We’re excited to introduce you to the always interesting and insightful Sherrelle “Bella Bling” Pinkett. We hope you’ll enjoy our conversation with Sherrelle “Bella Bling” below.
Hi Sherrelle “Bella Bling” , thanks for joining us today. Getting that first client is always an exciting milestone. Can you talk to us about how you got your first customer who wasn’t a friend, family, or acquaintance?
You know how people always say to do what you love, and the money will come.? Well, I did just that. I love bling and I just simply made bling items and wore them. I was my own walking billboard. Since the pieces I make are always statement pieces that were sure to start a conversation. I would wear my items and people would start asking questions. One person asked me to duplicate a shirt, she was invoiced and then more requests came. I honestly got tired of invoicing, so I created a beginner site and then it was showtime lol. I can’t really recall the specific transaction that I made my first dollar from, but I remember my first “money making” experience. It was after I made shirts for a friend for a MS walk. Another team saw our bling team shirts and they reached out and placed an order for another organization they were a part of. I was beyond excited. She purchased 50 shirts and from then, I knew this could be thee business that I would have for a while. I’ve been blinging since 2015 and even through the ups and downs of entrepreneurship, I have no intentions on ever stopping. Bella’s Bling Boutique is here to stay!
Great, appreciate you sharing that with us. Before we ask you to share more of your insights, can you take a moment to introduce yourself and how you got to where you are today to our readers
I am Sherrelle Pinkett, known to the world as “Bella Bling”. I am the BLING Visionary and owner of Bella’s Bling Boutique and Bella Bling University. We are a luxury bling lifestyle brand that specializes in custom bling apparel, accessories and novelties. We offer bling brand manufacturing as well as courses teaching people how to “bling” using the art of crystal strassing.
I have always loved BLING! One day a friend of mine told me about a bling shirt another friend was wearing. She also told me how she thought that I could do it but much better. She did all of the research. We started a T-shirt business together and I later branched off and created Bella’s Bling Boutique. I literally started in the kitchen of my apartment back in 2015. Everyone loved my products but they would have never known that the “sweatshop” was in my kitchen. 😆 I eventually started working on bling tees for several organizations as well as celebrities. Yes, I pressed Anthony Hamilton’s bling shirts in my kitchen. He never knew. LOL At the end of the day, my vision was clear and I knew what I wanted. Here we are, 7 years later and I’m still going strong. A lot of people aren’t aware that I’m the manufacturer behind a lot of bling brands that you see. Just know that Bella Bling is around. ;-)
Learning and unlearning are both critical parts of growth – can you share a story of a time when you had to unlearn a lesson?
When you first start your business, there is always doubt, nervousness, market saturation concerns, etc. The absolute best thing that I had to unlearn was thinking that your everyone should be your customer. Sometimes, support comes from who you least expect. My immediate framily supported. No expectations equates to no disappointments. I basically had to get out of my feelings ‘cause there’s no money there lol
Any stories or insights that might help us understand how you’ve built such a strong reputation?
PASSION and CONSISTENCY, for sure. Because I’m very passionate about what I do, that fueled my will to be consistent. I wanted to quit many times but had i gave up at any point, I would have to start all over each time, I realized that there was a need for people to understand their right to shine, both physically via my bling and mentally by being inspired enough to understand their self worth. I’m a firm believer that if you’re inconsistent, you’re non-existent. When I walk out of my door, I’m always representing my brand. Everybody knows that “Bella Bling” is not just something I do, it’s who I am and people can relate.
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Bella’s Bling Boutique