Donna Mae's Place | News - AberdeenNews.com

Donna Mae's Place | News - AberdeenNews.com

Donna Mae's Place | News - AberdeenNews.com

Posted: 08 Jan 2020 08:00 AM PST

Flowers and fish. 

That's the one-stop-shop experience offered at one of Aberdeen's newest businesses.

Donna Mae's Place, owned by Donna and Tim Janusz, is the culmination of lots of hard work, tireless devotion and, most importantly, love.

To some, the products offered might seem an odd combination. But to the Janusz', it made perfect sense. 

When Donna, 58, was in high school, she ran deliveries for a local floral shop. In between trips, she would sit and watch the florists put together arrangements, dreaming of the day she could run her own business and create her own bouquets.

She also had a penchant for taking care of aquariums growing up, and as more and more stores stopped offering live fish in Aberdeen, she saw an opening in the market. 

Now, what was once a faraway fantasy has become reality.

Like many who dream big, Donna was always too nervous to take the leap and venture out on her own.

Then she met her now-husband, Tim, 61. 

"He's my biggest fan. He's my motivator. He believes in me. What more can a person ask?," Donna said. "He just said, 'It's either now or never.' He helped me jump in with both feet."

So when a charming, yellow house with a classic white porch came on the market in early 2019, the Janusz' followed their hearts and made it their own.

The house, built in the late 1880s was a fixer-upper, but fit perfectly into the couple's plans to run a business downstairs and live in the quarters above. With no plans to retire in the future, Donna and Tim wanted the convenience of working from home for years to come. 

Together, the two put their noses to the ground and got to work. Donna hit Aberdeen rummage sales and Tim picked up extra and overtime shifts at 3M. At their newly purchased home, which had been vacant for years, they tore up carpet and renovated themselves, with no outside help. 

It was important to the Janusz' that they didn't borrow a ton of money to start the business. 

"Things don't have to be big and bangy. You don't have to have this multi-million dollar storefront now, you can merge into that," Tim said. 

Tim pointed to Microsoft and other successful companies that started out on much smaller, more modest scales. 

"The best thing is just don't go into a lot of debt," Donna said. "Don't give up on your dream and save lots of money."

Most everything that was used to furnish the store, including fish tanks, displays and even the front counter, were purchased second-hand. But far from stuffy, the shop is open, welcoming and cozy. 

Light streams through every antique window to highlight a variety of plants and fish alike, which sit on and around vintage furnishings. Donna wanted customers to be able to envision what the products would look like in their own spaces, so she created a quaint atmosphere that would reflect that.

"I wanted it to be more homey feeling than the pet store thing. I wanted the dressers and the desks, so that you would know how to set up your own tank in your own home," she said.

It's been a long journey for both Donna and Tim to get to where they are today. Their roads have been bumpy at times, but neither ever gave up — likely the reason they sit with such peace and confidence in their shop today.

"I think a lot of times the only thing that keeps people back is their fear," Tim said, looking at his wife. "They need to just say what I did in the past or what happened to me in the past is gone. It gave me memories, I learned form it, I need to get up and move on."

Donna and Tim are both cancer survivors, and Tim was formerly incarcerated. 

"You can overcome things and still have your own business. To me, it's so important to see," he said. "People get out prison, people have cancer, (and they) say, 'Oh, I can't do this, I can't do that.'

Their experiences have given them different perspectives on life, including working harder for what they want, as well as the ability to empathize with their clients.

"I put a lot of personal feelings into something I make for somebody. I'm kind of emotionally in tune with these people. I feel their pain," Donna said. "We've been there, we know how people feel."

Donna and Tim's separate histories have not only molded them, it also brought them together. The appreciation they both have for each other is apparent — for some, the idea of working with a spouse is less than ideal. But for the Janusz', it's necessary.  

"I wouldn't want to do it any other way. He's my best friend. We just fit well together," Donna said. "We're kind of like a fine-tuned engine. And that's kind of hard to find in a person."

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