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He is also a social media influencer and a regular on Facebook Live where he posts about his businesses and teaches other small business owners how to use social media to grow their business.

Waterman is from Herrick, a town of about 500 people in central Illinois. He moved to Metro East about 20 years ago in search of job opportunities.

“Crafts had always been something I liked to do, so I started doing a few things on Facebook Live and that got me into the business,” said Waterman, who owns both stores in Troy with her husband, Chris Waterman.

Waterman had worked in the medical field up until six years ago, most recently as director of marketing for Healthcare Accounting Services, a long-term care facility in St. Louis.

“I was there for quite a few years and was also in hospice for a while, so going into crafts was a bit of a career change,” Waterman said. “I started my business from my home and when it took off I decided to take the leap and work in that business full time.”

‘It was a bit crazy’

Waterman’s Loft was the first of Waterman’s businesses to have a physical location. When he ran out of space at home, he rented a building in Collinsville. He stayed there for only three months before he outgrew that space and moved to a building in Maryville, where he stayed for a year.

“We were up and down Maryville and when shipments would come in, they would put them in the parking lot and we had to carry them up to the building and then all over the building, so it was a little crazy,” Waterman said.

Waterman’s Loft has been at its current location in Troy for almost three years. The building is 4,500 square feet, twice the size of the Collinsville location.

“We have a lot more space and our business continues to grow, both locally and on social media and online,” Waterman said. “We have our own website and we ship all over the world.”

Both online and in-store, Waterman’s Loft offers a wide variety of craft and home décor items.

“We mainly make wreath-making supplies, but you can use our products for anything,” Waterman said. “We have about 2,000 different styles of wire ribbon in stock and we have flowers and greenery.

“We have our own line of glitter that we sell here and our own line of clay, which I call Adult Play-Doh. We also have finished products such as crown centers. We’re wall to wall right now and we have shipments coming in, so what we have in stock right now won’t last long.”

business building

Waterman’s Floral, which is one block from the loft, opened in May 2022.

“We opened right after Mother’s Day last year and specialize in wedding and funeral flowers,” Waterman said. “We also have fresh flower arrangements every day and we always have things in our refrigerators for walk-ins and send bouquets.

“We have done a lot for the Triad (High School) and have done a lot of flowers for sports banquets and graduations. We also have a gift shop with freeze-dried candy, candles, personalized mugs, soaps, and a variety of other products.”

For Waterman, it all started with social media and now has nearly 100,000 followers on Facebook. He also teaches a class called “Learn, Focus, Win.”

“It’s a start-up group and it requires small businesses that want to grow through social media,” Waterman said. “We show them step by step how I got to where I am.”

Waterman’s most recent class, which ended last year, featured 25 companies. Her next class will start in August.

“It’s a year-long class and there’s an application process,” Waterman said. “The first three days are going into the building and meeting, and we talk business and pitch ideas.

“Then we have monthly Zoom calls with everyone. We talk about our goals and what we are doing to achieve them. I look at their businesses and their social networks and point out the things they can do to help their growth.”

international reach

Waterman himself is living proof of the value of social media for small business owners, and he’s happy to pass on the lessons he’s learned.

“I spoke to the Chamber of Commerce here a couple of months ago and shared bits like daily posts you can make and the social media interactions that help your business grow,” Waterman said.

Waterman will also be hosting its sixth annual crafters convention this year in Fairview Heights and the event is expected to draw about 300 people from across the US and other countries as well.

“We’ve had people from Australia, England, the Virgin Islands and Canada, so we draw from everywhere,” Waterman said. “Even at our store, we have people come from all over the United States to shop.

“We have people from Indiana, Kentucky, St. Louis and Chicago. Many of them stay in Troy and we send them to our favorite restaurants.”

While Scott and Chris Waterman are pleased with the continued growth of the two stores in Troy, they are considering expansion for the future.

“We would love to have our own building at some point, but we are preparing to enter into a five-year lease for the (loft) building, so those plans are for the future,” Waterman said. “We are going to see how the economy is going and decide from there.

“We have some ideas for different things in the future and maybe another business at some point. It would be completely different from what we are doing now.”

‘We try to help’

In addition to Waterman’s Loft and Waterman’s Floral, Scott and Chris Waterman are partners with Angie and Kurt Skinner in Stencil It Up, an online company that has been in business for a year and a half.

“We also do social media for that business and create door hangers and things like that and teach people how to paint them using stencils without having to know how to paint,” Waterman said.

Scott and Chris Waterman also run a variety of fundraisers for different causes. They raised $9,000 for a family craftsman who had died. They hold events for the Washington County Animal Shelter and Partners for Pets.

Two years ago, they partnered with a local food pantry to feed 55 families at Christmas in Cowden and Herrick. They raised nearly $5,000 to provide families with hams and other items to create a complete meal.

“We try to help here as much as we can,” Waterman said. “We do a lot of donations for different things in Troy.

“The community has been very kind to us. We feel that if we’re doing well, we should give back.”

For more information on Waterman’s Loft, visit https://watermansloft.com/go to Design With Scott on Facebook or call 618-407-9655.

For more information on Waterman’s Floral, visit https://www.watermansfloral.com/go to Waterman’s Floral on Facebook or call 618-505-0700.

To learn more about Stencil It Up, visit https://stencilitup.com/ or call 618-407-9655.