Today we’d like to introduce you to Rachel Baty.
Hi Rachel, we’re thrilled to have a chance to learn your story today. So, before we get into specifics, maybe you can briefly walk us through how you got to where you are today?
I’m Rachel Baty, the owner of ANNIE JACK. In the 7th grade I got my first real job and my first major crush. I was a tour guide for the Kingwood Parade of Homes and Brent Baty moved into town!
Years later, I went to Baylor graduating with an Interior Design degree and Brent graduated from the United States Military Academy at West Point as an officer. By God’s grace, I married that boy of my dreams and became a military wife and later mom of two children. Both of our children are adopted, just like their mom. Between military and corporate moves we were moving about every two or three years until we landed back in Texas and fell in love with Celina.
One of the reasons I loved Celina was it’s historic downtown square. It was full of history and hometown charm. In 2010 we made Celina home and we weren’t going to be moving every couple of years, which meant I could get involved in the community. I joined the Celina Newcomers board and later became it’s president. I also was the Celina Main Street president. In those roles I helped start the Celina Friday Night Market. One of the tasks getting the Market ready was setting up traffic cones to block cars from parking in the vendor spots for the market. I remember in 2015 one Friday afternoon as I was setting up cones on the Square , I was dreaming about what it would be like to own a business on the Square. It wasn’t too long after that a boutique owner asked me to lunch as the Main Street president to see if I might know anybody that would want to take over her lease and buy her inventory. I absolutely did. “Me,” I said . “Don’t ask anybody else. I want to!”. So, in March of 2016 we opened ANNIE JACK on the Square! The next project was to provide a lunch option, clean up the attached lot, and create a pretty courtyard for customers to meet for lunch and shop. Originally we were going to have our caterer friend, Joey Dawkins, bring us sandwhiches, but we couldn’t find a commercial kitchen in the area. The solution? Build a small cafe in the back of the boutique. Since we were on Walnut St , Joey named it Toasted Walnut . The day we started the cafe construction I found out I had Stage 3 breast cancer. We were also selling our home and had a contract on an old historic home downtown that we were going to renovate. It was decision time. We passed on the move and home renovation, started the Toasted Walnut build out and began the 18 month cancer treatment. I was blessed to have an incredible husband, family, friends and an amazing ANNIE JACK team. I wasn’t sure what the future would bring. By God’s grace I made it and the business survived. When we had to close during Covid we started doing live selling with curb pick up or delivery. After businesses could open again we continued doing lives. We still do a Thursday night live every week at 7pm! In 2021, after five years in our original location, we had the opportunity to completely renovate one of the original 1912 buildings on the Square. We got a construction loan, put the contents of the boutique in storage and started renovating! It took 6 months. We re-opened in July 2021. Since then we have grown every year and now have an online business with a beautiful website my husband oversees.
We all face challenges, but looking back would you describe it as a relatively smooth road?
My story encompassed some of the challenges and struggles
Thanks – so what else should our readers know about your work and what you’re currently focused on?
I have an interior design degree from Baylor University. Before I owned a boutique I staged homes. After owning a boutique so many of the same principles in design also applied to fashion and merchandising. ANNIE JACK is a lifestyle boutique. We believe that every person is beautifully and wonderfully made. Our desire is for a customer to feel welcomed and have a great shopping experience. We do that through our team, the ambience, the unique music playlist, old movies playing on the wall, the smells of candles and coffee from our espresso bar. We specialize in making shopping an enjoyable experience. What am I most proud of? The journey of faith as we built a business and a life in a community we love. What sets us apart from others is our passion for creating a memorable personal shopping experience.
Can you share something surprising about yourself?
I was adopted from Edna Gladney in Ft Worth. Both of our children are also adopted.
Contact Info:
- Website: https://anniejackboutique.com
- Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/anniejackboutique/
- Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/AnniejackDesign
