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

Chiara, appreciate you joining us today. What did your parents do right and how has that impacted you in your life and career?

I tell people that I would not have been where I am today without the vision that my father casted for my life. I’m blessed to have both of my parents in my life, they’re still married, and they’re actively part of my life. They have invested so much into me and believed in me from the start. I may not have everything, yet that I want in life, but I’m rich.

I started making doll dresses when I was really young and had a desire to SEW and handmade items in one day my father expressed instead of making doll clothes why not make clothes for actual people and from that point forward I never made adult dress ever again. Years later and invested education growing my sewing skills and tailoring, I’m here today making custom dresses for real clients. I would’ve never thought I would’ve been here without my dad’s guidance.

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?

I’ve always known as a young lady making small items, aprons, craft items from Walmart and JoAnn Fabrics. I don’t remember when I picked it up, but I just remember always sewing on something, always making something. Over the course of the next 10 years, I would invest in education, honing my skill set and growing my craft. My background is in business administration, and so I was able to apply my education to my passion and build a full time business out of it.

I was offering alteration services and brides would come into my store and ask for customizations to make their dress more modest for the church or for personal preference and it hit me one day – I thought to myself why not make a collection for brides that are wanting more coverage And that’s how Chiara Carroll Bridal was birthed.

I wanted to see elevated bridal fashions in the modest space that met all of the brides, personal beliefs without compromising her desire to be fashion forward, and modern. It’s my desire to see elevated modest Bridal in the mainstream Bridal fashion world where a mainstream bride that wouldn’t normally choose to wear something like that see a gown like that be worthy to wear, but is still tasteful and elevated.

Any advice for growing your clientele? What’s been most effective for you?

Word-of-mouth is the best marketing strategy ever. A lot of my clients are referral based. They come into my shop and I give them a clear set of expectations of what they can expect working with me at Chiara Carroll Bridal. Six years into working with clients has taught me a lot about business and working with people. I find that if you set the expectations high in the beginning and you exceed the expectations by having a clear process and proper communication clients truly appreciate that. Clients also appreciate when you truly hear them and listen to their problems. What are your clients wanting in their experience working with you? What is your clients need or outcome when they purchase address or select services? Clients want to be heard and that’s how I exceed their expectations.

Listen to them. :)

Okay – so how did you figure out the manufacturing part? Did you have prior experience?

I have manufacturing partners in New York, Atlanta, and overseas. The biggest i’ve learned when it comes to manufacturing anything is having your process together. I’ve had to learn how to source fabrics, not all fabric ways the same, learning the terminology to communicate with these factories and manufacturers, ordering notions, size charts, and altering patterns in the list goes on and on

Creating a collection isn’t just sending in a sketch and saying make this. It’s curating with intention from the very start. It’s a very intensive process from start to finish, but it’s very rewarding when you get the product in that you’’ve envisioned from the start. The hard work pays off, but you gotta be able to put in the time and do things right. Don’t take shortcuts because it will reflect in your work later.

Contact Info:

• Website: https://www.chiaracarrollbridal.com
• Instagram: @chiaracarrollbridal
• Facebook: Chiara Carroll Bridal

Image Credits

All photos by Jonathan Loredo at @loredo.creative