#ReelingItIn: Minkology on Social Media

By Sarah Hurley

If you follow Minkology on social media, you might have noticed a recent shift in the content we’ve been uploading to our pages. Instagram and Facebook Reels, especially, have become central to our social media content delivery in the last several months: one recent video featuring store-owner Wendi Mink looking crossly at her phone is captioned, “Owning a small business will have you standing in random places looking like you’re in a toxic relationship,” while another starring shop-dog Louis Mink reads, “I came in the store for treats but now they have me working the register…” Other videos feature Minkologists dancing or singing, poking fun at their subpar technology skills, and touting their favorite shop products.

At the end of 2025, Minkology began collaborating with HoneyDew Branding for their social media content creation. Taylor Avant, HoneyDew's creator, is a local website designer and social media manager whose eye for detail and attention to trends meshes well with Wendi’s desire to increase engagement with the shop’s online presence in a fun, lighthearted way. They first collaborated on smaller posts, pictures and graphics promoting the shop’s products and local charm, but eventually broke into video content, riding the high that so many other businesses have found on platforms such as TikTok and Instagram.

Wendi says Minkology’s new approach to social media stemmed from the desire to show customers a different side of the business, without pushing products. It was important for Wendi to introduce to our customers the team of employees who make their favorite local shop such a special place to visit. It helped that two of our Minkologists, Ginny and Lori, were cheerleaders together at Asheboro High School as teenagers and had background of doing fun, performance-based activities together. When Minkology decided to launch their new approach to video content on social media, it seemed natural to let them lead.

Or, perhaps, not so natural—considering that Ginny had vehemently refused to appear in any of Minkology’s social media content since she began working with the shop in 2023! Instead, she’d always offered to help out behind the camera—as long as nobody ever put her in front of it. Now, though, she’s “embracing the levity” of the shop’s playful Instagram and Facebook Reels. When I asked what changed to made her want to join in the action, she told me she was inspired by the shop’s new approach, which was “fun and different,” although she would still prefer to remain behind the scenes when possible.

Going forward, Wendi would like to use the shop’s social media platforms to introduce our customers not only to the spectacular team of Minkologists working in the shop, but also to our local vendors. Giving our artists, designers, and craftspeople the opportunity to share their stories and products in their own voices, allowing our customers to put faces to their already-beloved names—that’s one way social media provides a truly innovative platform for promoting small business activity in the twenty-first century.

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