We’re excited to introduce you to the always interesting and insightful Bria McIver. We hope you’ll enjoy our conversation with Bria below.
Bria, thanks for taking the time to share your stories with us today How did you find your key vendor or vendors? Maybe you can share the backstory and share some context and the relevant details to help us understand why you chose them, why they chose you, etc.
Thinking back to how I started building my store inventory is quite funny in hindsight. I had no idea where to start, but I was so determined. When I fully committed to starting Vanity Collection Boutique, one of the first decisions I thought I had to make was where was I going to get my products? I knew I was not a fashion designer, nor was I fully comfortable starting out with manufacturing, so I leaned into wholesaling.
While in school for Fashion Merchandising, I was becoming cognizant of the rising e-commerce fast-fashion industry, and most of the companies that were at the forefront of it. I also spent a lot of time and money in local boutiques studying their store culture, and inventory to get a feel of my own brand image. One of my favorite boutiques was a stand-alone, brick and mortar, women’s clothing store, with all the same trends and products that I was seeing online. This store did not have an online presence.
Every weekend when I got paid, I would head straight to that local boutique, going wall to wall, rack to rack, to get an idea of the vendors they were buying their products from. Then I would go home and research those vendors until I found the online showrooms where most of these vendors were housed. I looked through each vendor from A-Z to match their products with the vision I had for my company image and target customers.
For the earlier inventory, the vision was there, but the funding was not. Starting out, I relied mainly on my personal income from doing hair or teaching. I even took out a small personal loan, and credit card for my boutique. Eventually, I would learn more about business funding, which is what I would encourage all aspiring entrepreneurs to research before even purchasing your initial inventory.
If I had to do things differently, I would have invested a little bit more time and resources into my business plan, specifically the financial and marketing component. As a boutique owner starting out, I was more concerned with the quality of the products, than generating sales right away. I also wish I invested in a team earlier on. I thought initially that I wanted to do everything on my own, but I have benefited greatly from working with different brands, and other business owners to increase my brand awareness.
Bria, before we move on to more of these sorts of questions, can you take some time to bring our readers up to speed on you and what you do?
For those of you who are not familiar with me from the Voyage Dallas interview, hello my name is Bria McIver, and I am a former high school business teacher, licensed hairstylist, and small business owner in the Dallas, Texas area. I currently own and operate Vanity Collection Boutique, an online women’s company, with trendy, quality, and affordable fashion for women of all shapes, sizes, and skin tones. I also operate as a self-employed hair stylist, offering a range of services, such as: natural styling, braids, extensions, soft locs, lace closures, and more. In the near future, I plan to open a physical store location to cater to the quality and convenience that most women are looking for in this social media era.
These days there are so many talented hairstylists out there, and even more successful women’s clothing boutiques, but there are not many businesses that incorporate an all in one experience. Most women these days are buying their products online, but still have to drive around the city to get their hair, nails, and aesthetic services. My long term vision with Vanity Collection Boutique is to combine beauty, fashion, and cosmetic services as a one-stop-shop for women to receive salon and boutique services in one central location. Hopefully we are able to open a physical location within the next few years, but we are still taking it one day at a time.
What I am most proud of with my small business journey is the resiliency and the lessons that I have learned along the way. As I mentioned in my previous interview, it has not been an easy ride, but still an invaluable one. This past March made 4 years since the launch of Vanity Collection Boutique, and since then so much has happened from job gains and losses, relocating, many slow seasons, and most importantly the pandemic and not to mention the current state of our economy now. Through it all, Vanity and hair styling has continued to receive support and help me continue to do what I love and explore the possibilities of entrepreneurship.
What’s a lesson you had to unlearn and what’s the backstory?
One lesson that I had to unlearn was the sense of entitlement of who is “supposed” to support you on your journey as an entrepreneur. When I was first starting Vanity, I accounted for all my family, friends, acquaintances, and social media friends to purchase my products. Later I realized, many of my close friends and family were not my target audience or didn’t realize the Boutique was mine to support. Over the years, I have received an overwhelming amount of sales from my loved ones, which I am incredibly grateful for; but I had to unlearn the idea that my business’s success could only come from people that I knew. Your network is your net worth.
While living in Dallas, I have made so many genuine business relationships with people who have become a part of my team, essentially. Before moving here, my best friends and I modeled the clothes in my older sister’s apartment, with a Vanity mirror as the lighting and my little sister as the photographer. Now in year 4, I am working with several talented models, shooting in amazing studios, with a great photographer.
Networking and relationship building has taught me to get comfortable putting yourself out there as a business owner. Since I initially wanted to be a fashion buyer, my goal was to be the person behind the scenes. Even now I still struggle a little with my visibility, but I have come an extremely long way with being comfortable. Instagram Reels and Tiktok have helped me a lot with this, but I am still working on in-person visibility, like pop-up shops, and Lives, and other in-person opportunities.
Can you tell us about a time you’ve had to pivot?
Like most young-adults, I am still trying to figure it out to be honest. I am currently in a transition stage right now. I recently transitioned from teaching high school business education for 3 years, and I will be moving to Houston at the end of this month. I really loved teaching, and working with the students, but teaching was not what I set out to do long-term. I always felt a sense of guilt encouraging my students to pursue their dream careers, with me not doing the same. Nonetheless, I learned so many valuable skills and financial resources from teaching that have helped to improve my business sense and overall professionalism.
My business is not at the point where it can sustain me as my full-time career, but that is my ultimate goal. As of now, I am currently transitioning into my real estate journey. I would like to start real estate investing in the near future as well as continue as a business owner. I started my real estate program earlier this summer, and that journey will continue in Houston, Texas. This transition phase is extremely scary and unpredictable, but one thing that I have learned is that the only thing that is certain is uncertainty, so I just keep moving forward. I gained invaluable lessons, relationships, and experiences from being Dallas, and I am glad that I made the decision to live here, even if it was just for a season!
Contact Info:
- Website: https://vanitycollectionboutique.com/
- Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/vanitycollectionboutique/
- Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/VanityCollectionboutique/
- Twitter: https://twitter.com/_vainbrain
- Other: Tiktok: https://www.tiktok.com/@vanitycollectionboutique