Ryan Faurie is a business owner and mother living in the Milwaukee suburb of Greendale, Wisconsin. Her business, Handmade MKE specializes in items like jeweled headbands or hair clips, dog collars and guitar straps.
Along with her husband Will, she’s raising a 12-year-old daughter and looking toward the future.
Earlier this year, WUWM committed to covering issues our listeners have said are top priorities, including the economy. As part of that coverage, we’re exploring how the economy is impacting Wisconsinites with different financial needs and concerns.
Faurie talks about how the economy is impacting her right now and how she’s preparing for the future.
This interview has been edited for length and clarity.
Joy Powers: When last we spoke, you were kind of fearing the impact of tariffs on your business. What's happened since then?
Ryan Faurie: When we last spoke, I was holding out hoping that negotiations were going to happen and the tariffs were going to be decreased or taken away altogether. That did not happen. I ended up having to pay for them. So, I increased my prices by about 35% to 40%, and I also ate some of the cost because I hate raising prices on my customers when I don't necessarily have to. So, I just decided to work a little harder, a little longer, and I'm still doing okay.
I think some people listening to this might go, “Well, you know, but then you should be buying from American companies. That's the way to avoid these tariffs.” Is that a possibility for you?
It is not for the most part, just because we don't manufacture some things in the US. And I know they're pushing to build more companies here. But honestly, I don't think it's going to happen anytime soon because of the chaos of, you know, tariff, no tariff. If I was one of these large companies trying to decide whether to bring business to the US and seeing this back and forth, I don't think I'd want to invest millions of dollars to not have it be worth it in the long run.
"If I was one of these large companies trying to decide whether to bring business to the US and seeing this back and forth, I don't think I'd want to invest millions of dollars to not have it be worth it in the long run."
One of the things that we've been talking a lot about is food stamps, the removal of safety net programs and how they're impacting communities. Have you seen anyone in your community — either at the schools or in other programs that you might be a part of — who are starting to struggle visibly?
I haven't necessarily seen the struggle firsthand, but I have seen a lot of people post in our Greendale Village Facebook group, “Hey, I have this family that I'm looking for these items for,” or, “Hey, I'm going to create a little free food pantry on my property, if anyone wants to donate.” It's nice to see that the community is stepping up. I wish they didn't have to, but that's where we're at.
As you look toward the future, what are you concerned about economically? I think we're all hearing a lot of upsetting forecasts about potential recession or depression. Are there any specific things that you’re watching out for as you look toward the future?
With the holiday season coming up, I'm nervous about Christmas. We have a daughter, we have a pretty big family. We've actually had to have the conversation of, “Hey guys, we're going to go with quality over quantity this year." I'm worried about seeing some of my family — I know my sister just had a canceled coming for Thanksgiving because of the price of plane tickets. Business wise, I'm crossing my fingers constantly that the tariff situation gets figured out. I know a couple weeks ago there was talk of, “November 1st, we're going back to 145% tariffs.” And it makes it so hard to know what to invest in business-wise and plan anything. And if you are one of these big companies where you have the ability to weather the chaos, the smaller ones do not.
"If you are one of these big companies where you have the ability to weather the chaos, the smaller ones do not."
This is a bigger time of year for you too, right? I would imagine a lot of the purchasing happens around the holidays.
Yeah, my busy time is typically mid-September through mid-January. And I've been doing okay for the most part. My hope is that I can maintain and grow a little bit to keep up with our expenses and afford that one vacation that we can take a year. I think because of the state of the world and everything right now, my own hopes and dreams have gotten smaller just because you're almost in like this survival mode. So you don't even have the brain space to be like, "Okay, what am I really planning for the next five years?"
"Because of the state of the world and everything right now, my own hopes and dreams have gotten smaller — just because you're almost in like this survival mode."
_
