For a long time, Blake and Maria Gillespie knew they wanted to start a business. They saved every penny they could, researched markets, and when Maria retired from retail in 2018, they planned to buy a small Chinese grocery store near their home.

“We wanted to go with a pre-existing business, something with a strong customer base,” Blake explained. “But that deal ended up falling through.”

On the verge of his own retirement from the shipping industry, Blake decided to throw himself into launching a business from scratch.

“We still had money in the 401(k) and decided to look at an empty building for rent instead of giving up – it ended up being perfect,” he said.

With a little elbow grease, they launched Camotes Island Market – an Asian grocery and meat market geared towards the Filipino community.

“Maria is Filipino, and growing up in the Philippines, her family operated a few markets and ran market stalls, so she’s really familiar with the business,” Blake shared. “She kind of grew up in it.”

At first, the store operated as a meat market, but Blake and Maria slowly adjusted based on customer feedback.

“That first year was hard – we poured a lot of money into it, and I remember some days we were happy we made $50 in sales,” Blake shared with a laugh. “It was kind of scary, actually, but we persevered.”

They added more groceries – from Filipino staples like balut to basics like kimchi and increasingly popular brands of spicy Korean ramen. And Blake leaned into a passion of his: grilling.

“We started out doing Lechon – a Filipino dish that’s a whole roast pig. But it ended up taking too long, so I switched to making grilled pork belly on the weekends,” Blake shared. “Now I do ribs, rib tips, smoked duck, lamb – you name it. Now we make probably 50 percent of our income the days we serve fresh food.”

While the food service is still first come, first served on the weekends, after six years in business, Blake and Maria are thinking about expanding. They want to add a small seating area to the store, but they’re also hoping to purchase a location instead of renting, with the help of First Merchants Bank, and to open a portion of the store to be a full-time restaurant.

“Right now, we’re a store first and a restaurant second, but some people think we’re just a restaurant – so we’d love to lean into that,” Blake explained. “Because we’re doing good business there and sell out of food most weekends.”

After six years, Blake said they’ve built a good banking relationship with First Merchants and have found some good employees who can manage the store so he and Maria can take a few short breaks.

“They can’t cook, though – I’m the only grill master here,” he joked.

While the hours are longer than those he worked in the shipping industry, Blake said he and Maria wouldn’t trade it for the world.

“I love interacting with customers. I love being my own boss,” he shared. “Our success didn’t happen overnight – we’ve grown every month and just now got to the point where we’re not sweating at night. But it’s been worth it.”