A Business “Sweet to the Soul”
Melissa Scholten, founder of Honey & Grace Boutique and Calvin University junior, displays clothing at one of her pop-up vendor events. The student entrepreneur combines her studies with running a successful retail business inspired by Proverbs 16:24.
Melissa Scholten says she has always had “an entrepreneurial mindset.” She started her first business in middle school and never looked back. A native of west Michigan, Scholten grew up with parents who modeled that spirit and taught her not to fear failure. “When I was growing up, my parents were always trying out new business ventures. Some were successful and others failed, but they always stayed positive and kept trying. I think that's what encouraged me.”
From childhood, Scholten has fearlessly pursued her love of creativity, design, and fashion. In high school, she sold macrame and home decor on Etsy, but for practical reasons didn’t envision herself running that business out of a dorm room. After her first year at Calvin, she realized she missed having a creative outlet. “I had the itch to do something new,” Scholten says.
The Calvin University School of Business junior is pursuing a triple major in entrepreneurship, marketing, and Spanish with a minor in accounting, all while running her third successful business, Honey & Grace Boutique, a retail clothing venture inspired by Proverbs 16:24: “Kind words are like honey sweet to the soul and healing to the bones.”
Scholten explains her vision for the company was to both live out and share that message. “What you’re wearing can make you feel more confident. So, I had the idea to sell products that could equip you to share the word of the Lord with those around you, even through something as simple as clothing.”
No better time to fail
Hoping her idea would appeal to a wide range of customers, Scholten took a leap of faith. “After hours of research and listening to so many podcasts on the topic, I felt confident I could launch Honey & Grace. My parents said, ‘There’s no better time to fail than right now. You’re in the perfect life stage to be able to bounce back.’”
Scholten set up a Shopify account, and at first, orders poured in. But then business slowed, and she found herself searching for new ways to bring her curated collection to buyers.
“That’s when I decided to do in-person pop up events. I applied to probably 10 events and got into two of them.” But in Scholten’s words, “Two is pretty good!”
She borrowed clothing racks from family friends, loaded up her mom’s minivan, and sold a little over a thousand dollars' worth of merchandise at her first event.
Today, she sells her inventory exclusively in the vendor market, bringing Honey & Grace Boutique to special events such as harvest festivals and holiday markets.
Calvin Startup Garage
Juggling three majors, a part-time job at the School of Business, and her own small business leaves Scholten with little free time, but like all good entrepreneurs, she stays flexible and takes advantage of available resources.
She enjoys participating in Calvin Startup Garage and currently serves on the leadership team as an event planner. Listening to guest speakers share their own small business journeys is “the fuel behind the fire” when it comes to pouring energy and heart into her boutique.
Scholten also appreciates the financial support Startup Garage offers, but emphasizes, “I’m also being held accountable for what I’m doing, for making progress each week, even when the effort sometimes feels like a hassle.” That accountability includes setting weekly goals and checking in with leadership team members about how things are going. When life gets especially busy, Scholten says, “it makes a difference.”
A balancing act
With such a full life, Scholten keeps her feet on the ground by striking a balance between the activities she wants to do and the tasks she must do. “If I were giving another student advice, I would say it’s okay to say ‘no’ to an event to enjoy spending time doing other things.” She has no regrets, for example, about weekends spent celebrating her birthday or attending the rivalry football game. “I could look at that as a missed opportunity, but I’m only in college once, and I have the rest of my life to be working on my business,” she says.
Ultimately, finding that student-work-life balance comes down to doing what she loves. “Honey & Grace is such a joy to me, so it feels less like work and more like something I just like to do,” Scholten shares.
Believing the journey is at least as important as its outcomes, Scholten plans to enjoy the present while looking forward to following new paths in the years ahead.
