We were lucky to catch up with Elisabeth Cuttino-Vereen recently and have shared our conversation below.

Elisabeth, thanks for taking the time to share your stories with us today Parents can play a significant role in affecting how our lives and careers turn out – and so we think it’s important to look back and have conversations about what our parents did that affected us positive (or negatively) so that we can learn from the billions of experiences in each generation. What’s something you feel your parents did right that impacted you positively.

I love my parents, more than words can say. I am very close to my mom and dad and I am beyond thankful, for the lessons learned. So much so, that Noughtie Girl is based solely on the creativity my parents allowed me to express, from the young age of 3. I highly value my experiences as a child, because those are the most important years, in which I developed my sense of fashion and taste in movies to music. I still hear stories, where my mom and dad literally had to chase me around the house, because I wouldn’t take off my hoards of tutus and colorful clothing. Eventually, they gave up and let me sleep with all of play clothing. Fast forward 32, I am unapologetically myself and with that being said, I wear what makes ME feel beautiful, regardless of what people may say.

Elisabeth, 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?

Elisabeth Cuttino-Vereen here, owner and curator of Noughtie Girl, INC. Along with family, I handpick vintage for both women and men nationally. I’ve always been in love with the early 2000s, and have been sourcing gems from that time period of the 90s and Y2k eras, hence the name Noughtie Girl. We look for inclusive sizing, with a broad range of 24W to XXXS. With thoughts of our inclusivity, we can only think of Lizzos new hit show and it completely transformed how we wanted to continue with body positivity for our brand. We want everyone to feel amazing, funky, and fab in our clothing and its an AMAZING feeling, when someone picks up a treasure you sourced and their whole emotions just light up! Our customers are the heartbeat of Noughtie Girl and we live for it.

Learning and unlearning are both critical parts of growth – can you share a story of a time when you had to unlearn a lesson?

Working in corporate retail for most of my retail career, I have and was overloading on structure and needing to be perfect. It didn’t take too long to realize that, authenticity is key. For example, when I first started doing my markets, I thought all of my clothing that I sourced had to fit a particular style that only I deemed as spectacular. If everyone was the same, this would be SUCH a boring world. Difference is beautiful, because at the end of the day, there’s still love. When I got out of my bubble of not only playing it safe, but broadening my horizons on what anyone would deem as “spectacular”, it was easier to source and be successful in providing quality y2k for EVERYONE.

Any thoughts, advice, or strategies you can share for fostering brand loyalty?

Instagram, Facebook, and Twitter have been lifesavers. I also have a website, but I usually use that platform as a floating page for brand history. I love to interact and stay in touch with my customers/clients and its allowed me to have deeper connections with my Noughtie Girls and Guys, Its also great to see what they are continuing to wear and be who they are influenced by, because at the end of the day, that helps a lot with what I am sourcing.

Contact Info:

• Website: www.noughtiegirl.com
• Instagram: @shopnoughtiegirl
• Facebook: @noughtiegirl
• Twitter: @noughtiegirl