Spotlight: Skyclad Emporium
Skyclad Emporium is a new boutique in downtown Portland specializing in hand-poured ritual candles, small-batch Eau de Parfum, and an alchemy of the strange and sacred. When asked to describe the business, John McIntyre, who co owns the business with his wife, Aimee Couture-McIntyre, shared: “We make things that we want to buy. My wife and I are part of every item we create. The candle and perfume descriptions found throughout the shop reflect our life journey, and we hope customers can find parts of themselves in them as well.”
What is your favorite part about owning a small business?
John: I like that I am able to provide personal expression. I couldn’t own a business without the ability to express myself. Some people might say owning a business offers flexibility, but that is certainly not the case. It is the opposite. If I work at a bar, I can take a day off to go to a concert or an event. When you own a business, taking a day off often means forfeiting more than a day’s pay.
If you could go back to the beginning, what would you have done differently?
John: I don’t think that I would have done anything differently. The struggles we encountered while setting up the business will benefit us someday. Should we have saved a financial cushion? I actually don’t think so. If you can do it without a cushion, you can certainly do it with one.
What role does your community play in your business?
John: When we decided to open the store, we struggled with the idea of capitalism and asked ourselves, “Are we subscribing to a capitalist system?” We eventually realized that commerce exists outside of capitalism. Commerce is a way of building community and providing for others.
It is a unique experience to go into a store and buy something from the person who created it and to share something with a person who appreciates it. It creates community. We also host twice-monthly poetry events on the second and fourth Thursdays. This store offers another space to foster community, especially for those who may feel like misfits (and really, Portland is full of them).
Community is one of the most important things to me and it can be hard to build in a city like Portland. We want to use the store to help create it.
What has been your biggest success to date?
John: It is great to see people smile at something that you have created. If you see our T-shirt and smile at what is printed on it, then we have succeeded. If your business can create happiness, that is success. It can be challenging to monotonize that feeling, but there is a way.
What has been your biggest challenge?
John: Yeap… When a customer doesn’t do more than walk in and out without engaging. When you reach out to a community organization and don’t get traction. When you didn’t hear about a city parade in time and you weren’t able to prepare. These are all challenges and there are more.
What's your best advice for someone who wants to start or run their own small business?
ohn: That depends on who’s asking. If you are going to start your business, make sure that you are going to love it. Don’t open up a plumbing company just because it will always be there and then get overworked and jaded. Find what you love and let it kill you.
