Business booms with women at the helm

Written by ROBIN STEWART • Photographed by SARA MOORE

Quirky, hip and cool, the City of Senoia is a destination location. The popularity of a particular television show has certainly contributed, but it’s more than that. Even with a distinctly modern, cosmopolitan feel, Senoia manages to maintain small-town charm.

Home to a plethora of shopping, restaurants and more, it seems fitting that the city named after Native American (Creek) princess Senoyah is home to many businesses owned by women.

Life – and business – in Senoia is good.

Mary Buzzeo

Journals & Ledgers

Owner Mary Buzzeo leads a small but mighty team of ten at Journals & Ledgers, a professional bookkeeping/accounting firm.

“We specialize in service-based small businesses offering professional services,” Buzzeo says. Clients include graphic designers, consultants, real estate agents and financial advisors among others. She notes her company doesn’t do taxes but has CPAs to whom they refer clients.

“We’re not just crunching numbers,” says Buzzeo. “We partner with clients to help them grow their business. We handle the finances so they can go do their business. We’re here to help.”

After a quarter century of working for others, Buzzeo founded her own company in 2015, then as a home-based business just outside of Senoia’s city limits. Journals & Ledgers grew quickly, thanks to referrals, and by June 2017, Buzzeo moved operations to her first brick and mortar location, then 48 Main Street in Senoia. She recalls having a difficult time securing office space as commercial vacancies were scarce.

Another move in March 2020 finds Journals & Ledgers at 42 Main Street in downtown Senoia in space four times larger than their original location. Buzzeo lives within the city limits so her life and work is Senoia-centric.

In November 2021, Buzzeo was selected to serve in a volunteer role as treasurer for the Senoia Downtown Development Authority (DDA). Journals & Ledgers is a corporate sponsor of the Senoia Area Historical Society. As both a resident and business owner, Buzzeo says: “It makes sense to be invested in the community. There’s a nice mix of service based-businesses like CPAs and insurance firms here in addition to the boutiques and restaurants. It’s a fun place to be.”

She calls the Senoia business climate “incredible” and “booming.” 

Sandy Hurlbutt, Heather Medina, Stacey McKeen

Country Junction Soaps

The only thing better than a business run by a woman is one run by two – or even three.

Mom Sandy Hurlbutt and daughters Heather Medina and Stacey McKeen are the trio behind Country Junction Soaps.

It’s been said necessity is the mother of invention. These moms founded their business for the same reason. Looking to solve her then four-year old grandson Jacob’s eczema problem, Hurlbutt leveraged an amazing resource at her fingertips: her farm, which included goats. A friend mentioned the benefits of goat’s milk, so Hurlbutt and Medina worked together in pursuit of a solution.

“I hated putting him on all those prescriptions including steroids,” Medina recalls. After much trial and error, “we figured it out and got the right recipe.” Jacob found relief, and word soon spread to family and friends who likewise wanted in on the good thing.

The caprine magic, according to Medina, lies in this fact: “The pH in goat’s milk is the same as the pH in our skin. Whether you have dry skin or eczema, it brings skin to a healthy balance.”

Not all goat milk products are equal. Country Junction Soaps and products feature fresh, raw goat’s milk, not powdered or diluted options used by many others. Milk from the 60 Nubian goats at Hurlbutt’s farm makes the difference. The original farm, once in Senoia, is now just eight miles south in Alvaton.

Fourteen years since creating their soaps, Country Junction products remain all-natural and hand-crafted in small batches.

As the company grew, McKeen joined her mom and sister in the business. Three years ago, Country Junction Soaps opened a storefront at 48 Main Street with an entrance at Seavy Street.

Amy Reynolds

The S Club

Amy Reynolds is the picture of physical fitness. That makes sense because she flexes her muscles as owner/operator of The S Club, a 24-7 gym in Senoia.

Leaving a career in law enforcement, Reynolds turned from criminal investigation to certified personal training, eventually buying and transforming the center where she worked out. “It changed my heart,” says Reynolds of her move to the fitness industry.

April 2022 marks the 10-year anniversary of the gym at 7280 Highway 16. The “S” in The S Club can stand for “Senoia” or “Strong.” With a focus on personal attention rather than mass classes, Reynolds offers one-on-one sessions or works with duos, including couples or mother-daughter clients.

Making the most of its 3,000 square feet, The S Club includes a weight room, cardio equipment and meal planning. Online training sessions also are available, and everything is customized to meet client needs. Some Saturdays, fitness goes outdoors with Reynolds hosting what she calls “kind of a crossfit-ish” session called Steel Body Boot Camp complete with battle ropes and tractor tires.

The S Club features a family atmosphere and is a neighborhood gym where folks know one another. It’s also a family affair. Reynolds’s daughter recently became a certified trainer and, like her mother, works with clients to help them reach their fitness goals. 

Julie Brown

The Georgia Tour Company

Strolling the streets of Senoia, it’s likely there will be a gaggle of folks gathered, walking together from one point of interest to another. That signifies The Georgia Tour Company is hard at work, delighting fans of the popular TV series, “The Walking Dead (TWD).”

Risk-taking entrepreneur and Senoia resident Julie Brown owns the Georgia Tour Company. After seeing fans of the hit show flock to her city, she saw opportunity beyond the business she had started, Georgia Mercantile, where she sold jams and jellies.

Not long after opening the Mercantile, the TWD location manager visited to let Brown know they’d be closing down Main Street two or three days a week for filming.

People who worked on the show encouraged Brown to stock TWD products, which at the time, Brown didn’t fully understand. Soon, though, she realized fans of the show were coming to town.

“They wanted to see actors and know about filming locations,” she recalls.

In season three, the show began filming in downtown Senoia. By then, it had a growing, loyal following.

After two years of pinning filming locations on a county map for visiting TWD fans, in 2014 Brown founded Georgia Tour Company. Her first TWD tour was in March 2014. In 2016, she added mobile tours in vans to her popular lineup of walking tours. The mobile tours enjoy special access to select sites not open to foot traffic.

Unexpectedly, the show’s fan base nose-dived in 2018-2019 due to the departure of some characters, and Brown saw a corresponding dip in touring visitors. However, fans were back at full strength in 2021 after the business had weathered COVID-19.

Because carrying some TWD products was cost prohibitive, Brown developed her own souvenir shirt that aptly reads, “I Walk With The Dead.” The storefront she maintains on Main Street also offers other TWD-related items and Senoia keepsakes.

Elisabeth Roiret

Lisa’s Crêperie

French-born American Elisabeth Roiret is the culinary artist behind Lisa’s Crêperie, a café on Main Street in downtown Senoia.

After starting small in 2017 with just one crepe-making machine at the Peachtree City Farmer’s Market, Roiret’s business grew. Next came catering and a food truck. By June 2019, the Senoia resident opened the doors of the charming eatery.

“A crepe is authentic French street food, similar to a pancake or wrap that can be eaten any time of the day,” says Roiret. “It can be savory or sweet.”

Mindful of dietary restrictions, allergies and other preferences, gluten-free and vegan batter options are available. By design, all ingredients are fresh and all-natural. With the mantra that simple is delicious, Roiret believes in “letting the ingredients shine.”

Crepes come in a variety of flavors. The bacon-egg-cheese and Paris crepes are staples. The Paris is a savory-sweet blend of turkey breast, bacon, apple, brie and raspberry jam. Roiret says the shop’s customer favorite is a sweet Nutella Strawberry crepe.

Perfected over the years by Roiret, the crepe recipe has been handed down generationally and is, and will remain, a secret. Thin, crispy and delicious, crepes at Lisa’s are classic French crepes. The café does offer what Roiret describes as “elaborate American crepes like Chipotle Chicken and Turkey Club.”

Roiret works with a team of 21 dependable employees, so not even current supply chain issues can bring down or deter the Navy veteran.

“We are in love with this community and how everyone supports each other,” Roiret says. After the March 2021 tornado in Newnan, the Lisa’s Crêperie crew served free meals for days, feeding those who were serving others.

Roiret says she’s seen “tremendous growth” in Senoia in the past five years. She credits several additions that bring residents and visitors downtown, including the routine Senoia: Alive After Five event, which she helped organize as a family-friendly night of sipping, strolling, shopping and dining after business hours.

While the appeal of  “The Walking Dead” brings many to town, Roiret observes that many come for the fun and relaxing atmosphere.

“Senoia is becoming European with its outdoorsy vibe,” she says.

Hungry visitors agree. NCM