Role Model – Abby Colbath

The Ministry of Retail

By Michelle Vasquez  |  Photography by David Teran

Being your authentic self and sharing personal stories with transparency is rare. Abby Colbath, a San Antonio native, is the exception. She never dreamed of her future journey as a business owner or as someone who would struggle so much with infertility and loss. Her story is about living authentically, embracing vulnerability, and finding purpose in the intersection of grief and joy.

After graduating from Texas A&M with a degree in communications, Abby found herself uncertain about her future until she realized that opening a boutique would combine her passions for creativity, fashion, and ministry. Abby points out that as a service provider, people naturally share their lives with them. “As someone who worked retail, I observed that people shop because they’re happy or sad or shopping for a funeral or other pivotal occasion,” she says. This astute observation led her to look at the experience of service in her boutique as a ministry.

In 2019, she launched her online shop from her home with a small investment and a lot of grit. She juggled part-time jobs, pop-up shops, and online sales. She developed a community of loyal and engaged customers, but her life wasn’t just about building a business but a legacy bigger than herself. Around the same time, she and her husband began their infertility journey.

Abby shared her experience of infertility openly on her boutique’s social media account. This act of authenticity resonated deeply with others. It unexpectedly sparked the beginnings of a community of merchants and consumers who loved her clothing assortment and could relate to and empathize with her struggles.

Customers began to see her boutique as more than just a store; it became a place of connection where human stories of struggle, loss, and hope were freely shared. By allowing herself to be vulnerable, she inspired others to open up, creating a cycle of support that nurtured her through some of her darkest times amidst her social media and store community.

In 2020, Abby faced unimaginable losses. After enduring multiple miscarriages, she lost her youngest brother to fentanyl poisoning. Amid this grief, her boutique became her lifeline. “The business saved me and kept me going,” she recalls. “If I didn’t have that to focus on, I don’t think I would have survived.” The community she cultivated through her openness was pivotal, offering comfort and strength when needed.

That resilience was tested again when she lost her full-term daughter, Lane, in late 2020 and 2021. This loss coincided with her business moving to a brick-and-mortar location. She had ordered inventory to fill the new space and did not feel that she could adequately grieve and manage the store opening, so again, she turned to her community online. Her customers and fellow business owners rallied to sell out her inventory in a remarkable show of solidarity, providing her with financial and emotional relief. “It felt like a warm hug from the community,” she says. “People showed up in ways I could never have imagined.”

After recovering, Abby opened the retail location with fiery determination and support from friends, shoppers, and family. She renamed it July and June in honor of her brother Braden, who passed in July of 2020, and her first pregnancy loss, which occurred in June of 2020. “Grief and joy can coexist,” she explains. Beautiful things can grow from the most challenging seasons of life.” The shop’s name is a reminder of that observation, life lesson, and her faith.

Abby is most certainly a role model we can all turn to and be inspired by grace, grit, determination, and values. Through her journey of infertility, miscarriages, and grief, she has turned personal trials into a ministry of service within her store, where women come together to shop and support one another. Abby and her husband have one son and are now pregnant with a girl.