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Truist is proud to support women-owned businesses in the heart of Lancaster City. It’s one way they are living their purpose of inspiring and building better lives and communities.
Meet three of downtown Lancaster’s small business owners who are making a big impact on the city.
Andrea M. Amey
J.A. Sharp Custom Jeweler
jasharp.com | Est. 1984 | New Ownership: 2019
Fig: Tell us the “why” behind your business. Who or what influenced you to be bold and take a chance?
Andrea: I am continuing the legacy that Jude Sharp and M. Sue Martin started in 1984 with Sharp Jewelers, focusing on inclusivity and offering custom future heirlooms and American-made jewelry and crafts.
Fig: What is your secret superpower?
Andrea: My super power is remembering customers’ names and their jewelry even if I haven’t seen them in years.
Fig: How do you give back to the community and how does the community support you?
Andrea: The Lancaster community has shown their support for our small handcrafted jewelry store for over 38 years. We wouldn’t be here without them, and we love our community back by focusing our giving to local and city nonprofits and charities.
Timbrel Chyatee
CHYATEE
@chyatee | Est. 2014
Fig: Tell us the “why” behind your business. Who or what influenced you to be bold and take a chance?
Timbrel: My father’s boldness to leave everything he ever knew to start a new life in a new country was my inspiration to be bold and fearless—to follow my dreams. Growing up as a first generation South Asian, I quickly realized the beauty the eastern world (and beyond) had to offer and wanted to showcase the handcrafted community and sustainable fashion world. Providing fair wages to my design team and their families means I’m helping change the course of their futures for generations to come.
Fig: What is the most rewarding and the most challenging part of owning your business?
Timbrel: Being able to design unique fashion from ancient elements, like block printing and natural dying, and provide handmade unique products from around the world made by real people is the most rewarding part of my job. I know that everything I design and create is made by real and creative people—start to finish. The most challenging thing is bridging the gap between timezones, language, and cultural norms that are different than mine
Fig: What’s something people may not know about you?
Timbrel: My mother taught me how to sew my first pillow when I was 5, and my passion for design and fashion was born. In high school, all my notebooks were covered with drawings of clothings and dresses that I would doodle. My school counselor asked me to consider fashion design, but I was adamant to study pre-med…and the rest is a very long story.
Elizabeth Peters
Read Rose Books
readrosebook.com | Est. 2020
Fig: Tell us the “why” behind your business. Who or what influenced you to be bold and take a chance?
Elizabeth: Ever since I was little I loved reading, and I always dreamed about having my own bookstore. It was an idea I had living in the back of my mind until the pieces fell into place. With the help of my partner, Teddy, I realized I could live my dream today.
Fig: What is your secret superpower?
Elizabeth: My superpower is speed reading—I can read a 500 page book in one day. Last month I read 15 novels.
Fig: How do you give back to the community and how does the community support you?
Elizabeth: I give back to my community by offering a platform for local creators. We currently house five creators, four of them being women. And my community supports me by donating their books and telling their community about my business, so the word is always spreading.
