Meet Latangela Hyman of A Peace of My Passion Christian Bookstore

Today we’d like to introduce you to Latangela Hyman.

Hi Latangela, please kick things off for us with an introduction to yourself and your story.
My business story started in 2008 when I became dissatisfied with my career in advertisement sales. I began to be active in my church and had joined the prayer ministry. I started praying for a career change and I was led to explore the Christian bookstore business. I shared my desire with my prayer partner and she directed me to a nearby bookstore that had expressed an interest in retiring. After lots of dialogue and prayer, I agreed to purchase the business.

Long story short by the end of 2008, the deal fell apart and they decided to keep the business. I had already left my job, invested lots of time and money, and set up all my vendor accounts. As well, I had agreed to purchase fixtures from a lady that was closing her bookstore in Zebulon. I contacted her and told her I didn’t get the store and she was disappointed also and told me she had already told her customers about me. I decided I should still help them by starting the business from home, she encouraged me and gave me a portion of her customer list. It was a rough season financially, but I officially started by selling Christian education materials. I would order and sort at home, load up my car, and deliver to churches.

Eventually, the churches would ask about other services and we continued to increase our offerings and delivery service. Meanwhile, my vision for the previous store was to offer church furniture. I began as a church furniture independent sales representative for a VA-based company. (this is a whole different story). In 2015, I purchased the name of the company A. Church Furniture, making us a full-service church furniture and supply company.

To connect even more to our target market, I became a publisher’s Christian education consultant training church leaders. In the last five years, we implemented an e-commerce website, and two years ago we opened our first retail location in Knightdale, NC. A Peace of My Passion is the only full-service Christian bookstore in the area. We are suppliers of a large selection of books, bibles, church supplies, apparel, gifts, and cards.

Can you talk to us a bit about the challenges and lessons you’ve learned along the way? Looking back would you say it’s been easy or smooth in retrospect?
Absolutely not. Initially, we were competing with Lifeway and Family Christian which have since closed all their storefronts and are online businesses. Now the online companies are our biggest competitors. Cash flow, exposure, and visibility were challenges when dealing with vendors.

Today, it’s acquiring good help, keeping up with new products and technology. I recall when I started doing business from home, wholesale discounts were decreased because I was a home-based business. One company would not accept our credit card payment instead I had to pay COD which ate away at our profits.

Thanks – so what else should our readers know about A Peace of my Passion Christian Bookstore?
A Peace of My Passion equips the church to build the Kingdom from steeple to carpet. We are Raleigh/Durham’s only full-service Christian bookstore. Whether you’re looking to furnish your church, purchase a clergy robe, or get an inspirational gift, we’ve got you covered.

We are an authorized Lifeway Dealer, Dayspring, Mercy, and Murphy Robes dealer. Our offerings include books, bibles, cards, communion supplies, apparel for men and women (clergy, choral, and dance), church supplies, gifts, bible imprinting, custom items, and plus sizes, and more.

We finance and furnish churches. We partner with local authors to give them exposure. Our customers experience helpful and caring service. Our business is our ministry, so we seek to be a light in our community.

Where do you see things going in the next 5-10 years?
I believe small businesses will thrive as well as our online offerings.

Contact Info:

• Email: [email protected]
• Website: www.shopapeaceofmypassion.com
• Instagram: @apeaceofmypassion
• Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/APeaceOfMyPassion