Shirley McClellan shared their story and experiences with us recently and you can find our conversation below.
Shirley, it’s always a pleasure to learn from you and your journey. Let’s start with a bit of a warmup: What is a normal day like for you right now?
A normal day for me is much different from the average person. I think I do more before 9 am then most people do all day.
I am up at 6am to get my mom ready for adult daycare . I am the caretaker for my 84 year mom besides being a business owner. I take care of some house chores after I get her on the daycare bus and then I get dressed and open my shop by 12:30pm. I check the humidor , stock new inventory on the shelves, clean the shop, sit the patio seating outside, do the register count, turn on the smoke eaters, then entertain customers til midnight when I close. 7 DAYS A WEEK! Sometimes I am lucky and friends and family help me out. Mostly, most days, its just me running my show!
Can you briefly introduce yourself and share what makes you or your brand unique?
I am a long time cigar lover and a professional entrepreneur. I earned a double BA degree in Business Administration and Management and I hold an MSED in Education as well as a MBA in Business Organizational Studies earned at The Johns Hopkins University.
I fell in love with smell of cigars sitting under my Pop Pop while reading him the newspaper and then later watching him and his friends enjoy cigars and socializing after a hard days work. My homage to him is owner a cigar lounge. I opened Fire and Smoke Cigar Parlor in October 2017. I am the first Black woman to own a cigar lounge in Baltimore County.
Fire and Smoke Cigar Parlor is a retail store and cigar lounge nestled in Towson Maryland on the edges of Baltimore City and Parkville. It is the “”Cheers”” of the county. A BYOB cigar gathering spot for the community where you quickly become family and everybody knows your name!
Amazing, so let’s take a moment to go back in time. What’s a moment that really shaped how you see the world?
The moment that really shaped how I see the world was in 1978: a fourth grade teacher told me that there was no way I could be a flight attendant, teacher, business owner, and soldier. She explained they all required different levels of education , experience, and degrees. The whole class laughed. I was humiliated and defeated. I went home and told my POP, my grandfather. He said, “Babygirl you can READ!” If you can read you can learn to do anything.” Just read about what you need to do to become everything you want to be and do it.
I did exactly that. I spent my life on a mission to accomplish everything I wanted. I did it. I earned every degree. I gained every experience. I became an award winning teacher being nominated for teacher of the year, I was a great flight attendant earning customer service awards. I joined the Army Reserves. Finally, I opened multiple businesses. My current business FIRE AND Smoke Cigar Parlor was voted the 2024-2025 shop of the year by the Baltimore Times Newspaper.
I am not sure if I should give credit to my teacher or my grandfather but that experience as a child made me believe that whatever I wanted to do in this world – I could.
What did suffering teach you that success never could?
Success could never teach me faith, resilience, and flexibility the way that suffering has.
I think our readers would appreciate hearing more about your values and what you think matters in life and career, etc. So our next question is along those lines. What’s a belief you used to hold tightly but now think was naive or wrong?
A belief that I used to hold tightly but now think I was completely naïve is ” People are inherently good and if you are good to people they will be good to you.” Boy, was I both naive and wrong. People will lie, cheat, and steal at whatever opportunity they can. Seldom do you run across really ‘good’ people in business. You cannot trust folks to be good, honest, or even trustworthy just because you are. This is how bad deals, hostile takeovers, theft, and loss business happens. Trusting folks whom you treated well to not betray you is naive. Protect yourself, your brand, and your business at all costs. There are way more wolves in sheep’s clothing than there are sheep.
Before we go, we’d love to hear your thoughts on some longer-run, legacy type questions. If you retired tomorrow, what would your customers miss most?
If I retired tomorrow my customers will miss everything!!!! I stopped typing, turned around to my customers and asked them this question!!! They said “”EVERYTHING””! They said my cigar selection – always having a gem or some great cigar that you cant find anywhere, my cigar of the day, and my cigar education but mostly they said they will miss the family – US together – one customer said my birthday party lol … (it is one of the best nights of the year).
Fire and Smoke Cigar Parlor is a staple in the community. According to my customers, they will miss the atmosphere that is only found at Fire and Smoke.
Contact Info:
- Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/fireandsmokecigar/?next=%2F
- Linkedin: https://www.linkedin.com/in/shirleymcclellan/
- Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/FireandSmokeCigarParlor/
- Yelp: https://biz.yelp.com/biz_info/NNrRSmcdCtdKCl0wtamDaQ
- Youtube: https://www.youtube.com/@fireandsmokecigarparlorshi6473
