. She says the lash industry contains a lot of practices that are not healthy and can cause damage which is not always reversible, so she emphasizes to clients that there is a way to achieve a look but in a healthier way that promotes a more natural look.

“Let’s just love on ourselves, our skin, our hair, our bodies inside and out,” she says. “I want to be different, I want to set myself apart, and that’s how I feel like I’m going to be able to do it.”

Amey’s passion for what she does comes from knowing how important it is to see someone successfully juggling life as a mother and wife with multiple jobs and career and life goals. Her busy schedule includes working a full-time job for the Department of Veteran Affairs. She and husband Zechariah, 13-year-old daughter Lydia and 4-year-old son Zack are welcoming a new baby girl to the family this spring.

“I’m not saying that it’s easy, but if you have a partner who believes in what you’re doing, believes in your vision and who wants to see you succeed, you have to trust that to make it work,” she says. “Get out here, do what you want to do, strap those babies on your back, and become these powerful women that you want to be. It’s millions of us out here and we need a million more. So follow your dreams and make it work.”

Amey attended school in Scottsdale, Arizona, where emphasis was on lash care and the science behind it. This helped her to draw in the clients that wanted exactly what she offered, she says, adding that now 95% of her clients are business professionals.

Kiaira Ferguson serves up her unique brew at Kiki’s Koffee Stop, a portable coffee bar she owns and operates.

Kiaira Ferguson:
Leading the Way in Her Mobile Cafe

Kiaira Ferguson moved to Newnan in 2022 and started her own business, Kiki’s Koffee Stop, with a focus on coffee roasting and adding natural flavors like roasted nuts and dried fruits to avoid using chemical and artificial flavoring.

“I make everything naturally, and I do it myself,” she says.

Ferguson sources her berries from a Costa Rican supplier and runs the operation while parenting her toddler daughter, E’lyven. Her mom Tedra is also there to support her behind the scenes.

The entrepreneur prefers using pure, natural cane sugar or agave in her coffee drinks. Her coffees have their own natural flavor whether served black, iced or hot, according to Ferguson. She says she didn’t see a lot of representation in the coffee business, which motivated her to get into the field and educate herself on every aspect of the industry.

“A lot of people from all backgrounds have been very open with me, bringing me in,” she says.

Ferguson has expanded from selling in a booth at Newnan’s Market Day to owning her first coffee truck in 2023. She serves ‘musical coffees’ all named for songs, and her natural lemonade line named for her daughter. The mobile cafe is available for events and catering delivery, and her coffee is available at Treasures Lost and Found in Sharpsburg.

Ferguson says Coweta County has been extremely supportive of her.

“I don’t think I would have had as much success as I have been having if I would have been in Atlanta city limits like I grew up in,” she says. “I think that me being out here, everybody’s more family oriented and supports one another.”

She celebrates being her own boss.

“I completely love it,” she says. NCM