We caught up with the brilliant and insightful Stephanie Shaw a few weeks ago and have shared our conversation below.

Stephanie, looking forward to hearing all of your stories today. What’s something you believe that most people in your industry (or in general) disagree with?

I think most people in my industry believe that there’s a specific recipe for success and that couldn’t be further than the truth because the truth is, everyone’s experience with the growth of their brand is a little different. there are certainly best practice strategies to implement but depending on what your access to resources looks like, that can certainly determine your path. I personally don’t come from a family with money, there were no investors, and even though Kim K says that all we need to do is “get off our asses and work” that isn’t what creates success necessarily, but having resources provides one hell of a leg up when starting a new business and that’s not something that is a part of everyone’s success story. People without a leg up have to create their own opportunities and carve their own paths.

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

Wow! this is a really in depth series of questions but here goes…

I’ve always been an artist and I’ve always been interested in creating things that resonate with people on a deeper level. Whether it was customizing friends clothes, hand painting shoes, then getting into drawing meaningful portraits, or being commissioned to create paintings or murals, I have always applied my creative energy to everything I do. I was an educator in title one schools for almost 10 yrs and I spent the last 6 yrs (with a 3yr gap where I began working at a start up marketing agency) teaching art to elementary students and mentoring high school aged art students. Right before the pandemic I decided to get back into teaching while I reconfigured my goals. I had almost one solid school year back in edu enjoying the work and building relationships with staff and students and falling back in love with my role as an art teacher and theeeeen pandemic hit and we went on a permanent spring break. Any and all projects I’d been working on, all of my freelance clients, and any personal projects went on hold because every move I wanted to make was contingent upon others who were also suddenly faced with the unknown. While I was trying to figure out how to navigate through teaching online during a pandemic, I also found myself helping my 9yr old niece with her school work and we spent a LOT of time together that has proven to be the best time I’ve ever spent with anyone period. We explored Dallas in weird little ways like rollerblading through fair park and making art and crafts in the kitchen of my tiny apartment. We cycled through art mediums until one day my niece expressed interest in picking photography and in an effort to support and embrace a teachable moment I said “hey I know how you can buy a camera! Sell these cute hairclips we made!” so i put them in my stories on IG and friends bought them all and she got to buy her camera! The requests kept coming in so I kept making them and within a few weeks I decided to create an IG profile specifically for these clips to separate it from my personal account and as the demand started to grow I put on my marketing hats and took myself through the same branding exercises I’d previously coached clients through and I gave it a pulse. My friends were all excited about what I was doing and wanted to support so we began collaborating on test shoots to keep our artistic sanity (safely of course as one of my friends found an interesting niche AND EXCELLED in performing remote shoots via iphone) and I proudly displayed our collective works that incorporated my products. Within 6months we were approached by a trend analyst from Urban Outfitters and during that time I’d began working with Alex Currington to develop my website and help define a voice and brand strategy. Since then, brennan has learned how to create her own animations and is learning photoshop and Alex has become an integral part of our Flair Goods family and she is the other half of my brain that helps connect and complete the thoughts and ideas in my mind while adding her own unique perspective and contributing greatly to our continued development. We can be shopped in person at two physical locations at Quatro y 20 and at Artenym (formerly known by) Sept Studios by Lela Orr and we can be found on wholesale site Bulletin. Alex and I are currently focused on a controlled growth plan and another big focus is on the continued development of our flagship products, brand development, and new collections. We’re a two woman show with full time jobs and our own freelance clients and I’m just super proud of how far we’ve come despite challenges that many others can identify with like our mental health, being stretched thin, and just navigating through life in general. We have lots on our plates but we’re making it happen at our own pace.

Let’s talk about resilience next – do you have a story you can share with us?

I struggle with my mental health. I have perfectionistic tendencies. I have seasonal depression. I use work to distract myself from having to be alone with my thoughts because of past traumas and my partner in crime deals with much of the same in addition to being a recovering addict. We’re two flawed people fortunate enough to have skill and talent that choose to get up every day and keep pushing each other forward and holding each other accountable. We cheer each other on, celebrate our wins no matter the size, and we just try to give our best to each other because what we’re building goes beyond the products. Flair Goods has become a beautiful and diverse community of people that lift each other up and accept each other no matter how flawed others may perceive us to be. We make products that make people feel good and are reflective of the fragility of all of our states of being. Our goal is to eventually be in a financial position that allows us to give back to organizations that provide mental health supports and services to people that don’t ordinarily have those opportunities. May 1st 2022 we will be taking our first steps toward this goal by participating in a giveaway with a few other indie brands for mental health awareness month.

How did you build your audience on social media?

We have amazing friends irl and web based that cheer us on and shout us out! We don’t buy likes or followers so that gives us an opportunity that a lot of others on social media overlook and that’s a chance to truly get to know our audience. Because we’re bot free (mostly- weird ones sneak in from time to time on their own), our analytics reveal a clearer picture of who our friends/buyers are, what they want, and most importantly what they need. All of that helps us to develop content that carries perceived value that creates buyer/audience retention and it speaks to the authenticity of our brand and our brand values. The growth is slow, but it’s controlled and because we’re a two woman show, we’re not in any hurry to shift our focus from building our foundation. Social media provides a lot of vanity metrics- stay focused on your authenticity.

Contact Info:

• Website: flairgoods.com
• Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/flairgoods_/
• Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/flairgoods/

Image Credits
Fab photos by my crazy talented friends, @aliciastepptx (top left) @samanthajanecreative_ (top right) @misadventures (second row left) all product shots by me Hand & graphics @alx.cur ⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀ Hair and make up by the baddest and realist Top left @biancalinettehmu Top right @readysetkelsey @_productionhouse_ ⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀