We recently connected with Pareesha Gudipaty and have shared our conversation below.

Alright, Pareesha thanks for taking the time to share your stories and insights with us today. How did you scale up? What were the strategies, tactics, meaningful moments, twists/turns, obstacles, mistakes along the way? The world needs to hear more realistic, actionable stories about this critical part of the business building journey. Tell us your scaling up story – bring us along so we can understand what it was like making the decisions you had, implementing the strategies/tactics etc.

When I first started the business I had little success with online sales. Our business started picking up when I started doing farmers markets every weekend for a year and a half. We had repeat customers, our prices were unbeatable and our customer service was phenomenal. I jumped to open a brick and mortar with only one year of business experience and although I wouldn’t change a thing about that experience, I do wish I would have waited. I was not ready financially and the only way I was able to sustain that location was by doing markets every weekend on top of working at the shop. It came to a point that the business could not sustain itself and I made the decision to close up shop. I did feel like a failure as this was my last resort to making something out of myself after numerous failed attempts to get into medical school and finding a job after completing my Master’s degree. Ive never been the one to give up easily on my goals so after taking some time off I decided to give my business one more chance. I rebranded and shifted my focus on what I loved most, jewelry and jewelry making. After doing markets for 3-4 months we heard via our friends about an opportunity at a food hall named Railway Heights Market. After much consideration we decided to rent a space at this newly developed concept in the Houston Heights area. After years of failure, disappointments, hard work and resilience, something finally worked out. Railway heights Market became the most talked about and trending place in Houston, Tx. After four months we received the opportunity to open our shop inside Post Houston, a historic building in downtown Houston turned into a hub for food, shopping, workspace and recreation. Today I am blessed to be running two locations and an online sales platform. However, with scaling up a business comes lots of responsibilities such as staffing the shops, purchasing, curating, making products, organizing inventory etc. Every day comes with new challenges but I wouldn’t trade it for anything else. A key lesson I learned through my journey is that everything takes time, so be patient. Find your niche and give it a shot because like everything in life you have to work hard to see fruitful returns. For me the grind never stops, this is just the beginning.

Awesome – so before we get into the rest of our questions, can you briefly introduce yourself to our readers.

My name is Pareesha Gudipaty and I am the owner and operated of The Pink Swan Shop. I was born in Gujarat, India and raised in Abu-Dhabi, UAE till the age of 13 when I migrated to the United States. I spent majority of my teenage and adulthood years residing in Sugar Land, TX. During this time I completed my Bachelors degree in Biology and Psychology from Houston Baptist University and also went on to complete a Master’s Degree in Biomedical Science from Midwestern University in Downers Grove Illinois. I started Pink Swan in 2017 as an online clothing boutique after I was unable to get admitted into medical school and find a job in my career field. Through out the years Pink Swan has been an outlet where customers can shop trendy clothing pieces, statement earrings, handmade bags and jewelry. Our company strives to provide exceptional customer service and not just sell products but provide styling tips when necessary. What sets us apart is that I constantly listen to the feedback of my customers and evolve our collections based on their needs and liking.

Any stories or insights that might help us understand how you’ve built such a strong reputation?

Customer service! When you walk into Pink Swan we want you to feel at home. My team and I work hard to make sure every customer is greeted with a smile when they walk into our shop. We are there to provide suggestions, feedback and educate them about the quality of our products.I know they could have gone to target or any big corporate brands to shop, but they decided to shop with a small business. And that means a lot. I also think what draws customers to our brand is our curated collection of pieces. We have a little bit for everyone at the shop.

Can you tell us about what’s worked well for you in terms of growing your clientele?

In my case, pop up markets around my town is where I got to know and build lot of my clientele. Markets are a great way to expose your brand to hundreds of people. We still to this day do markets whenever we can.

Contact Info:

• Website: www.thepinkswanshop.com
• Instagram: www.instagram.com/thepinkswanshop
• Facebook: www.facebook.com/thepinkswanshop

Image Credits
The Pink Swan Shop John Luke Nolen