New Fort Mill shop is labor of love for owner

Danielle Lennon’s late grandmother, Leola Lamott, owned a successful business in Baton Rogue, La., during the civil rights era and was one of the only African-American car owners in town. So when Martin Luther King Jr. called for a nationwide bus boycott, she did the best thing she could think of.

Lamott got up every morning at 4 a.m. and drove as many people to work as she could.

Lennon, owner of the recently opened Fort Mill fashion boutique Leola & Simone, says she has big shoes to fill.

“Talk about something to live up to,” she said.

Lamott owned a hair salon and boutique in the 1960s and was primping in front of a mirror well into her 80s, Lennon said. Her closet was filled to the brim with beautiful clothes and jewelry that Lennon was in awe of from the time she was a little girl.

Leola & Simone – Simone is Lennon’s sister’s middle name – exists today largely due to Lamott’s hard work and tenacity, Lennon said. Lamott left her granddaughter an inheritance that was the seed money for Lennon to become a small business owner herself. Leola & Simone was an online business for a year and-a-half before becoming a brick and mortar store off of Springfield Parkway last October.

A teacher by trade, Lennon said starting a business was a massive undertaking that took a big leap of faith, but she loves challenges and is always thinking of her grandmother’s example.

“If she can do that with all of the adversity, then there’s no excuse for me,” Lennon said.

Lennon has two passions – education and fashion. She’s been a teacher in the Fort Mill school district for the past 11 years, at Gold Hill Middle, Banks Trail Middle and now at Nation Ford High School.

“It’s always been my dream to teach high school kids,” Lennon said, adding that NaFo is a convenient location for her with her store right around the corner in the Springfield Town Center (Harris-Teeter shopping center).

Lennon was named Teacher of the Year during her time at Banks Trail, and went on to win District Teacher of the Year. Her fellow teachers make up a large part of the boutique’s clientele. Some of Lennon’s employees are former students, and volunteer service is a required part of employment.

“If you want to work here, you have to give back to Fort Mill schools,” Lennon said.

When she first became a teacher, Lennon worked retail in the evenings and missed the business when she stopped after becoming a mother. Owning the store enables her to pursue both of her passions, she said. Lennon’s mother, Diane Grisby, has a background in retail sales and is the store manager. Lennon said Grisby helps her balance her roles as wife to Andre, mother to 4-year-old Jasmine, teacher and business owner.

The individualized and convenient shopping options and excellent customer service is what sets Leola & Simone apart from its competition, Lennon said. Clients love the personalized shopping appointments the boutique offers, Lennon said, where staff members work one-on-one with customers to help complete their look.

Home wardrobe services are also offered, where clothing choices are brought to clients’ homes, and employees work with them to incorporate different pieces into their wardrobe. The boutique offers wardrobe options for women of all ages and styles, Lennon said, adding that the store will soon begin offering plus sizes.

Lennon got to see her two passions merge this past Christmas when she was able to help a student who wasn’t going to receive any Christmas presents. Lennon closed the store – except for a private showing for the student – and “wardrobed her from head to toe.”

“(The student) just lost it,” Lennon said. “I thought, ‘OK. That’s what I’m supposed to be doing.’”

Lennon wishes her grandmother could see her now.

“When I’m gone from here, I want people to say, ‘She wasn’t about herself. She left (the world) a little better than she found it.’ Because that’s what she did,” Lennon said.

“When I envisioned my store a lot of that was in my mind, being that kind of woman…She’s my blood. She’s part of me. The things that she did are the reason that I’m able to do the things I do,” Lennon said.

This story was originally published January 19, 2016 at 11:16 AM with the headline "New Fort Mill shop is labor of love for owner."