We recently connected with Annie Fuller and have shared our conversation below.

Annie, thanks for joining us, excited to have you contributing your stories and insights. Almost all entrepreneurs have had to decide whether to start now or later? There are always pros and cons for waiting and so we’d love to hear what you think about your decision in retrospect. If you could go back in time, would you have started your business sooner, later or at the exact time you started?

It was summer of 2020, I had a two-year-old and a six-month-old at home with me full time. I was going stir crazy. I wasn’t ready to put my kids in daycare full time, but I was ready to get back to work. Instead of going the traditional route, I decided to start an online, product-based business. I took classes, hired a mentor, joined a community of other like-minded women and Find Your More Fashion launched. Just a few months into starting this business, my husband and I were surprised with baby #3! We were THRILLED! To say my hands were full was an understatement. Two little kids, pregnant, and a growing business! So I decided to pivot my online store into an online women’s boutique and start offering a wider range of designs and sizes. I had found my audience! By the fall of 2021, I had a 3 year old, 1 year old and newborn baby. Life was crazy! But I kept moving forward. Working early in the mornings, nap times, and late at night after my kids were in bed. I started designing and manufacturing my own women’s luxury pajama line. There was something about turning a simple sketch into an actual wearable piece that was extremely exciting for me! My first pajama design launched on Black Friday of 2021. Almost a year later, I have a 4 year old, a 2 year old and a one year old and I’ve designed two new styles of women’s pajamas. Still working towards my dreams. With all of this being said, was it the right time to start a business? Many would say “NO WAY!” But truthfully it’s never the right time to start a business. Do it anyway! If you’re waiting for the perfect time… it’s not going to happen. My kids have always been my reason WHY and never my excuse. Is it crazy building a business with 3 little kids. Absolutely! So for me, this was the best time to start.

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?

I’ve always loved clothes and fashion. Starting a women’s clothing company was a dream come true. I help women find gorgeous, high quality pieces that flatter their bodies and make them feel beautiful. I am most proud of this new set of pajamas I designed and recently launched. It has such a flattering fit for all shapes and sizes of women from small to 3XL. They are luxuriously soft (literally the softest material you’ve ever felt) while being a relaxed fit and they have POCKETS! A must in my mama world!

We’d really appreciate if you could talk to us about how you figured out the manufacturing process.

Interested in having something manufactured? I was too! The one problem I had was I had NO IDEA how to go about doing this. So I googled… a LOT. I reached out to my community of other small business owners, and I asked a lot of questions. At this point, I’ve had several different manufacturers I’ve worked with and I found them all the same way. Yup, google. I did extensive research on textile and clothing manufacturers and started narrowing it down based on years in business, reviews and how good their communication was with me. Once my designs were submitted I ordered samples. A lot of samples. This was expensive, but it was the only way I could truly test the design, functionality and quality of my pieces. After I received the samples, it was actually pretty easy to decide who to move forward with. My biggest lessons I learned during manufacturing? Be VERY specific with what you want done. Even if it takes time and time again to redesign and ALWAYS ORDER SAMPLES. Even if you’ve done business before with them, order your samples. This saves a lot of money and headaches in the future.

Do you sell on your site, or do you use a platform like Amazon, Etsy, Cratejoy, etc?

I built my online women’s boutiqu using Shopify. It has been great. They have amazing apps available to help with your customer base, shipping, analytics, email lists and so much more. They have a trial period for you to begin building your website and an incredible customer service team. I highly recommend going with Shopify if you have a product based business.

Contact Info:

• Website: www.findyourmorefashion.com
• Instagram: www.instagram.com/findyourmorefashion
• Facebook: www.Facebook.com/findyourmorefashion
• Twitter: www.twitter.com/FYMFashion
• Other: Tik Tok: www.tiktok.com/@findyourmorefashion

Image Credits
All photos were taken by me.