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

Hi Ebony , thanks for joining us today. Let’s start with the story of your mission. What should we know?

Growing up I HATED shopping. I’ve always been a curvy girl and my body type wasn’t catered to back in the 90s and early 2000s. I hated trying on clothes and my self-esteem always took a huge hit after a shopping trip.

I wasn’t able to buy the cute trendy clothing in the juniors section and often had to wear missy clothing which was WAY too mature for a young girl.

I became more confident as I grew up and was able to develop my own personal style, however, shopping was still a chore, especially in the times of BBL fashion (small waist, wide hips, big booty, flat belly – if you’re unfamiliar). One of my biggest dreams was to have my own boutique but I wasn’t completely sure who I wanted to serve until I found these glittery shorts in November 2019.

I was in the mall grabbing a last-minute club outfit. I found these GLITTERY shorts and I fell in love! They just looked like some skinny girl shorts (if you know you know) but low and behold these ones actually fit my curves and were comfortable enough for me to wear all night. I didn’t want to take them off! I felt so flirty, fun, and CONFIDENT and that’s when I realized that I wanted to help other women feel the exact same way.

After that, it became clear that my mission would be to serve other “thick” women like me who have a hard time finding items that flatter them so they just settle for whatever fits. I believe style and comfort can co-exist so I focus on sourcing items that are cute and comfy without being boring and basic.

Ebony , love having you share your insights with us. Before we ask you more questions, maybe you can take a moment to introduce yourself to our readers who might have missed our earlier conversations?

Hey y’all!

My name is Ebony. I am a boutique owner and content creator born and raised in Florida.

I came out of the womb wanting to be an entrepreneur! Growing up I saw how hard my parents worked at jobs that they weren’t necessarily passionate about and decided then that I wanted different for myself and also wanted to be able to retire them so they didn’t have to continue working that way.

I didn’t realize how passionate I truly was about the fashion industry until I was in school at Florida State University. I went in with the full intention of getting a nursing degree and ended up graduating with a degree in Fashion Merchandising & Product Development as well as a minor in business.

I did anything I could to get my foot in the door, from working at my on-campus fashion magazine to interning at a family friend’s bridal boutique. Even on the bad days I still wanted to keep going so I knew then I had found my *thing*.

Once I graduated, I wasn’t able to find a “real job” so I started working at Old Navy which ended up being one of my favorite workplaces. I worked with the women’s merchandising team and absolutely LOVED it. Being able to style and create stories through fashion was so much fun. I started my own T-shirt brand during that time but had no idea what I was doing so it naturally fell off with my thought process being that I wanted to come back and sell “real” clothing.

By the time you see this, we would have celebrated our 2nd anniversary!

How about pivoting – can you share the story of a time you’ve had to pivot?

The biggest pivot that I had to make was of course due to COVID! Eb & Flo was originally supposed to be a trendy clubwear type of boutique which looking back I laugh at how different that would have looked today. In 2019 I planned to launch in the fall of 2020 and I had to pivot at the last minute into loungewear and comfy stuff because hello! who was going to the club?

How do you keep in touch with clients and foster brand loyalty?

We consider our customers to be “our girls”. I want people to know they are important and appreciated when they shop with us and not just walking dollar signs. I’ve shopped with brands where they have this kind of “uppity” attitude, it’s very impersonal and nothing wows me enough to want to come back. Eb & Flo’s mantra is a happy customer = A loyal customer = our biggest fan. Everything we do is planned as if we know our customers personally and that they are our friends. The messaging, the quality, the notes in our packages, everything is thought of in the same way we would think of things for our best girlfriends.

Contact Info:

• Website: https://shopebandflo.com/
• Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/shopebandflo/
• Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/shopebandflo
• Twitter: https://twitter.com/shopebandflo
• Youtube: https://www.youtube.com/c/EbonyHunter