Stone + Suede co-owners, sisters, named Entrepreneur of the Year

Rachel Kroeger

Staff

May 5, 2025

WAUPUN – As their children grew older and their previous jobs became harder, sisters-turned-business-partners Lauren Tillema and Janelle Kartechner – co-owners of Stone + Suede Boutique in Waupun – said they could no longer ignore what they saw as their calling.

“I think we were getting a little burnt out in the healthcare realm,” Tillema said.

While regaling the story of when they felt inspired to leave the nursing profession and pursue business ownership, Kartechner and Tillema said, “you know what, I think we could do this” – in unison, just like when they first had the idea.

“Weirdly, (the thought) came to us at the same time,” Tillema said. “That would be a ‘God thing,’ we like to say. It just felt like we (couldn’t) quite ignore this calling anymore.”

Now, after Envision Greater Fond du Lac honored the duo with its 2025 Entrepreneur of the Year award at its annual meeting last month, Kartechner said she and Tillema now feel even more emboldened to continue “making Waupun a really cool destination” through their business.

Sisters, co-owners, best friends

Tillema and Kartechner said they, as well as their third sister – who are each “about two years apart” – have been lucky enough to be the kind of siblings who “truly are each other’s best friends.”

Though business ownership may be new to her and Kartechner, Tillema said working together is not.

“We worked as nurses together as well, and we got to see each other at the hospital every day, so I guess working with each other is not new,” she said. “So we knew we could do that, but we’ve also always loved fashion and loved design, decorating and shopping.”

Their mutual love for fashion and design – coupled with the inherent nurturing aspect they’ve found in women’s clothing and retail – Tillema and Kartechner said, is what sealed the deal on their career switch.

“I think (our) love of people and caring for people as nurses actually flows into… our new business, because though we love clothes, and that’s fun, the core of our business is truly nurturing and caring for somebody,” Tillema said, “The clothes are just (how we help) somebody feel their best, encourage them and lift them up.”

Support from their respective husbands, Kartechner said, encouraged their leap into entrepreneurship as well.

“Our husbands are also entrepreneurs,” she said. “I think seeing what they have been able to accomplish, and (having them say) ‘I know you can do it – this is an opportunity,’ definitely helped.”

Though they sell some of Stone + Suede’s hand-selected items online (stoneandsuedeboutique.com), Tillema said their storefront came before their e-commerce store.

“It was the brick-and-mortar (location) first (and then) our website was built,” she said. “The brick-and-mortar (store) took off better than we expected, so we never really had the time to truly create a system for that online (store).”

Kartechner said Stone + Suede’s website serves almost “like a second store,” to which Tillema said is intentional to keep the in-person shopping experience unique and personable.

“If you really want to create the same experience for your customer as (they get) in the store, it’s a lot more than just adding a picture onto the website,” Tillema said. “We wanted (Stone + Suede) to (offer) more than just shopping, and I think that’s why, for us, the focus is really more in store right now. Not to say we don’t have a goal of getting everything online (eventually).”

Big dreams, big building

After deciding to pursue their dream business, Kartechner and Tillema said they purchased Stone + Suede’s current location at 417 E. Main St. in Waupun.

“We bought this building, I think, (in) October 2021,” Kartechner said. “It was originally a JCPenney built in 1929, and then it became the Rock Shop for quite a few years.”

The building, Tillema said, was in “quite bad disrepair.”

“They were not going to save it if it went up in flames – put it that way,” she laughed. “So, it was a very big labor of love for our families, and it still is – we still have projects going on. But we renovated it, (put) a lot of hours in here, and we made it open for the (Downtown Waupun) Wine Walk in May 2022. That was really the goal.”

The wine walk, Kartechner said, provided the motivation they needed to initially open the store.

“It was a good way to just get the doors open,” she said. “If you would’ve seen it two hours before the doors opened, you would’ve been very impressed.”

The two-story, nearly century-old retail building Stone + Suede calls home, Tillema said, offers “at least 3,000 square feet” of retail space for customers to browse and shop.

“There’s some upstairs space as well, (but) it’s not technically retail,” she said.

When shopping around for a building that suited their needs, Tillema said the Main Street location stood out to her and Kartechner because of the complete “blank slate” it offered.

“Our husbands don’t do things small, (and) we don’t do things small,” she said. “This building came up and (we said), ‘Let’s do it, it’s perfect – we can gut the whole thing.’ I think part of it was that we knew – no matter what space we had – we would want to completely make it our own, because we also love the design and construction part of things.”

Kartechner said the larger space also provided more potential in the type of merchandise the sisters thought they wanted to, or could, carry.

“(The building provides) lots of space to fill with lots of products and (for us to) pivot regardless of where the business went,” she said. “When we were thinking about design and clothing, we were like, ‘Oh, maybe we could have a little furniture,’ (and) we’d have space to make it whatever we need it to be. (However), the boutique, the clothing portion, has just taken off and exploded (to the point) that we honestly need all of that space for inventory.”

Kartechner said the second floor houses their offices and an area for their kids when needed, in addition to serving as an event space.

“It’s a space (where) we have a lot of events at the store,” she said. “It’s a great place for pop-ups.”

Entrepreneur of the year

Though honored to have received this year’s Entrepreneur of the Year award from Envision Greater Fond du Lac – Kartechner and Tillema said they are only one of many hard-working entrepreneurs in the area.

“We know a lot of other entrepreneurs that are hustling, but it is pretty cool (to win the award),” Tillema said. “We have also really worked hard to not only grow our own business, but truly the whole downtown district of Waupun – truly embracing that we all grow together. So, it really makes sense to help and encourage and work together with other businesses.”

As part of Waupun’s “downtown promotions group,” Tillema said Stone + Suede often collaborates with other businesses to hold different community activities, which has led to an increased network of both personal and professional connections.

“We know thousands more people than we did before we started this (business), which has been awesome,” she said.

Furthermore, over their last two years of business ownership, Kartechner said their loyal customers have also become close friends.

“Hands down, some of our best friends are honestly customers we never knew until we started the store,” she said.

As they continue to help establish the store and the downtown district of Waupun as a must-see destination, the sisters said Stone + Suede is also looking to expand its staff.

“We are expanding our workforce, (because) we’re really trying to expand our hours and things like that,” Tillema said. “(Right now), we have somebody that works with us every day… and then we have several employees that rotate on Saturdays with us… but we are definitely going to be looking to add another close-to-full-time person – more of a manager-type position – and then we really could add somebody for (the online store). So, we’re looking to add probably two close-to-full-time positions.”

For more on Stone + Suede, visit its website or find the store on social media.