The name certainly rings true.
Inside Little Bit of Everything, people can browse between patio furniture, infant’s cribs, coffee tables and bicycles. Mini-refrigerators and microwaves line the wall. Baby toys, skillets, home decor and turntables are arranged neatly on shelves and racks.
For owner Rebecca Boyko, the shoppers’ smorgasbord seemed unimaginable just a few years ago. When she was caught in the depths of substance abuse, and facing prison, she never imagined she would have a business of her own.
“After being confined behind gates, and then being on the outside, I feel very accomplished after being an addict for 28 years,” she said. “I hadn’t felt hope since I was 15.”
After reaching her lowest point, Boyko has turned her life around. Not only has she been sober for four years, but she opened her own New Whiteland-based business in February.
More importantly, she has is working as a counselor for those with substance use disorders. She wants to help others find their path to sobriety, if they are ready to leave drugs and alcohol behind.
“I love holding class, watching someone see the lightbulb go on in their eyes and they get it, that they can’t do it alone and they need help,” she said. “Or they finally come through and realize they’re not going to do this anymore, that they’re worth it. That means everything to me.”
Boyko imagined being trapped in addiction forever.
She had become addicted to painkillers as a 15-year-old after she was prescribed the medication following surgery. What followed was a 28-year spiral, leading to her arrest for dealing a controlled substance.
Standing in front of Judge Mark Loyd in Johnson County Circuit Court in 2018, she wept as she was sentenced to 10 years in prison.
“I was completely devastated. I begged him not to do it,” she said.
But the sentence was a turning point for Boyko. Inside Rockville Correctional Facility, she entered the recovery program, which had been arranged by Loyd as part of her sentence. She completed the program herself, then volunteered to be a mentor for others entering the recovery unit.
With the help of counselor Randy Stinson, who is also founder of Recovery Point Indiana, Boyko pursued her own training to be a counselor.
“He saw a passion in me about counseling. He told me when I got out, to contact him and he’d help me become a counselor,” she said.
After her release on May 23, 2019, Boyko followed that path. She took courses to earn her Addictions Consultant in Training certification, then her Medication Assisted Treatment Specialist requirement. Her next step is to earn her Certified Alcohol and Drug Addiction Consultant certification.
Becoming a counselor at Recovery Point Indiana has been the most fulfilling move of her life.
“That’s my life’s work, my passion,” she said.
While she was training to counsel others, Boyko searched for ways to support herself and her father, a Vietnam veteran with failing health.
She started earning money buying items through Bulldog Liquidators, an Indianapolis business that sells surplus, overstock and customer-returned products from name brand stores at a deep discount, and putting those on Facebook Marketplace.
The venture took off. Eventually, Boyko found a place to purchase pallets of all kinds goods and accumulated seven storage units full of merchandise.
“It got to be way too much. So, I decided to open a store,” she said.
Pondering what to do next, Boyko’s thoughts drifted back to her time in prison. During a period when she was housed at Madison Correctional Facility, she would always visit the commissary there.
“That made me want to open my own store. It was adorable,” she said.
Little Bit of Everything opened at 400 Tracy Road, Suite 7, in New Whiteland in February. Boyko sources the items that she sells from Circle City Wholesale, a company that sells liquidated items by the pallet. Because the business is constantly acquiring a wide variety of items, it keeps the inventory at Little Bit of Everything fresh and unique.
Many of the items come from stores such as Home Depot and Target.
“It’s all brand new. These places will get rid of their product because the box has a dent or something has been spilled on it. That seems wasteful to me, but I’ll take it,” Boyko said.
The store also started a text program, where customers that sign up get discounts on the items they buy. They also get coupons on their birthday, for example, she said.
Little Bit of Everything represents the turnaround Boyko has worked so hard to reach in her life. Though the business will ideally offer the Johnson County community a place to find good deals on a wide range of goods, she also hopes that people look at it an example that recovery from substance use disorder is possible.
“I hope that they know that there is hope if they’re in addiction right now, and that they can ask for help,” she said. “There is light at the end of that tunnel, if they want it. I’ll be glad to help anyone who needs it. But you have to want the help.”
AT A GLANCE
Little Bit of Everything
What: A new business offering home decor, furniture, baby items, pet items, tools, small appliances, area rugs, toys, pools, air conditioners and more.
Where: 400 Tracy Road, Suite 7, New Whiteland
Owner: Rebecca Boyko
Hours: 10 a.m.-7 p.m. Tuesday through Thursday; 1-7 p.m. Friday; 10 a.m.-5 p.m. Saturday; 11 a.m.-5 p.m. Sunday. Closed Monday
Information: littlebitofeverythingshop.com or LittleBitofEverything46184 on Facebook
