MEET OWNER
Wendy French
November 2015 I started Cascades Boutique.
I’m the mother of five strong, smart, courageous, beautiful women. Family and God are the most important pieces in my life. My journey for many years was a stay at home mom. No easy task, let me tell you! I’m honored to have had that time to be there for our children. Strength and dignity helped carry me through raising five girls, managing a home, and everything that went with it.
As my youngest started high school I recognized my journey needed to continue and I stayed the course, identifying what it would take to reach my goals. I prayed about what my next step would be and the direction The Lord wanted me to take. My dream was a small Boutique in Chagrin Falls, and that opportunity soon presented itself. A combination of passion, self-respect, tact and timing - along with a healthy dose of courage, was the secret sauce.
My strength didn’t allow me to be afraid of failure and I trusted in my own well-being. You’re here to conquer the world, not wait for it to revolve around you. I was an eager learner, asked the tough questions, picked myself up when I would fall and would keep taking care of business. The first couple years of business were a learning curve but as strong women, we like a challenge and push ourselves to work harder and set bigger goals.
As strong women we build others up. Through kindness and compassion are opportunities to connect with others. My favorite part of Cascades is YOU and the connections we have made. Your stories of joy and hardship move me. By showing unconditional love and support, we lift up each other and we’re more likely to reach our own goals and succeed. When you give out happy, kind, wise and strong vibes, others feel it.
COVID changed all of our lives! When the Boutique shut down in March 2020, along with the rest of the world, it was scary, my anxiety was on full alert. In strength there is a place for vulnerability and emotion. The world changed and we had to change with it. Strength and courage were necessary to learn new ways to redesign myself and the store, but we persevered.
IM REMEMBRANCE OF OUR DAUGHTER
Madeleine Rose
Our lives forever changed in July 2020 when our daughter, Madeleine, died fighting her battle with addiction. Her infectious energy and smile lit up every room she entered. She had been living in a Recovery Home for six months when COVID sent her home and in person AA meetings stopped. She told me on-line meetings weren’t the same and she needed to be surrounded by “her people”. In her memory we started the Madeleine Rose Foundation, www.m-rosefoundation.org. Our mission is to help people in recovery. In our first year, we raised over $45K and helped open a Women’s Recovery Home in Portage County. Recovery housing provides a safe, stable, sober environment to live and learn life skills in order to maintain 12 step based sobriety. Madeleine told us recovery housing was the best thing that happened for her! In her honor we strive to make a difference.
“She is clothed with strength and dignity; she can laugh at the days to come” (Proverbs 31:25) I have laid down my life and taken up my own cross. I strive to clothe myself with strength and dignity. From there also comes peace and joy, and fearlessness about the future. If it’s in Your Will, may my perseverance and faith in You bring peace and prosperity to my home and community.