A House Called Hue
Destiny Brewton, founder and CEO of A House Called Hue in Atlanta, grew up watching her grandfather work multiple family businesses from parking cars to making and selling Easter baskets to selling custom-made apparel. It was the norm for Destiny and everyone in her family to help and so it’s not a surprise that she’s now an entrepreneur herself.
Destiny started her entrepreneurial journey in 2016, providing African American themed head wraps, t-shirts, and pens. After a few years she realized she need to look for items that were low cost with a high yield and pivoted to custom embroidery products. Her business caters to other small businesses by providing their branding a professional look and feel.
“I heard about the SBA via my research in starting a successful business,” Destiny said. “The SBA was mentioned a multitude of times as a source of not only funding but educational resources and support.”
Destiny connected with SBA’s resource partner, UGA Small Business Development Center at Clayton State University seeking help with marketing ideas, access to capital, and contracting. At the time, she was outgrowing her work area causing her to turn down projects and she needed help financing additional machines to expand her business.
Destiny worked with SBDC Area Director Kim Knight who explained various financing options like Access to Capital for Entrepreneurs, another SBA resource partner. She contacted ACE and received funding for two additional machines enabling her to expand her production line. Additionally, she relocated her home-based business to a brick and mortar location in a co-working space in Atlanta. Her expansion and move positioned her to compete for a spot in the City of Atlanta’s Women’s Entrepreneurship Initiative Program.
“The SBDC was helpful with fleshing out certain processes and needed materials to apply for business programs like the WEI cohort,” Destiny said. “I wasn’t going to apply but Kim Knight encouraged me to and I was accepted.”
As a result of her hard work, A House Called Hue grew 76 percent between 2020 and 2021. During the pandemic, she navigated supply chain issues and cash flow challenges by offering digital one-on-one classes, webinars and educational resources for others to learn her unique process for creating custom items at home.
Destiny encourages other small businesses to connect with a local SBA office whether through the SBDC or another resource partner to learn about resources and opportunities unique to their area.
As for general advice she would give other young entrepreneurs? “Stay consistent and stay in your lane. It is hard to not look to the left and right of you, especially in comparing your storyline to another business, but you must grow your story and your audience because there is a market for you. Additionally, being consistent in connecting your story to the world is a part of the journey, you never know who needs to hear.