'Small Town Heritage': New Brunswick clothing brand embraces rural roots

High school student Emma Graham knew she wanted to attend university outside of her hometown of Sussex, N.B., in the fall of 2024. In order to do so, she’d need to raise some money.

In August, she began brainstorming ideas with her mother, before settling on creating a clothing brand called “Small Town Roots.”

“Everybody has been super, super supportive,” says Graham, who is now five months into her business venture.

“We’ve sold out almost every single time we bring it stock. It doesn’t last long and we always have people demanding for more.”

Graham’s mother, Leeann Nichol, has helped her daughter with the company.

“It’s something Emma is passionate about,” says Nichol.

“I put a lot of time into it to help out and make sure all the legal stuff is where it needs to be. I deal with that part of it while she takes on the social media aspect of it.”

Graham says working alongside her mother on the brand has led to some heated discussions, but also a strong partnership.

“Definitely a lot of butting heads,” jokes the teen.

“For the most part, we collaborate a lot and we come up with some pretty good ideas together,” says Nichol.

Graham guesses she has made around $25,000 since starting her company in August.

She’s recently rebranded to “Small Town Heritage,” due to copyright issues, and says the brand is a reminder not to forget where you come from.

“I do plan on going to a city for university,” says Graham.

“My heart is always going to be in a small town, as it’s my heritage.”

Graham has enjoyed seeing her merchandise represented around Sussex and the province.

She says she has had teachers and fellow students asking her about the company and is excited to head back to school after the winter break to see how many people had her brand under the Christmas tree.

Graham has been recognized locally for her business efforts. Late in 2023, the entrepreneur earned the Emerging Business Award from the Sussex Chamber of Commerce during their year-end awards, beating out some well-established names in the process.

“It definitely brought up the confidence in how successful my business is becoming,” says Graham.

Nichol says her daughter’s success gives her a great sense of pride.

“It’s a moment of like awe when I watch her and see how much community support there is for her,” says Nichol.

“People come up to me and say what a wonderful job she is doing.”

Graham has been accepted to multiple schools for the fall, but has yet to decide where she will go. She hopes to continue with “Small Town Heritage” once university begins, but says she will wait and see what the workload is like before committing one way or the other.

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