Alright – so today we’ve got the honor of introducing you to Bethany Smiley. We think you’ll enjoy our conversation, we’ve shared it below.

Bethany, looking forward to hearing all of your stories today. We’d love to have you retell us the story behind how you came up with the idea for your business, I think our audience would really enjoy hearing the backstory.

My business derived from growing up spending the weekends with my grandmother and helping her prepare for church on Saturday nights. She would let me help her pick out her clothes, shoes and accessories. On Sunday morning, I would help her get dressed, do her hair, apply her makeup, etc. It was in those moments that my love for fashion came about. However, growing up I was a Tom boy. I played sports, I got dirty, I ran with the boys, you name it. Back then, I really didn’t know how to be both a tomboy and a girly girl. I was always told I should model because I was tall, thin and pretty. It wasn’t until I was about 22yrs old that I decided to believe what I was told and started modeling. My modeling career ignited the passion for fashion more. Being behind the scenes getting dolled up, walking the runway, but also being able to see the process of how designers put looks together, how they go about putting a collection together, etc. In 2020, the pandemic hit and everyone is stuck in the house. I decided to put my sewing abilities to work to create a source of income. I started making masks, then decided I wanted to launch a purse line. My brand name started out as “Seven, Seven Creations”. All I knew was I wanted the name to be something impactful while honoring my grandmother who passed in 2016. Her birthday was July 7th. After some thought, I changed it to Haute Seven. Haute being another word to describe fashionably elegant or high class; which perfectly described who my grandmother was. So, I launched my purse line and sold out the first week of launching.

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?

My name is Bethany Smiley and I am the owner of Haute Seven LLC. I started my brand in 2020 during the pandemic and it’s been an up & down roller coaster as any entrepreneur knows it can be. I started sewing in high school. I had to take an elective to graduate, so I chose the sewing class thinking it would be a breeze. Boy was I wrong, lol. I order to pass, we had to make a quilt and a few pillows. In the end, I ended up enjoying it. It became an outlet for me. I provide accessories such as backpacks, fanny packs, purses, bucket hats, I will be providing basic staple pieces and I revamp clothing as well. In due time, I do plan to expand my services and offer tailoring/altering services. I am most proud for putting a dream to reality. I feel like had fear not gotten in the way with a lot of things in life, I probably would have started this brand long before the pandemic hit. The main thing I want potential clients/ followers to know about myself and my brand is that I want this to be a household name one day and I will deliver top tier service to my clients.

Can you open up about how you funded your business?

The crazy thing about how I started my business was that I was actually in school full time and worked a part time job for my dad when I launched my business. I would take money from my school checks to invest in my business.

Any insights you can share with us about how you built up your social media presence?

My degree is in Marketing and it specializes in Digital Advertising, Branding & Promo. I would jot down notes from my marketing classes and projects we had to do and created a word document so that I could have it stashed away for when I needed it. My best advice would be to study brands that you love and take notes and put your own twist to it. I am constantly on social media to make sure I am keeping up with the latest trends so that my content can be viewed past the followers I currently have.

Contact Info:

• Website: https://HauteSeven.com
• Instagram: __HauteSeven

Image Credits

Kambron Carter – Kambron Carter Photography (personal photo)