01/24/2023
Let me preface this by saying…this is a long post, but please read to the end. I, along with my family left Big Stone Gap around six years ago. Coal was dying, healthcare was declining and to be honest walking or riding through the town of Big Stone Gap was like depressing. Wal-Mart had just closed, Mutual Pharmacy was in the process was the last thing I remembered. We sold our home and packed our lives and moved to Western KY. Through the years, visiting family and just one trip in particular my husband and I drove through Big Stone Gap and it was lit up with open businesses and people roaming the streets. We felt like it was home and decided to bring a piece of what we had available to us in our town of Madisonville to Big Stone Gap. See, I had worked a super stressful job and I met this wonderful lady who had a thriving business in Madisonville. She was and is a light in your day if you meet her. I wanted to be that for others. It wasn’t about the income, that was a bonus, it was about bringing a place to our hometown that was safe and inviting to people of all ages. Not to mention healthy alternatives and options for people if they chose. You see, I could have cared less if you bought my product. If you needed a listening ear, a safe place to vent or just somewhere to sit and relax that is what we built. This world is a mean place. I’ve seen it first hand in the worst ways working for social services. I say all this to emphasize this…from day ONE competition down the street has bad mouthed my business. Herbalife Nutrition clubs are EVERYWHERE. I have never copied anyone nor even cared to copy the competition. If you look at Gap’s posts then the competition’s you will see who copies who. They have even taken posts that my sister store in Madisonville made and copied them. The competition down the street has threatened my sister store numerous times. They have drove by my business every week (I’ll include the just one of videos I took just for fun and to show that this is not made up and if you are in denial he wasn’t collecting trash up there 🤨). Circling and leaving is not working in case he tries to use that excuse. The worst thing the competition did was find out that someone they knew or were friends with came to my shop. I have knowledge of at least three people who he immediately messaged and harassed for choosing to come to my shop. That is petty and I don’t do petty. The competition has violated Herbalife operating procedures numerous times, but I am done with how they “operate” and what we have endured because of them. It’s truly sad that my husband was terrified to leave me alone for fear of what would happen. You can rest assured, you never scared me. Bullies are cowards with big mouths.
I’ll speak of the clique that exists now. If anyone ever asks me about this experience I will highly recommend that you NEVER open a business in Big Stone Gap unless you like to play games. You see, you leave and tend to forget the negative that existed in a small town. There is a clique, if you know you know, that if you are not a part of you will be faced with and it is beyond ridiculous in this day and time that this is allowed to happen. It’s really sad that people outside Wise County know and tell you to fight against it!! I don’t know about y’all, but I was taught to stand out and stand up for what is right. Big Stone Gap should be ashamed to tolerate such nonsense when it comes to businesses trying to come and liven up the community. Sure they encourage small businesses, but do they really 🤨. Certain board members or counsel members won’t even attend ribbon cuttings (obvious at ours). You attend one to welcome a new business, you should be required to attend all or step down if you can’t uphold obligations. It was never my intention to fit in, nor did I care if you thought I would. I was there to make a difference and I saw shortly after opening that it would not happen in Big Stone Gap. I say all this to say, life is too short for all the drama and crap that happens here. I have taken a position back where I now consider home, Madisonville. I have learned a hard lesson. A lesson that nonetheless has taught me to be a better, stronger person and shown me who I am as a person. Family is not always blood. To those sweet friends I have met and got to know, I will miss seeing your smiling faces every day. You were truly the only way I made it this far. I can close my doors and now say that I tried to give Wise County something special, but the fight was not worth it in my book.
