We were lucky to catch up with Alexandria Griffin recently and have shared our conversation below.

Alexandria, appreciate you joining us today. Owning a business isn’t always glamorous and so most business owners we’ve connected with have shared that on tough days they sometimes wonder what it would have been like to have just had a regular job instead of all the responsibility of running a business. Have you ever felt that way?

Recently I reflected on the idea of how I would feel doing another career, one where I wasn’t the boss with all the pressure. At 25 years old it’s hard not to feel like you need to keep up on the same timeline as everyone else and 6 months ago I took a long look at my current lifestyle and wondered, “Should I look for something more stable? Is it the more ‘adult’ thing to have a job where they will provide benefits for me? How much of a salary do I even really make?” Looking around at my circle the vast majority of my friends have set incomes with jobs they enjoy and make decent incomes whereas when inflation started I was worried it might be the end of my business altogether. Then realizing eventually when I marry, who wants someone who’s income is unknown especially dependent on our ever-changing political and economical climate. These were all of the fears I was wrapped up in along with the understanding that I had never had another job as a college graduate, was I even teachable to an employer or would I seem like a problem to someone I interviewed to because the only recommendations I could come up with were more like character witnesses or people I deal with on a business level. In the midst of all this worry, I met another small business owner who has owned her business for 38 years in our small community but left an impact that will be around for a lifetime. She reminded me through her stories that I started my business with the intentionality of pouring into my local community and always being a store where people leave happier and lighter than when they arrived. I know when I started my business it was fully in God’s will and the longer I do it the more I realize what a gift he gave me. I get the opportunity to meet new people every time my open sign is on and as cliche as it sounds I’ve never truly felt like I have ever had to ‘work’ a day in my life. I left her shop in tears of knowing that I am exactly where God has planned for me this entire time. It was a humbling moment for me to sit back and really think about the financial benefits versus non-monetary value of what my small business brings to the table.

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?

The story of how I got into my business is actually one with more failure than success but I am fairly certain it is because I am stubborn and God knew he had to get me in a broken state to build me back up. In 2017, I started my boutique on a whim online thinking that it might be a fun hobby for myself. At the time I had just applied to nursing school and on my first weekend pop-up event for my boutique I opened my acceptance letter to start that fall semester. Fast forward to spring of 2019 when I had flunked out of nursing school officially and been dumped from a 6-year relationship. The term when it rains, it pours felt quite literally like the theme song of my life in that small time-frame. I remember crying majority of that first week and thinking that I had absolutely nothing going for me rather than knowing that God was just preparing a clean slate for Him to do His work. One of my sweetest friends and the best cheerleaders in my life, Jen, helped me to realize that I had the perfect career opportunity sitting right in front of me (actually in her salon at the time). She told me to just take the jump – it might be the best risk I’ll ever take in my lifetime and if I fail again what will it really hurt? So I did just that. I spent the rest of that week calling during business rental opportunities and banks to see about a business loan. By Friday (just 2 weeks after failing out of my ‘Plan A’) I had already called my mom asking her what she thought of my idea with all my plans laid out in front of her. She said, “You’ve had a lot going on and you’re pretty emotional are you sure this is the right move?” Needless to say, I signed a business loan and a lease the following Friday. Truly, I didn’t know why God laid out this path for me until I was about a year into my business and it started unfolding in front of me. The only thing I’m even halfway good at is talking and connecting to people; I truly just love people and getting to know them, I enjoy giving back and doing for others; All of those things I get to do every single day at my shop. God is good all the time and sometimes the valleys lead to mountaintops you cannot even imagine.

Any stories or insights that might help us understand how you’ve built such a strong reputation?

Word of mouth and being genuinely nice to everyone – take the time to really get to know your customers and create a lasting friendship instead of just trying to make a sale. A little small conversation goes a long way with customers who are in your shop twice or more a month.

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

At 25, it is honestly difficult to keep your own financials in check must less figuring out how to do so while running your own business. Once I graduated from college, I made a promise to myself that I would buckle down on my financials to make sure I could save more to eventually grow my business or even to personally take a bigger draw at the end of the year. I went onto a forum with other boutique owners and asked what were the best books they had recently read that they felt like helped them the most with growing their businesses and keeping their financials in check; later that day I had over 20 comments all recommended the book Profit First by Mike Michalowicz. I hopped right onto amazon and the book was at my door step in 2-days, from that day on I buried myself into it taking notes and highlighting things. I had it wired in my brain in order to make my business grow I needed to continually put as much profit as I could back into my business which means less pay for me in the current. This book COMPLETELY changed my mindset for the better and helped me to feel like I am the one running my business rather than my business running me. In this book, it explains why my previous thought process would never keep up a successful business and why unlearning this thought process was vital to making my business better.

Contact Info:

• Website: www.akinsclothingco.com
• Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/shopakinsclothingco/
• Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/AkinsClothingCo/
• Other: Download the ‘Akins Clothing Co.’ app also on Apple iOS or Android.

Image Credits
Addie Davis – Southern Sinclair Photography