Sue Morreale has been cancer free for more than a decade, but she has used her illness as the inspiration for an amazing retail store that celebrates inner strength, beauty, and the power of healing. She uses HER STORY as hope.
Now, she and daughter, Ciara have opened a second location in Buffalo – which means even more women and men can be inspired by a story of hope, and all that comes along with it. Every single thing they sell is not only beautiful, but meaningful.
I talked to the beautiful ladies about what the store means to them and to all of us!
WHY HER STORY?
Her Story was born out of telling and sharing women’s stories along with my own. Her Story is a place where we want women to fill empowered and comfortable in their own skin. The products that we carry are made by women/ products that have a story and celebrate the woman that create them! I am a breast cancer survivor thriver as well as a registered nurse. We have had our business for over 25 years and my daughter Ciara grew up in the business and quickly became an intricate part of the business. We created a whole line of jewelry the Her Story collection and Together we run the boutique. We help women to find and honor that inner voice, while staying true to who they are.
DYNAMIC DUO
I absolutely love running this business with my daughter. We get to each bring our talents and creativity together to create a very unique shopping experience. We both know what our strengths are and we respect that in one another. We both bring different viewpoints to the store. We want the store to be a place where women of all ages can gather, and working together allows us to create things of interest to a wider age range.
WHAT ARE YOUR HOPES?
We want women to know that this journey of life is not meant to travel alone. We want them to feel empowered and to honor their soul in everything they do. That self love is the key to living a happy healthy life. We love the quote from Iyanla Vanzant….“When you stand and share your story in an empowering way, your story will heal you, and your story will heal somebody else.” We also hope that women practice mindful shopping while they are experiencing our shop, meaning they’re purchasing with intention, and buying what they love and want to share with others. We hoped to have created a place where they can shop, breathe and enjoy the space, a place where they can find a little peace in their day to take time for themselves .
THERE’S MORE OF HER STORY.
We just announced the opening of our sister store on Hertel avenue, called Her Sanctuary, which will be in honor and memory of my sister Cindy who passed away from Breast Cancer in October of 2016. When my sister was going through her journey we created a space in her place where she could find some peace and was able to connect with herself nurturing and learning about ways to find joy and ways to practice the things that made her happy and healthy. We think every woman should have a space in their place where they can retreat, recharge, refresh and reflect. This space will provide women with products that cultivate the actualization of your body and your home as a sacred space , a healing space that allows you to nourish your relationship with yourself, a space filled with the things you love and bring you joy! We hope to create a resource for women where they can educate and empower themselves on their journey to wellness.
THERE’S ANOTHER SIDE.
The other side of Her Sanctuary will be a collaborative workspace, which is available to rent or use for events. We see it as a sanctuary for like- minded women, women in business, and female entrepreneurs to share a focused collaborative workspace for weekly events, workshops, product launches, brainstorm sessions, or just a daily dose of inspiration. It will be a co-working place dedicated to allowing women the platform to share their gifts, talents, resources, and ideas with the community around them: a place for strong women to work together under one roof.
GIRL POWER
We feel it is important to support women and what they have to offer. So many women have so much talent, and we believe in supporting that and encouraging them on their journey. We feature a Strong Woman of the Month in our window each month where we feature their products and we tell their story. We have tried to create a very mindful shopping experience – where you love to buy things with great meaning. People love things with a story and we love to tell them.
IT’S THE CITY, TOO.
Buffalo is the city of good neighbors, where there is a community of people that lift each other up, and support each other. With Her Story + Her Sanctuary, we are hoping to embody that “Buffalo spirit” by creating a strong female connection of local women and entrepreneurs that are making a difference in our city and we feel blessed that we are on this journey with each and everyone of them.
Her Story Boutique is located at 779 Elmwood Avenue, Buffalo
Her Sanctuary is located at 1438 Hertel Avenue, Buffalo
The boutique is filled with lovely things. Special gifts perfect for any occasion. Clothing, jewelry, and so much more.
I’ve known Sue for a very long time, and we, as a community are so lucky that HER STORY is available to inspire all of us. 🙂
You can also follow HerStory online and on Facebook.
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