We caught up with the brilliant and insightful Betsy Taylor a few weeks ago and have shared our conversation below.

Betsy, thanks for taking the time to share your stories 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

The idea for Alice had been in my head for quite awhile, but it just seemed unattainable. I couldn’t imagine being able to find the money, time, space to start what I wanted. During Covid lockdown (which I loved), I had a lot of time on my hands and just one day, sat down at the computer and started. I created an LLC, got a business license etc… I am a super distracted person, so without those weeks of being unable to distract myself, I doubt I would be here.

The next thing was reaching out to a few lines I liked and convincing them that without a storefront, website or Instagram account, I was actually a business. Amazingly, a few vendors (probably desperate because of the shutdown) were open to me and my concept and agreed to sell to me.

I placed one order with a company from Japan, and honestly forgot about it. Lockdown ended and I was back to whatever it is I do.

Fast forward about 6 months and I get an email that my order is ready and would I please pay for it. Uhhhh what? So, I asked my husband for the money and lo and behold this big box arrives from overseas. I was so horrified I didn’t even open it for 2 weeks!! When I did, I loved it and I realized I needed to get moving.

H. Audrey where I had worked for the last 15 years, was generous enough to give me a chance to sell through them and that was invaluable!!! I saw that people were loving what I bought, so I had to bite the bullet and find a space of my own.

Great, appreciate you sharing that with us. Before we ask you to share more of your insights, can you take a moment to introduce yourself and how you got to where you are today to our readers?

For as long as I can remember and even before, because my family has told me, I have been obsessed with clothes and fashion. I honestly was born with this passion and love for clothing, fabric, and design. I identify really strongly with clothing… it’s how I view the world. A bad wardrobe in a good movie can ruin it for me and a good one in a bad movie can make it an Oscar contender for me. If I see someone dressed in a way that I like, I just assume we will be friends. I always knew I wanted to be in fashion, I think I maybe thought I would like to be a High School English teacher for a few weeks in college, but when I realized that I would have to take extra classes, that kind of ended that. I was an English major in college and I do love reading and creative writing, but I didn’t want to stay an extra semester, so back to fashion.

So, I own a small boutique and what I love and what I hope sets me apart, is that I truly love beautiful, well made clothing and I want you to love it, too. I want women to see the value in clothing, what it does for them to not only be well dressed, but feel well dressed. Women as we age, tend to throw in the towel a bit because our bodies are changing and we begin to feel invisible. I mean why spend a bunch of money on something when you can just find any old mass market dress and be done with it. No one is looking at us anyway. (by the way this is NOT my mindset, but I see it a lot!) I think unfortunately, people take pride in finding a cheap deal no matter what it is made of, who made it, how many millions of years it will sit in a landfill etc…

I 100% see the appeal of fast fashion. Small batch type clothing costs more. The fabrics are more expensive and so is the labor because people are getting paid a fair wage. In many cases, they are preserving ancient customs and employing women who would otherwise be exploited for factory work. I know that what I sell is not for everyone, but I believe in what I do.

When you put on something special, you can feel it. I love it when women come in and either think nothing will fit them or they have some unsurmountable body issue and we can solve their “problem” and have fun doing it. I really strive to be size inclusive. I think it’s important. There is a reason many stores don’t carry larger sizes and I get that as well, but I hope that for most women, we have something here to make you feel great about yourself.

I started the store with the idea to be geared for women over 40, but having my daughter working with me has helped me keep an eye out for the younger women as well. I do feel like any age can find something here, but I like to be mindful of the issues the over 40 set faces – longer lengths, sleeves etc…

We’d love to hear the story of how you built up your social media audience?

I don’t know that I have “built an audience” per se, but I will tell you that I love social media! Most people assume my daughter does it because she’s in her 20’s, but no, it’s all me! I think that old love of creative writing is fulfilled there as well as my amateurish photography skills! I love taking pictures and so wish I was really talented (I’m not) so I think social media scratches a lot of itches for me.

Has your business ever had a near-death moment? Would you mind sharing the story?

haha! I have a lot of near death moments but they are mostly from my former business Harry B’s. I could write a book about them. One from that era is hilarious. Back before computers and cell phones etc. I had a brilliant business partner and we co-owned a ladies boutique here in Nashville. At one point we moved locations and were planning a huge grand opening in our new space. We had to honor the date because Michael Kors himself was flying down to make a personal appearance. He did that kind of thing back then and he was flying in that morning for one day only. Of course the store wasn’t remotely ready, but a crew stayed up all night ( I finally went to bed at 3:00) but the rest stayed on working. At about 5:00 in the morning someone stepped on a tube of red paint and it squirted all over the brand new beige carpeting in our Calvin Klein “boutique”!!! What?! Michael Kors is coming, we are hoping all of Nashville is coming and now their is red paint all over the place! Somehow an emergency carpet cleaner was found when it got to a normal hour to call one and all was patched up. There was always a little stain, but no one was much the wiser.

This business is a lot more low-key so hopefully I won’t have too many of those.

Contact Info:

• Website: https://shopalicenashville.com/
• Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/shopalicenashville/
• Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/ShopAliceNashville

Image Credits
Molly Peach