1. Tell us about yourself – What is your educational and professional background (schools, degrees, jobs that led you to your current endeavor, location)
I am an Independent Fashion Designer. I own and operate a small studio/boutique called FROCK in a rural (but progressive) Connecticut town. I have a business partner in the shop. We both have our own clothing lines but share the responsibilities of maintaining the retail space. We make everything on site and have a beautiful, little showroom. I received a Bachelors of Fine Art from The Art Institute of Boston in 1996. I also studied painting in Italy. I’ve worked numerous retail, graphic design, web design jobs over the years. They’ve all lent themselves to my current career.
2. How did you first get started in your industry? What are you most passionate about in your line of work? My mother has been a Tailor/Seamstress my whole life and I have always had an interest in Fashion, so, with sewing in my blood, I decided to finally combine my art and design background with clothing construction. And it turns out that my favorite part of my job is the actual sewing. It’s incredibly meditative.
3. What was your deciding moment, when you decided to open your own business?
While sharing a studio with a fellow clothing designer (who now happens to be my business partner), we began to dream up exactly what a business might look like for the two of us. We spent a good part of a year, quietly and casually discussing what we would do and most importantly what we would NOT do – based on lessons from past mistakes made by ourselves and other employers, friends, etc. We went so far as to set a standard for what elements we’d require from a retail space and miraculously, a space presented itself. We designed our own logo, website, blog, business cards (thanks to my experience in graphic and web design). We moved in, dragged some antiques in from our homes, spent about $100 on paint and opened a month later.
4. Pros of business ownership
Making my own hours. We open from 12-5 Wednesday through Saturday with no apologies. I’ve learned that if you have a good, unique product, people will wait for it.
5. Cons of business ownership
Unpredictability…Not knowing how sales will be on a given day, week, month. Having to pay for my own health care.
6. Any mentors that helped you get started/stay on the right track or create your vision?
My partner had worked in some big fashion houses back in the 80’s and learned quite a bit from her experiences there. She has shared a lot of that with me. Also, we are amongst a group of handmade galleries, farm-to-table restaurants and strong local community. Without these factors, a shop like ours might be tough to pull off.
7. Is your current company still representative of your original vision?
Absolutely. And we’ve been fine-tuning all the while. Each time an unfortunate situation occurs (which, incidentally, is not often), we lay it out on the table. And we discuss, openly, how we might handle it differently next time. We also stay firm on our boundaries: ex; We don’t have a phone in the shop. We only accept email communication from clients. We don’t alter or repair any clothing that we did not design. We don’t do custom orders but we customize our own pieces to fit the client. It can be uncomfortable saying, “No.” to people at times but we find if we stay in the original scope, all is well.
8. Is there anything in the beginning stages of your business that, in hindsight, you would have done differently?
We were anxious to carry other small lines like; natural perfumes and leather goods. We had some success in selling other people’s products but not worth the time it took to manage the paperwork. We realized that given that our production studio is adjacent to the selling space, customers were only interested in purchasing pieces that were created in the shop.
9. What have you done to get new clients and retain existing clients?
Facebook, Constant Contact Emails, Blog
10. Any tips you have for budding entrepreneurs?
Keep it as simple as possible. Keep overhead low. Set boundaries. Choose a partner (or employee) who you like, share common goals with and can be open with but are not necessarily friends with.
