Photography by Lauren Allen
Neighborhood Supply Co. owners John and Kasey Bower will be the first ones to tell you how much it means to have a spouse in your corner.
The pair started dating in Waco after Kasey’s graduation from Baylor University, where John had also attended a few years prior. After a short dating stint, John proposed atop the roof of Hotel Palomar on Mockingbird Lane, now the Highland Dallas Hotel, with panoramic springtime views of the city as a backdrop. Kasey said yes, and the two walked down the aisle that September.
Since then, they’ve navigated his career shift from ministry to mortgage, infertility, the NICU, foster care and adoption. After an especially turbulent stretch leading up to 2018, John decided a new endeavor was just what he and Kasey needed while making a career change.
“We were pretty beat up, and I came to her and said, ‘I want to do something with you. I want to do something together,’” John says. “The thing that I saw in her was a creative gift and just kind of needing an outlet to do something.”That something turned out to be Neighborhood Supply Co. The couple’s business specializes in locally-inspired hats and patches, custom embroidery and corporate apparel. One of its main draws comes with the Hat Bar, a mobile embroidery station from which Kasey can create custom designs on-site for birthday parties and corporate events.
When the business first opened, it operated out of Kasey’s home studio. Now, both her and John work out of Neighborhood Supply Co’s retail space on Church Road.
“I’d say we’ve grown closer. John used to be a pastor, and I was a stay at home mom. Now that we have the studio space, we get to see each other a lot more like day time, and we touch base,” Kasey says. “He helps me a lot with the vision of the company, and he does sales for our Hat Bar that we do on the road.”
“We kind of have a shared vision for what we want for Neighborhood Supply, what we want for the family, and we’re working together towards that, which is really cool.”
Advice for other business-minded couples?
Kasey: I think it’s very much, are you able to support each other? And if you have a family, particularly, how willing are you to really support each other in it? Because starting a business, owning a small business, it’s very taxing. It can be very risky, obviously, but having the support of John there has made a world of difference.
