(This week The Columbian-Progress spotlights Shabulous owner Melissa Collier.)
Q: When and where were you born?
A: I was born in Gulfport in Nov. 12, 1971.
Q: Where did you attend school?
A: I attended school at Forrest County AHS, but I started in Dixie, which was a small community just outside of Hattiesburg, for elementary school. I went to Pearl River Community College and Southern Miss. I’ve gone enough years that I should have Dr. in front of my name, but I didn’t know what I wanted to be. I have a little knowledge about everything and finally finished up with an interior design degree.
Q: Where do you work? Tell us about your job/company.
A: I am the owner of Shabulous. I’ve always loved furniture and antiques. I’m also big into repurposing; I think everything has more than one use. I love the older things because to me the older things are just better, and I got my start there. I laugh when I tell people I’ve done this at my house for years and done this for other people. When I ran out of room at my house, my husband said no more unless I could find a place to put it, so I did and Shabulous was born in 2013. Some people collected dolls, and I collected furniture.
Q: What do you enjoy most about your job?
A: I love the people. We sit, visit and laugh around here. I love everybody in the gallery. It’s my tribe. We take care of each other. We have good days; we have bad days. This is not just my business and that is their business. We all work together and believe in what we do.
Q: What is the most challenging aspect of your job?
A: I can get frustrated easily. When I finish with a project, it better look exactly how I had it in my head. But I don’t think there is really any frustrating aspects to it. I love to paint; it’s a stress reliever for me. I love to take something and bring it back to life. I may go home tired sometimes, but other than that I’m fortunate. This is what I love to do, and I’ve been able to do it.
Q: What is the most important lesson you have learned in your career?
A: Patience. Once I get on a project, I want it done then. I’m a perfectionist, even though my stuff is shabby chic, and we’re going to ding it up or sand it back or glaze it down. I’ve learned to give and take, too. A piece of furniture will tell you what it needs, and it may not be exactly what you wanted. Once I get onto something, it’s very hard for me to lay it down until it’s finished. When you have a business, you have to multitask. I’ve learned to let things go.
Q: When you were a child, what did you want to be when you grew up?
A: I wanted to be everything. I always loved school. I took nursing, got bored with that. I tried teaching with an elementary education degree with a special education background, got bored with that. I tried psychology, got bored with that. But I’ve always created. When my mother said she was through paying for eight years of college, interior design was just my thing.
Q: What was your first job?
A: I was 15 or 16 when I started to work at Indy’s, which was a burger joint on Hardy Street near Southern. I had to get my own job because there was a very expensive pair of jeans that I wanted. My mother provided everything for us, but expensive jeans were just out the window. I worked there four years, so I could pay for what I wanted.
Q: Who are the people who have been most influential in your life?
A: I’ve been fortunate. My grandparents, Virgil and Margaret Breeden, were great. I think I get my love of creating from my grandmother. My parents, Anthony and Janice Pucylowski, were very involved. My husband, Chad, lets me do what I want when I want and knows when to reel me back in when it’s time. My son, Chase, is a lot like my husband. They’re always there for me and have always supported me.
Q: If you could have anything for your last meal on earth, what would it be?
A: One of the first dates that my husband and I ever had was at a place called Pirate’s Cove on the Coast in Pass Christian. It has the best chili-cheese hot dog, so that’s what I’d want.
Q: If you could travel anywhere in the world, where would you go?
A: I have travelled all over the world, but there are two places left on my bucket list. I love animals, so I want to go to the Galapagos Islands. Then I want to go to Thailand where they have the elephant refuge. You get to live in their jungles, and you’re their mahouts. You take care of them.
Q: What hobbies do you like to do in your spare time?
A: I love to read. By the time I was 13 or 14, I had read every classic. I love to paint. Sometimes I just like to sit outside and contemplate life, maybe with a fishing pole every once in a while.
Q: What do you enjoy about Columbia and Marion County?
A: I love Columbia. I’ve never so proud of what they did last weekend. I’ve always loved small towns because you meet the best people in small towns. I love the people. It’s just home.
Q: If you could have lunch with anyone from your life or history, who would it be and why?
A: My grandmother and grandfather. We were a very close family. If it were someone famous, it would be Emily Dickinson. She’s one of my favorite poets, and I’d love to sit down and pick her quiet, reclusive little mind. There’s a lot of interesting things about her a lot of people do not know.
Q: If you didn’t have to worry about money, what would you do all day?
A: Exactly what I do now. This is what I love to do.
Q: What moment in your life has had the biggest impact on who you are today?
A: The day my child was born, which I know sounds corny, but it changes you. You want to be a different person, and it’s not all about you anymore. You want to better yourself so when he grows up he will admire me and respect me. He would know what type of person I was, and there would be no question to it.
Q: What is one thing you want to do that you’ve never tried?
A: I would like to be brave enough to go skydiving. I’m not a height person, but I would like to know once what that freedom feels like when you jump from the plane. I think it must really be freedom there for a split second.
Q: Using one word for each, what are your top three morals?
A: Honesty, trustworthiness and kindness.
Q: How would you like to be remembered?
A: I’ve always said when it’s my time, I don’t want a funeral. I want everybody to have their chance to grieve and celebrate. I want everybody to come together and have a party. I want them to remember when we had to run from something or when I looked at them and said “You do have bail money in your pocket, right?” Remember the times we’ve laughed because that was the stupidest thing we’ve ever done. I’ve lived to be the best person I can be, and that doesn’t mean I don’t make mistakes; I do. But don’t mourn because I’ve lived a good life. It’s been a fun, wonderful and joyous ride.
— Joshua Campbell
Pictured Above: Melissa Collier is the owner of Shabulous, which restores and repurposes furniture, and opened the business on Second Street in 2013. | Photo by Joshua Campbell
