Today we’d like to introduce you to Lynn Makiej.
Lynn, let’s start with your story. We’d love to hear how you got started and how the journey has been so far.
It’s been quite the journey getting to where we are today… At the age of 18, I began working on cruise ships as a dancer and traveling halfway around the world… At the age of 20, I found myself teaching Ballroom Dancing full time while performing & competing professionally.
While I was teaching Ballroom dancing I started to learn & love the business side of things. When I turned 23 I stumbled upon a large mill building that I instantly knew could make a beautiful dance studio & ballroom… within a month I opened DNE School of Dance… that was 23 years ago. I am still the majority owner but have an amazing staff that is truly talented and run the studio on a daily basis… were approx. 600 hundred dancers dance across the floor each and every week…
After designing my 8000 square foot dance studio…very organically, I started to design spaces for people… redesigning a room, preparing a home to go on the market to then larger projects. I absolutely love the process and I love working with people. Enjoying this over the past eight years I’ve always imagined owning a home furnishings store… but a home furnishings store that was different. A space that was inspiring to both designers and the overwhelmed homeowner.
About four years ago, my husband was laid off from his biotech sales job, and for about a year he was looking for a new job but his dream was to start a business of his own. That is when we decided that we would embark on this business venture together. John has an MBA and has invented/patented products in past years. His sales & business experience along with the fact that I have grown a few businesses from the ground up and maintained them for over two decades gave us the confidence to begin this new venture.
After finding just the right space, and waiting until both of our boys were in school full time, November of 2017 we opened and launched MAK & CO. A Unique Home Furnishings Store where one can find new furniture including sofas, chairs, swivels and sectionals to unique lighting & rugs to rare or unique vintage finds… this is how we live in our home. Comfortable living with an easy backdrop, small pops of color and a vintage find that is the talk of the party…
We’re always bombarded by how great it is to pursue your passion, etc – but we’ve spoken with enough people to know that it’s not always easy. Overall, would you say things have been easy for you?
We both think any success in life is never a smooth road… that is how you grow in life and in business. You learn from your mistakes and try not to do them again. For me, starting my dance studio at the age of 23 I basically earned business skills through the school of hard knocks. Starting and growing a studio wasn’t really the hard part it was finding a great staff, managing them and caring for over 8000 square feet all while keeping myself creative in the dance studio.
John had a successful biotech sales career for over a 20 year period but experienced a layoff in 2013. The challenge he faced was to either go back into the same field or begin this new venture. The easier and less risky path would have been to go back into biotech, but taking the adventurous path as an entrepreneur was the tough decision most executives wouldn’t make…. but it has proven to be the right decision.
We definitely had less struggles with the launch MAK & CO. I think mostly because we are much more experienced and seasoned with business for what may lie ahead. There were I would say speed bumps along the way as far as finding the perfect space for what we wanted to achieve and finding the right furniture suppliers and products that were the perfect combination to make our vision come to life.
We’d love to hear more about your business.
MAK & CO. is a unique home furnishings store that offers furniture, lighting, rugs & accessories along with rare & vintage finds. We are known as a store that is inviting and inspiring…
We are very competitively priced and offer design services as well to help customers with their home whether they are refreshing a room, furnishing a whole house, downsizing or just looking for that perfect piece they’ve been searching for.
I think we are most proud of our selection & customer service…we are also proud to live and own a business in Andover. People are really drawn to our story, a local family starting a significant business in town. Our two boys ages 6 and 11 make our adventure more rewarding.
What sets us apart from other furniture stores is our personal relationship that we have with our customers… Our genuine interest and excitement for their home desired goals.
What were you like growing up?
We were both actually a little shy… my parents enrolled me into dance classes to get me out of my shell and John’s parents signed him up for sports… we both quickly developed a passion for these activities and excelled them into our adult lives.
Contact Info:
- Address: 18 Red Spring Rd. Andover, MA 01810
- Website: www.makandcoandover.com
- Phone: 978-475-5511
- Email: lynn@makandcoandover.com
- Instagram: makandcoandover
- Facebook: makandcoandover
- Other: www.dancenewengland.com
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