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

Alright, Alexandra Nicole thanks for taking the time to share your stories and insights with 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?

Naturally I am a creative person. I love dreaming up cool new business ideas and inventions. By the time I was out of college I had at least 10 different business ideas, several of which I tried my hand at and failed, and a few that sparked the beginning of the entrepreneurial journey I am on now.

After getting my first “big girl job” in corporate America, I started a soap making side business, a makeup artistry company, and even tried a few of the pyramid sales business models. I found that I spent a lot of money in the creative portion of the start-up only to discover that I was not a fan of the industry once I got going. The only business that I seemed to like, and do exceptionally well in, was freelance makeup artistry. I began doing weekend makeup for weddings, fashion spreads, celebrity events, and more. It did not take long for me to clue in that I needed a makeup line to sell along side of my services and what way to obtain one than to brand my own cosmetic line? I began reaching out to private label cosmetics companies to develop my cosmetic brand. This took my small side start up to the next level. I began selling at women’s shows, in home private events, and even to the brides who wanted a little makeup touch up kit. Needless to say, I was full time hustling, working an 8 A.M. to 5 P.M. job, Monday through Friday, and building my small business on the side.

After running my makeup business on the side for a few years and saving up a little money, I had decided that corporate America was not my gig. I was hitting my corporate sales goals and naturally, I am a workaholic, but there was this deep desire for freedom and creation. It was this realization that pushed me over the edge. I threw all ideas of risk out the window, put in my two weeks notice, and was officially on my own. I knew that a makeup line alone could not pay the bills so I decided to launch a women’s clothing store and makeup studio concept. That time in my life was such a crucial turning point. I signed a commercial lease, finished out my 2 weeks in corporate, began building out the boutique, and opened up shop all in the space of 14 days. Yes, you read me correctly. Two weeks before opening my shop’s doors to the public, the idea of being a boutique owner had never crossed my mind. And now, here I was with an axe in hand, standing at the front door to my new shop, which by the way, was an old tanning salon. (Another thing I hadn’t prepared for, knocking down tanning salon walls to open up the retail space.) Needless to say, I was quickly presented with very important business questions. What about the cash register system? That was going to be expensive. Building inspections? What was that? I was going to need a security system. I needed store fixtures. Oh boy, I had only saved up $10,000 for this $80,000 project and now I am out a job and need to make rent in a month. Quitting my job to open my own company was probably one of the most impulsive decisions I have ever made, yet one of the most important ones as it changed the trajectory of my entire work-life path.

Trial and error, this was the theme to my first two years of being in business. I had no mentor or guidance, and was forced to try different tactics for management, marketing, finances, etc. to see what worked and what didn’t. After 6 months of working 7 days a week from store open to close, and then working at home on marketing, finances, and buying for the shop, I had grown to the point that I could hire my first employee. Finally I would get time to enjoy the little things in life. Boy was I sadly mistaken. Don’t get me wrong, my employee was absolutely amazing, but being a manager was an entirely different role, one that I was not prepared for as I had not developed the leadership skill set required to properly manage other people. After I became comfortable with giving direction instead of guidance when it came to my business, together we worked hard at developing new concepts, events, and ideas. Having two brains is always better than one!

Soon thereafter, I began The Ivory Closet blog to showcase our fashions, give style tips, and talk about our events. My small business dream was beginning to flourish and I was officially on the path to living my best life! Little did I know, there was even more development “in store” for me. No pun intended. Let’s just say that The Ivory Closet blog is now called City Chic Living Blog and the rest was history…

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 background and context?

Learning and unlearning are both critical parts of growth – can you share a story of a time when you had to unlearn a lesson?

Prep, Prep, PREP! Preparing for your entrepreneurial journey is key. You need to be able to plan for this next chapter in your life, brainstorm potential obstacles, and get comfortable with your new reality. I did not do this for my first business and I truly believe that lack of preparation stumped my growth potential early on in the process. I overcame what I did not know, but doing the research and having a plan on the front end would have really framed out my business and positioned it for quick success.

Can you open up about how you funded your business?

As a creative and over all excited person, risk (or danger in general) does not show up on my radar. I completely threw out my financial security to run head first towards my dream. Sounds like a movie right? Well, I learned very quickly that movies are just that….MOVIES! I did not budget for my business. I used my life savings up to that point, which was around $10K, much less than what is needed to launch a brick and mortar retail store. I was way off the mark. If I had it to do all over again, I would have taken the time to properly budget. Lucky for me, it all worked out, but it could have been catastrophic.

When mentoring aspiring business owners, I recommend reaching out to your bank to obtain a loan. SBA (Small Business Association) also offers loans and grants to start ups. Check with your local government as well. Often times there a programs offered to small business owners to incentivize small business start ups within the community.

Contact Info:

• Website: www.citychicliving.com
• Instagram: www.instagram.com/alexandra.nicole
• Facebook: www.facebook.com/alexandranicolenolan
• Other: www.learnunconventional.com
  Book- https://citychicliving.com/product/the-unconventional-entrepreneur/