We’re excited to introduce you to the always interesting and insightful Kim Robertson. We hope you’ll enjoy our conversation with Kim below.

Kim, looking forward to hearing all of your stories today. We’d love to have you retell us the story behind how you came up with the idea for your business, I think our audience would really enjoy hearing the backstory.

The idea of Always Make A Statement came to me about two years before I actually started the brand. I was very hesitant because at the time, the plan I had in my head wasn’t fully flushed out. My dad always spoke about entrepreneurship to us, he tried to push us towards it but it wasn’t until almost three years after he passed that I actually took the leap. When I initially decided I wanted to start AMAS, it was a way to encourage my niece who was 16 years old and a student in a fashion design program to come out of her shell. I seen how talented she was but knowing she didn’t see herself that way led me. I’d like to add, it took some time before I took a look in the mirror, and realized the brand was created for me too!

As always, we appreciate you sharing your insights and we’ve got a few more questions for you, but before we get to all of that can you take a minute to introduce yourself and give our readers some of your back background and context?

I’m a millennial mom of two amazing kids that loves fashion and helping others. I started Always Make A Statement in February 2020 with the mission to empower individuals to make a statement of self-confidence, self-expression, and positivity through our products. Our products include custom + curated apparel, accessories, and decòr.

It’s funny, up until late last year when having quality time with my childhood best friend, I didn’t realize I’ve always had my own expressive style and actually started “designing” as a kid, around 6 or 7 years old. She said Kim, “I’m so proud of you, I remember when you use to draw these detailed dresses and when you first got the Barbie computer design program.” I had forgotten all about it in context of starting my brand and the products we’ve created. It was a great reminder and full circle moment for me. To think, fashion and design was one of my first passions before life took me on a learning journey!

It is our hope that our statement makers feel and become confident, that they are excited to express themselves freely and strive for balance in their lives. These are our brand values, everything we create or curate embodies this mission.

Can you tell us about a time you’ve had to pivot?

Starting a business less than a month before the start of the global pandemic was challenging. All of the plans we initially had for events and even some products had to be put on hold and several completely canceled. Once I realized how serious the pandemic was and that it wasn’t just a two week thing, I knew we had to pivot. One of the first ways we pivoted our business was to niche down to what people actually needed during this time. My niece and I started making face masks as everyone including kids needed to wear a mask to go out in public. As you can imagine, creating face masks wasn’t apart of our business plans but turned out to be a great decision. We enjoyed finding different fabrics to make wearing the masks a fashion statement. Our customers loved the variety of styles we had and knowing the mask was helping them be protected.

We’d love to hear your thoughts about selling platforms like Amazon/Etsy vs selling on your own site.

Our products can be purchased online directly from our website www.alwaysmakeastatement.com and through our social media shops via Instagram (always_make_a_statement_llc) & Facebook (Always Make A Statement) . We also have select products on www.thesistahstop.com. The Sistah Shop is the amazon for minority women owned brands.

One big factor in deciding whether to have our own website versus going through a third party site like Etsy are fees. Selling on most third party sites include commission fees as well as processing fees. Although housing a website also comes with a cost, in my opinion it is still best to have your own platform. With our website, we can easily market, run campaigns, analyze financial performance and reports which are limited or not available through a third part site.

One great thing about using a third party in addition to our own site is tapping into their audience. Our products can be viewed and purchased from customers who are not yet familiar with our brand. The hope is once, the purchase is made through the third-party, the customer will love their product and shop directly with us on our website going forward.

Contact Info:

• Website: www.alwaysmakeastatement.com
• Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/always_make_a_statement_llc/
• Facebook: https://m.facebook.com/alwaysmakeastatement/