We recently connected with Alexandra Christopher and have shared our conversation below.

Hi Alexandra, thanks for joining us today. What’s the backstory behind how you came up with the idea for your business?

I’ve always had an entrepreneurial spirit. I used to sell full blown cakes on the down low in school. I’ve done nails at lunch time. I even sold my own lunch to my classmates because they enjoyed my mom’s cooking more than the cafeteria food. So after graduating college in the winter of 2020, I decided that I wanted to open up my own business. I didn’t want to do a service business because I honestly was too scared to do so. So I figured, why not open up a clothing boutique. It all really started with me coming up with a catchy name. But then when I really started to think about it’s purpose and my real reason behind creating this brand, I decided to look inward.

This may seem cliche, but have you ever felt like you didn’t fit in? Like there wasn’t a group out there that shared your interests, your desires, etc.? This is often the case for teenage girls growing up. Especially when it comes to their wardrobe. To combat this feeling, they just go along with the “trendy” thing so that they can finally feel like they belong somewhere. Even if it makes them uncomfortable. This was the case for me growing up. I was rarely interested in the trendy things, especially fashion wise. I liked what I liked. But I craved the approval of my peers, as do most teens. I didn’t want to be bullied for my outfits on top of the everyday bullying I dealt with.

Luckily for me and my own self esteem/confidence, my mother wasn’t the type to do and buy what others did just for the sake of “fitting in”. She’s Trinidadian so it’s definitely a sprinkle of “Caribbean Mom” there. So all the pieces that were trending at the time were rarely found in my closet. At the time, it seemed unfair. “Well why can’t I wear crop tops and ripped jeans like my friends”. But in hindsight, my mom did me a MAJOR favor. She helped me realize that I am an individual. I am my own person and I don’t need to have what everyone else has to be seen as “cool”. Nor do I need the validation of others. All I needed was myself, my opinions and what made ME happy.

So with that in mind, I knew exactly what I NEEDED to do with my brand. I needed to create Second to None to combat “trendy culture”. And that’s what I did!

All in all, STN is for young women that are far from the trend. They move to the beat of their own drum. They’re over the “fitting in” stage and are simply themselves. Wholly and truly. They like what they like. On trend; off trend; it doesn’t matter to them! Their comfort and happiness is top priority.

Our overall goal is to help all young women realize that they do not need to fit into societal standards. They’re perfect the way they are! And yes, that may sound cliche. But it’s the truth! And we need more brands that will scream it from the rooftops!

Awesome – so before we get into the rest of our questions, can you briefly introduce yourself to our readers.

Hi reader! My name’s Alexandra Christopher. I’m a 24 years old college graduate with a Bachelors in Music Management. Yes, I thought I’d be going into the music industry. I’m a wife, a mother, and the CEO of my online boutique, STN – Second to None! We sell elevated basics and complementary accessories for the modern, urban girl next door. The key word being “elevated” as our main pieces are a step up from your average essentials. The goal of our pieces are to always be fashionable and comfortable.

I created this boutique with the intention of encouraging young women to live in their truth, be themselves, and understand that they aren’t subject to society’s standards. I noticed that there was an abundance of “trendy clothing” boutiques opening up every other day. Coming from a person that’s been through that pressure of being on trend, just as most people have, I knew that we needed a boutique to not only promote individuality, but to provide fashionable clothing that helped women feel feel confident every single day, no matter the occasion. That’s where STN came about! To advocate for those young women that are rarely heard today.

I’m a strong believer in ALWAYS being yourself. Knowing who you are; your ever evolving likes, your dislikes, your dreams, your desires, your triggers, etc. Simply knowing yourself, evolving as you please, being confident in who you are and not allowing others to sway that.

Though most boutiques share this message of confidence, I’m most proud of the fact that my brand and niche were both authentically made with the true intention of promoting self assurance among young women. Having a brand that encourages you to go against the trend at a young age could prevent so much confusion for young girls. Had I not had a mother that taught me to always be original, a brand with such a message would have helped tremendously.

We’d love to hear a story of resilience from your journey.

I haven’t had the smoothest first few years of business. I rebranded within the first few months, jumped into ads without fully knowing enough about it, and so much more mishaps that I learned from. But last year, I joined a program that I thought would really put my business on a path of endless success. I didn’t expect it to automatically make me a millionaire with no trials or issues, but I was in a position of just hopelessness and confusion, so I hoped that it would help fill in the blanks that were missing. My cohort and I were sold a lot of promises that weren’t fulfilled.

To make a very long and complicated story short, the only thing I can truly say I gained from it was an amazing group of supportive, like-minded women. After losing a good bit of money, the thought of giving up definitely looked appealing. But, I’ve never been a quitter. I saw it as a learning experience! And from that situation, I was blessed with someone within the e-commerce realm who made my purpose and the process of running my own business so clear that I can confidently say that this year will be my breakthrough year! Entrepreneurship isn’t easy. I knew that upon entering this realm. My optimism and certainty of my brand is what keeps me pushing through!

How’d you think through whether to sell directly on your own site or through a platform like Amazon, Etsy, Cratejoy, etc.

I have my own website that I host on Shopify. It’s very simple. I love it! I never really thought about using another platform to sell my products because I always wanted full ownership. I wanted to have that advantage as I see STN growing to be major in the future. And I wanted my website to fully reflect my brand on a whole.

Shopify’s great! I haven’t had any issues. It’s simple to use in. The analytics are very useful. It’s the best hosting platform in my opinion if you’re selling products on your own personal website. I’d say the only con for me would be having to put in the work, or the money, to get traffic to your own website. Of course you have to advertise and market regardless of the platform you use, but it’s a lot easier to find various stores selling the item you’re searching for on a platform like Amazon or Etsy versus going through websites on Google.

I did look into selling on Amazon. I’m personally on Amazon all the time when I need things quickly, clothing included. It’s said that as long as you used the right keywords, there was a chance your product may show higher up on the hundred of pages. So I signed up and got everything set up. But after seeing all the fees and the overall cost of it all, I decided against it. Plus, it was a lot more complicated setting up product listings than I thought it would be. I can see the advantage as people are already on Amazon searching. It’s relatively easier to be found on there with the right things in place. But it just wasn’t for me.

Contact Info:

• Website: Shopstn.com
• Instagram: @shop.secondtonone
• Facebook: Second to None
• Twitter: ShopSTN

Image Credits
Amanda Christopher