By Sherri Blevins
David Holt and Sandy Goff hosted the second edition of Chamber Chat. They introduced viewers to local business owner, Angie Harper. Harper is the Nana in the title “Nana Poppins”. The two hosts talked with Harper about her life and how the successful business was born.
Nana Poppins is located on Highway 75 in Rainsville in the vicinity of Rainsville Foodland. The business was established in January of 2015. It has grown from a small window front store offering delicious popcorn to a working manufacturing business producing fifty different flavored varieties of popcorn, almost any edible item you can think of dipped in chocolate, candied apples, caramel apples, gourmet apples, and added recently, delicious fudge.
Holt asked Harper how she came up with the name for her business. She explained, “My grandbabies call me Nana, and Mary Poppins was my favorite movie growing up. When we started popping popcorn, the name Nana Poppins just kind of came together. We haven’t questioned it yet.”
Harper also described how the business came about. She stated, “The business was born because of an event that changed my life. I became unable to do my job. Previously, I drove a bus for the Jackson County Board of Education for seventeen years. Then I got hurt resulting in six disc surgeries. I got to the point where I couldn’t turn my neck enough to drive a bus safely. I knew my career as a bus driver was over. I didn’t know exactly what was coming. While lying in bed waiting to have major surgery, I was looking at EBay on my IPad. I noticed a popcorn business for sale in Michigan. I had never bought anything on EBay before in my life. I still wasn’t able to do anything because I was waiting on that surgery. God just opened that door. That is the only way I can explain what happened. God opened the door for us to get that business. A wonderful friend got involved in the process helping us, and we purchased the business and had it shipped to us before the surgery. We opened six months after my surgery. Everything just fell in place. “
Harper explained that her popcorn making days began before Nana Poppins did. She stated, “I had cooked popcorn for my kids on the school bus. They would always beg for more. They would say, ‘Bring us more caramel corn; don’t buy us anything.’ I would bring the children something for almost every holiday. That is why they liked me. I am not beyond bribery. “
Holt also asked Harper what she liked best about owning her own business and what her biggest challenge was. She responded, “What I like best about being a business owner is I get to share with people who come in the store every day. If they need prayer, we pray. If they don’t want to hear about how good God is, then they don’t need to come in. “She explained that her biggest challenge was really twofold. She said, “Learning how to be the boss and learning the technical side of the business has been the greatest challenges for me. My husband told me when we started that I could no longer physically do all the work. I would have to learn how to tell others what to do and how to do it. I have always been a hands on person, so I have had to learn how to do that. “
To see the full interview, check out Mountain Valley News on our YouTube Channel or on our Facebook page.