We’re excited to introduce you to the always interesting and insightful Chevaun Smith. We hope you’ll enjoy our conversation with Chevaun below.
Hi Chevaun, thanks for joining us today. Do you have a hero? What have you learned from them?
My mom Valerie Smith was my Shero. She was my biggest supporter and has always believed in me. As a child I was taught to never say I can’t but rather to always believe that I could do anything I set my mind too. My mom passed unexpectedly in November of 2020. I was and still am in mourning. However she still encourages me to keep reaching for our dreams. Weeks before she passed she had just bought a new laptop to build a website for me but unfortunately she wasn’t able to . Since I now have her laptop it took while but I was able to launch my website Che-boutique.com about 6 months go in her honor. If it wasn’t for the love & support from my mom I wouldn’t have had the courage or the strength to continue to strive each day.
Chevaun, 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?
I have always had a love for jewelry and that’s what started me as a entrepreneur I worked full time but used my paychecks to fund my jewelry business. Then the world shut down I continued to run my business selling my inventory. It was the summer of Covid I was sitting on my bed and I heard God say What about your t-shirt business? I had always wanted to start a t-shirt business but I was always to busy with working full time and being a full time mom of 5 there was never any time. However time is what Covid gave us time to be with our families time to reflect on the importance of life and being grateful and it gave me time to start pursuing my dreams. So I added t-shirts to my jewelry business Che’ Boutique in the beginning mainly offering bling shirts. My motto is Elevate your tees with accessories! I want customers to be able to shop for their own unique styles. To also accentuate who they are with trendy urban inspired t-shirts and accessories such as jewelry, belts, fedoras, sunglasses & purses. A lot of the items I sell have to have lots of bling people have often referred to me as The Bling Queen! Honestly I just get so excited to see a happy customer who loves my items and shopping with me. I appreciate each and every individual that has supported my dream. I took a big leap of faith a year ago a decided not to return to a 9-5 job I had been in childcare for 20 years but i decided to pursue my dream. By the grace of God I am still making strides toward my ultimate goal of one day having a store front one thing that my mom would say when I first started this business was that I would need a warehouse one day and I promise I will do everything in my power for that to happen. Che’ Boutique is built on faith! I started this business with $300 and only 3 shirts I now have a website and have also become a DTF distributor and I sell many of the images that I use on shirts. I also help others who want to start a t-shirt business using DTf’s I’ve been through a lot to get to where I am today and I know I will still face many challenges but I know that if I stay positive, grateful and continue to build my relationship with God I will always be successful.
How did you build your audience on social media?
I’m still growing my social media pages I have 3 on Facebook one on Instagram and tik tok. First I want to say you have to use these outlets because they are free advertisement for your business. I am a strategic poster on my social media pages all my pages a public so anyone can see what I post so I am very careful about what I put out there I kid of have 3 main topics for post 1 is Faith I talk a lot about God He is my number o e priority 2 I post about my business and 3 I try to make you laugh and show a little bit about my personal life. I know that in order for people to shop with you they have to have a connection with who you are they are going to look at what you post and what’ you are all about. This is ne thing I’ve learned and it’s so tru your family and friends will not be your biggest supporters strangers will I have met so many amazing people I call them my customer friends because we have built relationships and they live to support me in anything’ I do. Ok back to social media it is important to post at least 3 times a day mornings lunchtime and before bed those are some of the times when people are doing nothing but scrolling so you want your posts to be available. You also want to make sure that you are engaging in your posts and that you respond to comments and questions the more interactions the more the sites will show your posts in newsfeeds. Hope this helps someone so follow me & I’ll follow you back
Can you share a story from your journey that illustrates your resilience?
Owning a small business is not easy I started with only $300 because I took a leap of faith and that is very scary at times. There are days I make nothing and days I make a few hundred dollars .I never know what my day is going to look like I’m still growing but the thing that keeps me going is knowing that I am setting an example for my 5 children and my grandson. That I may not live to see the fruits but that I am planting the seeds for my legacy. I’m teaching and showing others that God is real, that He will provide all your needs. God gave me a vision for Che’ Boutique so He lit a fire in me that just won’t go out anytime I get discouraged there’s just the feeling that I can’t give up ! I know that He has something greater for me and my family.
Contact Info:
- Website: Che-boutique.com
- Instagram: https://instagram.com/chevaunsmith?igshid=YTY2NzY3YTc=
- Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/profile.php?id=100063447296888&mibextid=LQQJ4d
- Other: https://www.tiktok.com/@cheboutique?_t=8Y0iVawgHUJ&_r=1