We recently connected with Arianna Baker and have shared our conversation below.

Alright, Arianna thanks for taking the time to share your stories and insights with us today. How did you come up with the idea for your business?

My first love and business idea was (Gloss Babes). Gloss Babes is a business based out of Grand Rapids Michigan, by a mother Arianna Baker setting her daughters up for success. Co owners Avah & Arabella, started at the ages of two & five year old entrepreneurs. We started off just selling vegan homemade kid luxury lip gloss & added clothes & accessories to our inventory. Our goal is to offer fashionable products to all of our young customers at affordable prices.

My second business is Arianna Baker Collection. A all woman clothing store with my face behind everything. My mission was to make every woman of any and every shape from petite to plus size feel beautifully comfortable in their skin & inspire and encourage others, especially single women with children, to reach for their dreams and never give up! I offer clothing from small to 5X, and no matter what body type purchases my clothing, they’ll rock it no matter smaller built or curvier & that’s what I wanted to accomplish behind my clothing. I have looks from date night, vacation vibe, out on the town, and even wedding apparel.

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

I am a single mother of 3! I am inspired by other women. I often say that I love Girl Bosses, so I am the biggest supporter of women-owned businesses or initiatives and I love learning from other women about life, work, and the balance of the two. Women are powerful beings, and the world is just more fun when women are uplifting each other. This is also incorporated in Arianna Baker Collection. My daughter are the face of my children’s boutique and I strive to teach them the ropes of independence and to follow in my footsteps in hopes they run the store on their own someday. I learned that being a business owner isn’t easy and you have to keep on going to reach your goals, some days are harder than others, trying to maintain and grow and keeping the girls focused on what I know they will be very proud of as they grow into young adults as I am of myself.

Any thoughts, advice, or strategies you can share for fostering brand loyalty?

Listen to your customers! I have been able to really connect with my customers through live sales, and I also keep communication very open between us. I tell them to reach out to me if they have any constructive criticism or ideas. You would be so surprised at the ideas they come up with to help your business grow!

As a specific example, I’m able to connect with customers before they even purchase by seeing what they have in their cart by using the Shopify website platform, also feedback from my customers even after they purchase or even potential customers’ feedback.

Most of all, I would say Be yourself! That is one thing that no one can duplicate or take from you. I make sure to be transparent with our customers and keep them in the loop weekly with new items or answering questions! I want to start doing Monday night chats and tell them updates and info that I would want to know. I love having that close connection with my customers. They always know that I am going to be 100% real with them.

Can you share a story from your journey that illustrates your resilience?

No one can prepare you for the number of tears you will shed during the entire entrepreneurial process. Starting any business is hard, but I’ll venture to say that retail is, by far, the hardest. If I had to give anyone advice, I would give the following: Research and ask as many questions as you can. Even when you ask one thousand questions, there are still two thousand more that you had no idea about.

Have fun and really love what you are doing because when you do, then the bad days are not so bad after all, and the good days will be off of the scale!

Know that you will make some bad decisions and maybe even some bad investments, but the lesson you learn far outweighs the loss you take. Enjoy the experience!

Every morning before I begin my day, I say: ‘Today I begin with a grateful heart.’ It centers me and reminds me to be grateful for today and for another opportunity to be better than I was yesterday.

Contact Info:

• Website: ariannabaker.com / glossbabess.com
• Instagram: @iamariannabaker
• Facebook: Arianna Baker