Kasey Hoag is the owner of Six Cypress Boutique in downtown Valparaiso. She hasn’t always held that title, however, because she used to work for Ford Motor Company. Moving to the Region and then spending six months as a stay-at-home mother propelled her to chase something new.
Hoag grew up in the Midwest. She hails from the small town of Freeland, Michigan, where she spent her childhood years and graduated from high school. Remaining in the state following graduation, she attained her bachelor’s in business administration at Saginaw Valley State University. She then went on to work her dream job in corporate America, living for some time in the city of Chicago.
Hoag’s former position at Ford required her to travel a lot, straining her and her family. She also worked in a male-dominated field, and she realized she wanted something geared toward women in a more apparent way. Owning her own operation was never the initial goal.
“I had always had the goal of working for a company that was going to pay for me to travel, pay for my meals, and get me all around the world,” she said. “I had that, but once I had kids, my goals changed. I was drawn to the world I’m now in because I want to make everybody feel like their best selves.”
The births of her children altered Hoag’s life. She knew from their beginnings that she wanted to be present. She sought to be home and available so that going to their events and the like wouldn’t become an ordeal.
Instead of working in the automotive industry, Hoag switched over to helping people remain fashionable and pleased with their appearances. There’s so much meaning in all of it for her, too, even behind the name of the boutique itself. She once lived on a street called Cypress Meadows Drive, which is where a third of the title comes from. The leading part of the fraction is significant because six make up her family—herself, her husband, and her four daughters. Each of her kids even used to play dress-up together and pretend they were actually out shopping at a place called Six Cypress Boutique.
Hoag started simply. She filed for her LLC to start an online store in 2016. Her first brick-and-mortar shop was in Batavia, Illinois. She closed it a year and a half ago and has since been operating out of Valpo alone. March 17, 2025, will mark four years she’s operated her downtown location.
Hoag’s in the business of making others feel good. At work, she refers to her customers as friends, fostering sturdy relationships with them in order to unite the overall community and uplift those who may have been down.
“When anyone walks out of the store with a smile on their face or tells us that they just had the best experience, that fills my bucket,” she said. “I think it’s really important to have these areas where you can go as yourself or with the family and experience the community in whatever you do.”
Big-box stores make up most of Hoag’s competition, but she isn’t daunted by them. She offers her friends affordable options, ones which they can walk away celebrating. It shouldn’t cost someone else any amount too great to look good and feel good.
“I’d rather you be able to come in and buy an outfit from me and be like, ‘Holy cow, I have a whole outfit,’ then be able to come back again instead of never returning because you couldn’t afford to shop with me,” Hoag said. “I want to make the boutique that kind of place where you feel comfortable all around, whether it be with your wallet or in your body.”
The Hoags love the NFL. They’re huge fans of football and appreciate anything having to do with women’s basketball. They’ll make Sundays their days of fun, no matter what that looks like. Summertimes are spent by the pool, and sports-related happenings are attended year-round.
As for herself, Hoag remains an adventurer, and she’s helped to establish her daughters’ qualities, each being born in a different state. She has 15 tattoos, all of them bearing their own significance.
Valparaiso’s friendliness gives Hoag all the reason to call her patrons what she does. She sees herself as one with the others in the area running their own businesses, and they all contribute to bettering the city. Because of their efforts, they make this corner of Indiana perhaps the most exciting one statewide.
“Everybody is so friendly. All of us business owners are on the same page here, and so we get to see the growth and potential of Valparaiso all the time, and want to be a part of it,” she said.