Stephanie Milfeld Of Z And Q A Children's Boutique Is Our Resident Spotlight In Harmony FL

Stephanie Milfeld Of Z And Q A Children’sBoutique Is Our Guest On Discover Harmony Florida

This is our first edition of our resident spotlight of ourDiscover Harmony Florida podcast. Jeanine is joined by her co-hostKristin Macari owner of Studio Nine 13. Welcome to the 18th episodeof Discover Harmony Florida.

Jeanine said that we don’t have a lot of businesses in Harmony so she thought pickingdifferent people to highlight would be fun. She said the residentspotlight for this episode is Stephanie Milfeld. She owns Z and Q achildren’s boutique which is located at 1037 New York Avein downtown St. Cloud.

Kristin said she loves Z and Q. It is a really cutechildren’s boutique. They do carry clothing for teenage girlsas well. They have cute high-quality clothing that is slightly moremodest than what you would find in more mainstream stores. Kristinsaid they have bathing suits right now that arereversible.

Jeanine and Kristin were talking about a large bag thatStephanie sells at Z and Q. Jeanine just gave that bag to two ofher top producing agents. Kristin was commenting on how versatilethey are. It is a great bag for kids in sports because you canliterally wash it out.

It’s a great bag to keep in the trunk of your car and usefor grocery shopping. It’s an important thing fortoday’s mom and you can add charms to the bag as you can withCrock’s shoes.

Video Podcast Of StephanieMilfeld Of Z And Q A Children's Boutique

Why Did You Open Z And Q A Children’sBoutique?

Jeanine went to interview Stephanie Milfeld on location insideher store Z and Q a Children’s Boutique in downtown St. CloudFL. Jeanine started by asking Stephanie why she started herbusiness and how long she has been open?

Stephanie said she has been open for almost 4 years this comingJuly. The reason why she wanted to open her store was there werejust not a lot of children’s stores other than the big boxstores. Stephanie wanted to put a focus on giving back to the localcommunity so every brand she carries in-store gives back to a causecommunity or organization.

Why Did You Open Z And Q A Childrens Boutique?

Jeanine asked her to expand on the organizations that shecontributes to. Stephanie answered that personally Z and Q gives tothe Osceola Education Foundation and their gift for teachingprogram. They have a school supply store at a Gift For Teaching forteachers who teach at Title One schools to help replenish theirclassrooms. Stephanie added that Z and Q also donate extra clothingto Help Now Osceola. They help victims that are leaving domesticviolence situations.

Jeanine then asked Stephanie to give a little bit of backgroundabout herself. Stephanie said that she was born and grew up inOsceola County. She graduated from high school here. She is the momof two girls, Zoey and Quinn who represents the name of the store,Z and Q.

Serving The People Of St. Cloud Florida

Stephanie is the wife of a firefighter/paramedic who just got apromotion and is now a Captain. She also volunteers her time forthe local PTO (parent-teacher organization).

Jeanine asked Stephanie to expand on how she uniquely serves thepeople of St. Cloud Florida. Stephanie said she is part of thedowntown St. Cloud business group and serves on their board. Shehelps with a lot of the downtown activities including the monthlymarket committee. She helps with organizing the events in the areaand getting people into local mom-and-pop shops and showcasinglocal vendors.

Jeanine asked her if the downtown monthly market is on the lastWednesday of every month? Stephanie confirmed that it is the lastWednesday of every month. She stated that the months of June andJuly are only for vendors 21 and younger. We call that our“young entrepreneurs’ market”. We take a break inAugust and then bring it back in September. Each market runs from5-9 PM. There are food trucks and music and vendors with storesopen late. It is an enjoyable time.

Jeanine asked Stephanie how many vendors are at the monthlymarketplace? She said there are over one hundred vendors. Stephaniecontinued that Pennsylvania Ave and 10^th Street aregoing under construction so that is being dealt with but well overone hundred vendors at each event. Jeanine said she loves themonthly marketplace events and moved her monthly staff meetingswhich were on Wednesday evenings so everyone could attend themarketplace.

The Best Selling Item In The Z And QBoutique

Stephanie was asked by Jeanine what was her top-selling item inher store. She said it’s probably a tie between our swimdiapers and our simply Tote bags. Jeanine said she just bought twoof those Tote bags and loves them. Stephanie said the Totes aredurable and hold all the things you need, and you can rinse themout with a hose.

She said the swim diapers are popular because they arere-usable, and they fit from 6 pounds up to 36 pounds. Until kidsare potty trained this item is a must-have for a Florida baby.Jeanine asked about the little charms on the Tote bags. Stephaniesaid they have all kinds of tote charms you can add to the bag.They say things like “hot mess”, “mom” or“mama bear”. It allows a person to make their bagunique.

Stephanie was then asked by Jeanine why should people move toSt. Cloud? She said that although we are growing it still has thatsmall-town feel. For example, you go to the grocery store and runinto people you know. She said businesses work well together. Ifshe doesn’t have something a person is looking for in herstore, she will guide people to where they can find it.

Collaboration Over Competition In The St. Cloud FloridaCommunity

People in this community love helping people. Stephanie said itis collaboration over competition and we are all here to succeedand help one another. Jeanine asked if she was familiar with otherbusinesses' merchandise? Stephanie said that we try to be.There is not a lot of overlap in merchandise as we are all unique,so we love sending people to other businesses.

Jeanine then asked Stephanie aside from her store, what is theone place people need to check out who are coming to Saint Cloud?She said that is a tough one to answer because there are so manygreat places. There are so many wonderful restaurants that are allunique for example but if she were to give one place it would beShop DK. They have lots of home décor. So, for people movingto St. Cloud this is the place for you.

Stephanie stated that she feels like when you move you may wantto redo parts of your home that maybe you want to change from yourold house. Shop DK has house plants, planters, lighting, rugs,comforters, and more. They are located on 11^th Street.Jeanine was not even aware of them so now she knows.

Janine said a big thank you to Stephanie for coming on theDiscover Harmony Florida podcast today. Jeanine is going tocontinue to support her business as she has such great unique itemsall the time.

Stephanie Shares How Facebook Live Events Help HerBusiness

Jeanine asked Stephanie how people can find Z and Q? She saidyou can find us on Facebook and Instagram @ZandQboutique. Stephaniesaid they do live sales once a month where you can shop from homein your pajamas. They are open 7 days a week so come on down andsee us.

Stephanie had recently done a Facebook Live event and it wasreally successful so Jeanine asked what advice could you give toother business owners to do the same thing? She answered and saidtry it and don’t be overwhelmed. It is a lot to take in atfirst, but it was fun!

Even though you are not physically interacting with people itwas kind of like a party. Jeanine asked if she received sales fromthe live event and Stephanie said yes, it was great.

Jeanine wanted to give a shout-out to Stephanie’s husbandPatrick. While they were filming in Z and Q, Patrick was helpingwith everything. He even took Jeanine next door to another businessand helped her pick out some gifts for two men.