Thornton Academy Postscripts Alumni Magazine Spring 2018 | Page 10

A RTS
Female not factory: Amie by Meredith Brockington '08
M
eredith Brockington '08
has always been in touch
with her creative side.
Her talents span the spectrum from
singing in Cathy Murray's chorus
classes in high school to becom-
ing a brand expert for L.L. Bean
in her role as Photo Art Director.
Brockington's creativity evolved
into a vision of starting her own
business geared towards women in
late 2016 and since, she has offi-
cially launched her own brand and
entered the world of entrepreneur-
ship.
Brockington began researching
business plan templates and built
her vision around the plans; she
shares that there have been learning
curves, but she has worked closely
with an advisor from SCORE,
a nationwide service for small
business mentorship. In the early
stages of business development,
she had monthly meetings with
her mentor in order to continue
progressing. As her business
developed, she continued to refine
her business plan and narrowed in
on featuring female artisans who
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design handmade products.
Amie (ah-mee), meaning female
friend in French is named after
close friendship with her French
exchange student she had in
high school. Amie launched on
September 1, 2017 and today
features 14 female artisans
from across the United States.
Brockington discovered the
artisans through extensive social
media searches on Instagram and
Pinterest. The designs featured
include everything from ceramics
and paintings to jewelry, altered
vintage and macramé.
Brockington's online shop
showcases her skills as a
photographer and gives visitors the
opportunity to learn more about
the featured artisans. Each season,
Brockington researches, travels
to interview and photograph her
selected artisans, and purchases
small batches of goods to curate the
seasonal collection.
In explaining her process,
Brockington says, "I don't care
Story by Brittany Brown · Photos Courtesy of Meredith Brockington
about trends." She explains that
she wants to offer Amie consumers
items that aren’t available locally
because they are exclusive to her
brand. Her final selections are
based on her target customer:
working women who care about
quality over quantity.
In order to test out her target
market, Brockington opened a pop-
up shop above the State Theater
in Portland in December 2017.
This gave her the opportunity to
do market research and further
identify her target customer.
At the end of each season, she
donates 5% of the proceeds
to a non-profit noting that it
is important to give back to
the community. She says that
"it is beautiful to show what
we can accomplish when we
work together." Some of her
philanthropic interests include the
Red Cross for hurricane relief and
the Maine Youth Rock Orchestra.
For readers interested in learning
more about artists featured by
Amie, visit www.amieartisans.com.