We’re excited to introduce you to the always interesting and insightful Desiree Reyes. We hope you’ll enjoy our conversation with Desiree below.
Desiree , appreciate you joining us today. Alright, so you had your idea and then what happened? Can you walk us through the story of how you went from just an idea to executing on the idea
Certainly! For starters, like anyone out there I have many different styles and ways to express them. Since we last spoke I have found a new passion that has driven me to become a dual business owner! With that being said, today I’ll be sharing my endeavors that I’ve encountered not only with my boho-western boutique “My Bohemian Lover”, but also with my spiritual collection, “Awoken”.
First, it started with inspiration. Seeing another successful business not only catering to my type of style, but having fun with it as well. I wanted that! I began with research, and figuring out what I needed to do to actually call myself a business owner and the steps it took to make it official. I acquired a formal name with the city of Dallas, proceeded to obtain the proper licenses I would need and opened a new business bank account to use strictly for the purpose of sourcing and purchasing supplies. Once the paperwork and numbers were done, then came the exciting part! I started to search for inventory that would fill my online store and give customers the quality and type of items they loved!
In no time, I received my products and quickly realized how much more work I then had to do. Every single item needed to be photographed, listed, and properly set at a price that would make money, but be affordable enough to keep people coming back.
Finally, I was ready to launch my site! The thing I’ve learned time and time again with business, is that it really is all trial and error. Things take time, and it’s our failures that bring us back so much better! With that being said, I did not immediately start getting sales; and when I did, they were inconsistent. So there I was, surrounded by hundreds of dollars worth of inventory that wasn’t moving. I was stuck and needed and new game plan.
Then came the BOOM. I retook my photos to be better & bolder. I styled and staged items just as you would wear on yourself, or see in your home. I took my social media marketing much more seriously, and started gaining traction. Sales were coming in, and now the ball was rolling! These days, I know exactly who my audience is, I know what my professional boundaries are, and I try my best to keep things “light” and remember why I started this…for fun! My Bohemian Lover is still going strong and set to launch a Spring collection in March of 2023.
Awesome – so before we get into the rest of our questions, can you briefly introduce yourself to our readers.
I’m a West Texas native, turned Dallas resident. However, one thing you should know about me, is that I’ve always been an entrepreneur. I started very young sewing and crafting. I was constantly running “businesses” out of my childhood bedroom, and always knew the potential I had and what role I wanted to play in this world. Later in my life, the sewing aspect brought me a true love for fabrics & fashion; and the crafting part of it gave me the creativity to dream up things that others hadn’t seen before. By the time I got to middle school, I had sewn an entire newborn crib bedding set. In high school I began making my own clothes and taking orders to create homecoming mums for my peers. Ultimately I believe the thing that sets me apart is originality. When everyone is deciding to go right, me and my snakeskin knee high boots head to the left! As I’ve grown, I’ve realized how great it is to be yourself. There truly is no one else out there that is quite like YOU!
Can you tell us about a time you’ve had to pivot?
As I said before, going back to when I first launched & wasn’t immediately getting sales was pretty intimidating to say the least. I went weeks without a single order, some days I didn’t get any site visitors, and I was unsure if this was going to work in all honesty. I needed a backup plan, and I needed one quickly.
Thus began the pivot. I identified the need for spiritual items at a local shop, which took me back to my creative roots. My previous experience and knowledge of the divine industry led me to create handmade products for this audience. It was at this time, “Awoken” was born.
Awoken, is my second business that I am in ownership of. It allows me to express myself in a much different way than fashion does, and connects me with a completely different group of people than my boutique can. This business allows me to be as imaginative as I want. My creations include handmade gifts for the modern day spiritualist using sacred tools such as sage, raw stone crystals, and other positive bearing items. A few of the items in my collection are: crystal kits for the zodiacs, clear quartz hair combs, d.i.y. smudge stick kits, crystal suncatchers, and so much more!
Luckily, this “backup plan” and my original business have both worked out for me and continue to thrive!
Any insights you can share with us about how you built up your social media presence?
Building my audience on social media has not been easy! It’s something that I’m still working on, actually. These days, most platforms are so oversaturated and it’s extremely difficult for people to find you organically. Unless you go viral, of course.
I try my best to post at “peak hours”, and really engage with my followers. Connecting with other small businesses has been very helpful to me, as lots of them are willing to share the success and spread my business name.
My best social media advice would be to post often, use trending hashtags, and always remind your customers to give you a follow!
Contact Info:
- Website: Boho-Western Boutique: Etsy.com/shop/mybohemianlover Spiritual Collection: Etsy.com/shop/awokendallas
- Instagram: Boho-Western Boutique: @my_bohemian_lover Spiritual Collection: @awokendallas
- Youtube: youtube.com/@awokendallas