Alright – so today we’ve got the honor of introducing you to Jackie Marchant. We think you’ll enjoy our conversation, we’ve shared it below.
Jackie, thanks for joining us, excited to have you contributing your stories and insights. What was the most important lesson/experience you had in a job that has helped you as a business owner?
I was honored to work as a buyer at a fast paced big box retailer for 5 years. This job involved blood, sweat, and tears; but as we all know, hard work makes for good work. My team and I would meet with well known designers from Vera Wang and Steve Madden to create private label brands. I learned so many lessons in this position, one in particular stands out, and has enabled me to create a successful collection for my boutique.
You are not buying only for yourself.
One of the things that makes the world beautiful is our diversity. People have different tastes, different interests and different wants when it comes to their sense of style and fashion. Think outside of the box, past yourself and your style. Who do I want to walk into my store? Who do I want my target customer to be? Certainly not one type of person. We have created Totally Rad Boutique with just the right amount of diversity to form a collection that many different kinds of women feel comfortable shopping, and come back again and again.
Jackie, before we move on to more of these sorts of questions, can you take some time to bring our readers up to speed on you and what you do?
Hi everyone, my name is Jackie Marchant. I’m a wife, mother of 4, business owner and entrepreneur from the heart of Florence Mississippi. Sometimes in life you just have to go for it. When I graduated college in 2004 with an apparel design degree, I had a dream of owning my own boutique. We all know what happens next. Wedding. Corporate Jobs. Babies. Life. After 15 years in the corporate retail industry I took the leap, and opened my own boutique.
Being a child of the 80’s and 90’s I needed a stellar name that gives people all the feels and wouldn’t be forgotten. That’s when Totally Rad Boutique entered the world. We started off as an online only business for a year and a half, with a complete website and shipped all over the world. Totally Rad Boutique has now evolved into a brick and mortar store while continuing to service all of our online customers.
Shopping with us is more than just shopping, it’s an experience. With vintage 80’s and 90’s music videos playing in the store, our corky sandwich board message outside, and our constantly changing assortment; it’s the place to be. We carry top quality brands of apparel, accessories, gifts, and so much more!
Totally Rad believes that all women should feel beautiful. Thank you for trusting us to give you the designs, silhouettes and fabrications that will make you feel like the gorgeous confident woman that you are. If you’re new, welcome to the Rad Family.
Any insights you can share with us about how you built up your social media presence?
How to build a social media presence. This is a hard one. One I don’t believe anyone will ever stop learning and growing their knowledge about.
I have maximized my social media growth in 3 ways.
1. Having contests/giveaways within the social media groups. To be entered the requirements include adding friends (legit potential customers) to the group as well as sharing the contest post.
2. Word of mouth. People, especially women, love to share things they love. The latte she got at the local coffee shop, to the shirt she’s wearing. When you give people a good experience, they share it…and don’t be afraid to ask people to share your social media groups.
3. At our store we make seasonal postcards that we put in people’s bags at checkout. It lists our website, as well as all our social media info.
Any advice for growing your clientele? What’s been most effective for you?
The most effective strategy for growing our clientele is partnering with other local small businesses and having an event. By doing this it creates a buzz and brings people in our store that haven’t shopped with us before. We also bring in interesting pop of vendors that also bring in new customers. These pop up vendors could be piercings, artwork, a bakery, etc.
Contact Info:
- Website: https://totallyradboutique.com
- Instagram: totally_rad_boutique
- Facebook: TotallyRadBoutique
