We were lucky to catch up with Cymphoni Laster & Rubi Martinez recently and have shared our conversation below.

Alright, Cymphoni Laster & thanks for taking the time to share your stories and insights with us today. Coming up with the idea is so exciting, but then comes the hard part – executing. Too often the media ignores the execution part and goes from idea to success, skipping over the nitty, gritty details of executing in the early days. We think that’s a disservice both to the entrepreneurs who built something amazing as well as the public who isn’t getting a realistic picture of what it takes to succeed. So, we’d really appreciate if you could open up about your execution story – how did you go from idea to execution?

Rubi & Cymphoni came up with the idea for Runi in March 2017. As a fashion stylist and designer respectively, we were displeased with the market options for quality mid-level luxury garments in the Atlanta market. We knew that by combining our skills of design and style, we could create a unique shopping experience for our future clients. We knew we wanted to sell exclusively online to save overhead fees and be able to reach a larger audience. As first generation business owner’s everything was a learning curve. Applying for our LLC, DBA, and Business Licenses took a lot of research and time, but once we figured it out we were ready to launch, or so we thought. As founders, we went through many life changes in the years between 2017 and our official launch in 2019. Rubi was tranferred to work in Puerto Rico, and Cymphoni got married and transitioned into a new career as a Technical Fashion Designer. Though this seemed like it would halt business, it did not. We still worked remotely in order to launch our business. Lots of Youtube University and Atlanta Mart visits helped find vendors for our first products. Our offerings were small but it was enough to officially launch us in October 2019. From that point, even the pandemic did not stop our momentum as a company. We pivoted to selling masks and loungewear at the height of quarantine, and once thing settled, we decided to fully transition our business to resortwear. Now we exclusively sell resortwear and are working towards presenting at our first fashion shows in 2023.

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?

RUNI sells garments that are manufactured in Atlanta and designed by Cymphoni Laster, Designer and Co-Founder. We work hand in hand with our manufacturer, FAM USA Inc. to produce ethically made garments. We also customize garments to our clients specifications if they choose that service. Our garments are made to order that requires 4 to 6 weeks of production time but allow us the opportunity to customize many elements of our designs. This allows us to keep costs and waste low by not sitting on unsold inventory and minimizing returns. Rubi Martinez, Stylist and Co-Founder provides styling services as well to RUNI clients. We schedule virtual and in-person fittings and styling experiences for clients looking to improve or execute their personal style, educate themselves on ethical fashion production, and customize garments.

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

Although we started online based, we realized as a new brand it was important for us to get in front of the customer so they can experience our one-of-a-kind shopping experience in person. Over the past year, we have hosted pop-ups and participated in marketing events to help grow our customer base and secure new clientele.

We’d really appreciate if you could talk to us about how you figured out the manufacturing process.

Working for a USA based manufacturer in Atlanta, has allowed us access to facilities and processes that we may not have if we used an overseas manufacturer. We are able to gain knowledge from someone with 30+ years in the industry, who can give us advice on what works and what does not when it comes to our specific needs as a brand. We have built our business around our relationship with our factory and it shows in the way we ethically produce garments.

Contact Info:

• Website: www.runiboutique.com
• Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/runiatl/
• Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/runiboutique
• Twitter: https://twitter.com/runiboutique

Image Credits
Brenton Yancy – Photographer