We’re excited to introduce you to the always interesting and insightful Casharee Smith. We hope you’ll enjoy our conversation with Casharee below.

Casharee, thanks for joining us, excited to have you contributing your stories and insights. So, let’s imagine that you were advising someone who wanted to start something similar to you and they asked you what you would do differently in the startup-process knowing what you know now. How would you respond?

If I were starting over, I would definitely join mentorship groups prior to launching my business, that way I would be learning from likeminded individuals and other boutique owners and know what actions to take/not take to ensure a successful launch. I would also invest more time in creating a comprehensive marketing strategy before launching my business. When I launched I had no clue how to get sales online. I made the huge mistake of thinking consumers would automatically buy my products because it looked nice and stylish. I had no idea the average consumer has to see a product around 7 times before making the purchase. I had no idea about the facebook pixel, investing in the proper ads to build awareness, or retargeting customers. I just knew fashion was my passion and I was determined to bet on myself and create my dream job. In hindsight, I missed a lot of the behind the scenes work that should have been done in order to ensure my business was successful upon launching so if I were starting again from scratch, I would work out all the fine details of my marketing plan to be successful sooner and grow my brand faster.

Awesome – so before we get into the rest of our questions, can you briefly introduce yourself to our readers.

I’m Casharee Smith, the founder of KASH Queen, a women’s online fashion brand. As a child I dreamed of becoming a fashion designer and would even cut up my old socks and make clothes for my barbie dolls. As a teenager I sketched fashion designs in my notebook everyday and even came up with a name for my fashion brand but when it came down to selecting a college to attend and a major to study, I decided to choose a practical major since my college, Albany State University, did not offer any fashion majors. Upon graduating from college, I entered corporate America and pushed my passion for fashion to the side. Four years into corporate America I realized I would be miserable staying the course of this career path for the next 25 years. I wanted a job I would love, that would fulfill me, and that I would also be passionate about. I knew then the only job that would do all those things, was one I would have to create for myself. My passion for fashion was still very much alive and I decided it was time to make my childhood dream, my reality. In January 2019, I launched KASH Queen. The KASH in KASH Queen is an acronym and the name represents a Kind, Ambitious, Stylish, Humble woman who is a go-getter. I created my brand to provide quality, fashion-forward, versatile styles for various occasions and styles which can be both dressed up and dressed down. My mission is to empower women to not only look their best, but also feel their best, vibe high, and create the life of their dreams.
I am most proud of delivering exceptional customer service to my customers. I pride myself on showing my customers how much I appreciate them for supporting my business and one of the key parts of that is ensuring my customer service is top tier. Every time a customer leaves a review and mentions how great my customer service is, it brightens my day. Quality, fashion-forward styles, exceptional customer service, and fast shipping are things my customers can always expect from my brand.

Can you talk to us about how your funded your business?

Once I decided I wanted to start a business, I knew I would need capital to fund my business which I didn’t have but I did have great credit. I decided the best thing for me to do was take out a personal loan in order to fund my business which I did. I was then able to hire a graphic designer to design my logo and website, purchase inventory, open my store on Shopify and pay for all other expenses that came up.

We’d love to hear about how you keep in touch with clients.

I keep in touch with my customers by sending out weekly email/text campaigns, retargeting ads, and I have a loyalty program where customers receive points each time they make a purchase and these points can then be used for different perks to my store such as free shipping coupons, discounts, and free gifts.

Contact Info:

• Website: www.shopkashqueen.com
• Instagram: www.instagram.com/shopkashqueen
• Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/shopkashqueen
• Other: @shopkashqueen on TikTok