Another new business, this one catered toward women, recently opened its doors in downtown Brownwood. Earth & Noble, a boutique store located at 108A E. Baker Street, is owned by Ashley Jaynes, who along with husband Micah also own Pioneer Tap House.

The store, which opened Saturday, March 6, is the latest chapter in the evolutionary outlet for Jaynes’ creative.

“I was working a desk job and I needed something to put my hands to,” Jaynes said. “I started by making ear rings. I would post them on my Instagram and Facebook stories and people would ask what I was doing and what I was making. They started asking if I was going to be selling them because they wanted to buy them. So I started doing little vendor markets, stuff like that, and it kind of took off and blew up. It’s just evolved from there and it’s something different and new in Brownwood.”

As for establishing a physical location for the new business, Jaynes said, “My husband and I own Pioneer Tap House a couple of doors down and this building was vacant for a long time. I know the guy who owned it and he was thinking through what we wanted to do with it. I told him if he ever wanted to sell it we were interested in buying it. The opportunity arose and we bought the building and decided to open a whole store.”

The building is the former home of Dalton’s Jewelers, Jaynes said, which provided a unique opportunity for the design.

“Something that’s really cool is the dressing rooms,” Jaynes said. “This was formerly Dalton’s Jewelers and the dressing rooms in the back were originally a vault where they stored their fine jewelry and diamonds, and we converted that. I love all of these buildings downtown because there’s all kind of character and charm and hidden gems that you find.”

Earth & Noble not only features products made by Jaynes, but other local artists as well.

“Something that is really important to me and something this was founded on is artistry,” Jaynes said. “I do love to feature local artists. I have other jewelry that’s handmade by Shannon Sims and her mom. I have the Brownwood landmark greeting cards that were painted by Emily Hutson, and we also have clothing. I would consider it modern style, young contemporary, I wanted it to be fun.”

Regarding the name of the store, Jaynes joked it was a long story.

“That’s the question I get asked the most, and it’s very different,” Jaynes said with a laugh. “I’m a creative person, I’ve been creating things by whole life. I never really had a niche kind of thing I was good at or capitalized on, I just toyed with many different things. I’ve always been a maker of some sort and a creator of some sort. But a lot of my inspiration comes from Mother Nature, hence the word Earth. I love the canvas that is our world.

“The Noble part, I just felt there was something deeper inside of me, a greater calling than just sitting at a desk all day. I needed to build something with my hands, I needed to be working with people, and experiencing the world. I was really struggling at one point at the end of the summer and was really debating on what to do next in my life. My family and I had traveled to beach and we were on the way home and I took out my bible and flipped opened Proverbs 31 which, if you’re a Christian woman you know what that verse says, it talks about the characteristics of what a Godly woman should be and I wanted to be that woman in that scripture, so that’s where Earth and Noble came from.”

Though the store has been open less than a week, Jaynes does have long-term goals in mind.

“First off I wanted to bring something different to Brownwood,” Jaynes said. “I feel like this is a style that’s totally different than any other little shops here. I wanted it to be a place for people to come in and see the creativity and feel inspired. Also, I want it to be a place where people can just come and hang out, there’s a couch and little mini-bar in the back. I just want everybody to come together and connect with each other.”

Store hours are Tuesday through Saturday from 11 a.m. to 7 p.m. More information can be found on the Earth & Noble Facebook page.