Boutique Chat

Creative Marketing Strategies and Breaking Into Wholesale with Marla Skipper, SVM Boutique and Nash Grey Wholesale Jun 20, 2023

Show notes

My guest this week is someone I admire as a businesswoman and big thinker, who not only continues to grow her boutique business in Nashville but has also launched her own wholesale brand.

Marla Skipper is the founder and owner of SVM Boutique and Nash Grey Wholesale, and today she's joining me on the podcast to share all of the lessons she's learned throughout the last decade.

We talk strategies for attracting and retaining both local customers and tourists, brand events and pop-ups, digital marketing, choosing the right location for your store and negotiating leases.

We also discuss how Marla's wholesale line Nash Grey came to be. When it comes to launching a wholesale brand, she advocates starting small, building strong relationships with your manufacturers and relying on customer feedback.

I've gotten to know Marla as a member of the Mastermind program at The Boutique Hub and, having been able to watch her business grow and evolve, I'm so excited to see SVM Boutique celebrate its 10th anniversary this year!

Resources:

SVM Boutique: Website | Facebook | Instagram | Pinterest | TikTok

Nash Grey Wholesale: Hubventory | Facebook | Instagram | Pinterest

Ashley Alderson: Instagram

Hubventory Home and Gift Week

Current Trends in Home & Gift with Angela Schmook, Road Runners LLC Jun 13, 2023

Show notes

If you've been around for a while, you no doubt remember when the separation between apparel boutiques and home and gift boutiques was much wider than it is now. Since the pandemic, we have been on a fast track to see a lot more crossover between these two boutique segments. In this episode, I'm excited to dive into this growing trend with Angela Schmook, VP of Sales and Marketing at Road Runners LLC, a company that supports numerous wholesale brands in every category from home decor to jewelry collections and gifts of all types.

Listen in as we delve into what apparel and home and gift boutiques can learn from each other, the common misconceptions between home and gift and apparel, and the different business practices that work for each. Angela also shares her advice for retailers, current industry trends, and her insights on where she sees the overall industry heading.

We also talk about the upcoming home and gift show at Dallas Market Center, where you can find Angela next week!

Learn More About the Boutique Hub Here: https://theboutiquehub.com/join/boutique/

Resources:

Angela Schmook: Website

The Boutique Hub: Facebook | Instagram | Website

Ashley Alderson: Instagram

Summer School

Hubventory Home and Gift Week

Lessons Learned In The First Year of Business with Pam Colon Jun 06, 2023

Show notes

Calling all brand new business owners! This week's episode is just for you. Pam Colon is the owner and founder of Muted Closet, and we're diving into the lessons she has learned being in the thick of new business ownership in just the first year.

Get comfortable and listen in as we dive deep into what it has been like for Pam starting her business, how she has grown it organically through word of mouth and popup events, and how she leveraged collaborations with other brands. We also talk about how she balances being a full-time teacher with running her boutique and how she is planning to celebrate her very first year in business in only a few short weeks.

Learn More About the Boutique Hub Here: https://theboutiquehub.com/join/boutique/

Resources:

Pam Colon: Website | Instagram | Facebook

The Pursuit of Happiness: Prioritizing Mental Well-being in Business and Life with Sara Durcholz May 30, 2023

Show notes

Are you racing towards the 'next big thing' or finding genuine joy in your journey? Sara Durcholz is the founder and visionary behind JO+CO, and she has an amazing story, from starting her business to expanding to multiple storefronts—and realizing the need for a completely different direction in her life and making the leap to find true fulfillment.

Get comfortable and listen in as Sara shares candidly about her initial venture into the boutique business, diving into the ups and downs of her early days as an entrepreneur. You'll hear why she chose the path of franchising her business, how she learned to balance her ambition with personal fulfillment, the mistakes she made along the way, and how she made the shift to make herself truly happy.

Learn More About the Boutique Hub Here: https://theboutiquehub.com/join/boutique/

Resources:

Bossish Podcast with Sara Durcholz

The Boutique Hub: Facebook | Instagram | Website

Ashley Alderson: Instagram

The Boutique Hub in Atlanta

Building Connections and Giving Back Through Your Business with Sydney Petersen, Bizzy's Boutique and Bizzy Izzy's May 23, 2023

Show notes

This is such a special episode with such a special person — Sydney Petersen, founder of Bizzy's Boutique, Bizzy Izzy's Wholesale and the Love Izzy Project.

Sydney truly inspires me, not only as a business owner but also as someone who spreads joy and hope to others. Get ready to have your heart strings pulled (especially all you mommas)!

Sydney named her business after her daughter Isabelle (Izzy) who was born with a rare genetic disorder and, as a result, had a prolonged stay in the NICU. Fortunately from Sydney's traumatic experience came a beautiful baby girl, a new community of NICU moms and an inspired business idea.

It all started with the Love Izzy Project. Sydney began designing swaddle blankets as a way to give back to other NICU moms and their babies. For every Love Izzy swaddle blanket sold, a swaddle is donated to the Blank Children's NICU.

Her Bizzy-ness grew from there, and now Sydney specializes in all things children's as a boutique owner and the designer of the Bizzy Izzy's kids line. We talk retail vs. wholesale, social strategy, the value of Facebook Groups, customer avatars, ambassador programs, and photography. But even more importantly, we discuss finding a greater purpose in business, serving others, and building authentic connections and community.

Grab the tissues along with your notebook this week — hopefully you'll learn a lot and be inspired!

Resources:

Bizzy's Boutique: Facebook | Instagram | TikTok | Website | Love Izzy Project

The Boutique Hub: Facebook | Instagram | Website

Ashley Alderson: Instagram

Summer School

Wellington Design Co. on Hubventory

Process, Delegation and The EOS Model with Valerie and Ryan Becker, Wellington Design Co. May 16, 2023

Show notes

It's Kids Week on Hubventory.com! And to celebrate, today I'm talking Children's with Valerie and Ryan Becker, owners and founders of Wellington Design Co., who recently made the transition from retail to wholesale launching a kids clothing line of Valerie's original designs.

It all started with wanting to incorporate her own designs into her online children's boutique. But Valerie's clothing sold so well in her store and on Facebook that in 2020 she went all in on Wellington. Her husband Ryan got on board to help run the wholesale business, and the brand has been growing strong ever since!

I talk to Valerie and Ryan about what it takes to successfully launch a clothing line, the struggles and benefits of working with your spouse, balancing professional and personal goals, metrics, evaluation and putting the right processes in place for consistency and growth.

The Beckers are big on processes, planning and delegation — which is why EOS (Entrepreneurial Operating System) has been vital to their new business. It's a model we at The Hub Team use too, and I'm telling you, it WORKS. EOS helps you set, measure and ultimately acheive short- and long-term goals. So, take notes!

And be sure to check out Wellington Design Co. on Huventory for special offers this week!

Resources:

EOS Implementor

Traction: Get A Grip on Your Business by Gino Wickman (a guide to EOS)

The Boutique Hub: Facebook | Instagram

Ashley Alderson: Instagram

Ask Ashley Anything! Listener Questions May 09, 2023

Show notes

This week I answer all of your burning questions!

You submitted questions, and I do my best to address them all. This episode is overflowing with information, tips and tricks, so be sure to take notes!

I talk about how to handle damaged product and establishing your return policy, implementing creative promotions, how to break into wholesale, growing your business beyond your hometown, rebuilding your foundation, looking at competitors as allies and so much more. Photography, inventory planning, press coverage, insurance — I cover it all in this installment of Ask Ashley Anything!

Have more questions for me? Hopefully I have answers! Reach out to The Boutique Hub team or to me personally on social media. I would love to hear from you.

To close out the show, I also share exciting news about Boutique Hub Black, a program to help retailers crush their sales goals – especially if they lack time, aren't fully staffed or are uncertain about their growth strategy. As a Boutique Hub Black member, you'll gain access to the top boutique growth platform and find out how the best boutiques in the country build rock solid businesses. Learn more about Boutique Hub Black and enroll HERE.

Learn More About the Boutique Hub Here: https://theboutiquehub.com/join/boutique/

Resources:

The Boutique Hub: Facebook | Instagram | Website

Ashley Alderson: Instagram

Themes and Takeaways from our Mastermind in Nashville with Ashley Alderson May 02, 2023

Show notes

I hope you have a notebook ready for this episode. I have so much information to share with you this week, as well as some dates to mark on your calendars!

After a crazy busy week, I am home from Nashville Market and want to share what I took away from the trip. While in Nashville, The Boutique Hub team hosted our biannual event for our Mastermind members. For those of you who aren't familiar, Mastermind is a program for our highest earning and experienced boutique owners, all of whom have been in the game a while, and twice a year they come together with our team to roundtable and learn from each other's experiences. Man did we learn a lot! We talked successes, struggles, solutions, we laughed, we cried … we covered it all.

I hope these themes resonate with you and would love to hear your feedback. Drop a note in the comments, reach out to The Boutique Hub team on social media or to me personally on Instagram. We want to hear from you!

Coming up next week, a special Ask Ashley episode! If you have questions, I want to answer them. Submit your questions to The Boutique Hub on social media this week, and you may get a callout in the next show.

Also don't miss your chance to sign up for Summer School! We are hosting our virtual summer June 5-7 and we are so excited about the curriculum. We will be talking strategically about beating the summer slowdown, digging deep into IA and why are some boutiques struggling while others are accelerating. We will be covering all of the big issues, concerns, trends, strategies and best practices for growing your business. See the show notes for the link to enroll!

Learn More About the Boutique Hub Here: https://theboutiquehub.com/join/boutique/

Resources:

The Boutique Hub: Facebook | Instagram | Website

Ashley Alderson: Instagram