Today we’d like to introduce you to Elita Caldwell. Elita and her team share her story with us below:
Elita Caldwell is a successful Entrepreneur who owns The Funky Monkey in Friendswood, a destination shopping location for quirky gifts and women’s fashion sizes s-3xl. She’s also the owner of Because Adulting is Hard a CBD consulting and supplement company located inside of The Funky Monkey as well Y FiT N Productions a broadcasting and media company.
Elita is a graduate of Texas A&M Corpus Christi where she earned a BS in Interdisciplinary Studies and went on to get her Masters Degree in Educational administration from the University of Houston Clear Lake. While Elita enjoyed her 13 years in education she comes from a long line of entrepreneurs and felt the calling to own her own business. With the encouragement of her husband, Clay, she bought The Funky Monkey in June 2013 and over the last 8 years she has transformed The Funky Monkey from a small consignment store into a local destination gift shop through innovative marketing and community involvement.
Elita is the mother of two amazing children Jp, 16 and Chloe, 14 and she loves it she is able to work in the community in which she lives.
In her spare time, Elita is an avid roller skater. She enjoys outdoor distance skating as well as playing roller derby. She is currently a trainer for Roller Pump where she trains outdoor distance skating and trail skating.
We all face challenges, but looking back would you describe it as a relatively smooth road?
I literally laughed out loud when I read this question. My journey as a business owner has been anything but a smooth road. When I purchased the store in 2013 I had dreams of bringing my love for Reducing, reusing and recycling to life though owning a Consignment store. But shortly after purchase, The Funky Monkey Facebook added marketplace allowing people to safely sell items online making the need for consignment stores less and less. Having offered a few boutique items I decided we would slowly begin to convert The Funky Monkey into a gift store and boutique. In my mind, this was going to be a simple task no worries I can do anything I put my mind to. Haha ha little did I know this was going to be the hardest thing I have ever done. Over the next three years, we Begin making the transition.
Very early on I discovered I had a knack For social media videos. We were one of the first people in our area producing a weekly live that showed people items we had in our store. We established a large following of local people who enjoyed seeing what we had to offer and honestly just started following us to see what we were doing. Just as we thought we had finally made the Transition hurricane Harvey hit Friendswood. Our town was devastated over 40% of our community had flood damage putting a huge strain on our already struggling business. But through the support of our community we continue to keep swimming. We have pivoted many times and have a wide variety of items inside our store.
When Covid hit we were happy that this wasn’t our first experience with an emergency we went to Action doing exactly what we do best and reached out to support our community. We created a series called Local Loving Local where we featured other small local visit businesses to communicate On our large platform who was open and what services they had available. We took the lead in not closing but putting safety measures in place to keep our customers and employees safe. We decided if BIG retail like HEB was able to stay open so we’re we. We are small business we are dependent upon daily revenue to come in to pay our bills. This Store is my all and I pulled my retirement to buy it and I wasn’t gonna lose it no matter what it took.
Thanks – so what else should our readers know about The Funky Monkey?
The Funky Monkey is a unique experience you really would have to come and see it to believe it. In 3600 ft.² we offer custom engraving, Everyday gifts, quirky adult gifts, Gifts for teens gifts for babies you name it we’ve got it for gifts. We also offer trendy women’s fashion Sizes small 3XL. As part of our journey to stay afloat we have added additional Products and services into our store. The first one of those being we have a large variety of CBD products in the store. We pride ourselves on not being a Vape shop we are a store that leads with knowledge and we do a weekly series call knowledge is power where we talk about how cannabis products can be used holistically to improve mood and reduce pain.
Another addition to The Funky Monkey is a rollerskate shop. My best friend Brenda Holley own southside roller derby And when corona hit her years of work to build a league were taken from her. After many conversations about other ways We could interact with a Skate community that didn’t involve contact Brenda started roller pump, where we offer learn to skate classes dance class speed skating, trail skating, you name it we do it on wheels. With my experience in retail and her experience with rollerskates, we decided to cross-market and put her skates into my shop and help drive traffic to each other’s businesses. It’s been very successful and one of my favorite parts of my store.
Are there any apps, books, podcasts, blogs or other resources you think our readers should check out?
I absolutely love the app Headspace reminds me that I need to slow down and take time for myself so I can be the best wife mom and boss I can be.
The best asset I have ever found for myself personally and as my business has been hiring a business coach. She literally made me a better person and has helped my Business grow even during a pandemic.
Contact Info:
- Email: Fmsales@yfitnllc.com
- Website: https://www.thefunkymonkeyfriendswood.com/
- Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/thefunkymonkeyfriendswood/
- Twitter: https://twitter.com/funkymonkeyinfo
- Youtube: https://www.youtube.com/channel/UCPLUQVKkYCMGGPKOP6iztWQ
- Yelp: https://www.yelp.com/biz/the-funky-monkey-friendswood
