Alright – so today we’ve got the honor of introducing you to Emily Deutschman. We think you’ll enjoy our conversation, we’ve shared it below.

Alright, Emily thanks for taking the time to share your stories and insights with us today. How did you come up with the idea for your business?

When I launched Curly Girl Boutique in January 2019, I was mostly e-commerce, but you’d find me spending my weekends doing pop-up shops at local wineries and breweries or hosting an open house in my basement boutique in my home. I grew to love to the one-on-one connections with women, and not only helping them discover fun, fashionable pieces, but also teaching them how to wear them.

When the pandemic hit, I had to quickly pivot my business model and began offering private shopping sessions via zoom as well as Dressing-Room-To-Go delivery boxes for local customers, where I would assemble a box of clothing for a customer based on an online style profile they completed and drop it off at their home. Included with their box would be a personalized styling video for each piece in the box, and they could choose which pieces to keep and which to return. These two services blossomed my business during the pandemic.

Now with a storefront in South Minneapolis, my focus is still on helping each individual customer. I offer private shopping and personal styling appointments as a free service in my boutique. I do these both in-person and virtually for customers who don’t live in my area. I see these services as integral to the reasons I started my business: to help women find clothing pieces that are unique and fun, to inspire women to step out of their fashion rut, to show women how to wear these pieces and integrate them into their wardrobe, and to instill women with new-found confidence in their appearance.

Emily, 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?

In my 20s, I was awkward with no fashion sense what-so-ever, but then the day came….my first real professional job. I’m a creative type, who loves to find ways to express myself, and the typical business wear just wasn’t cutting it. I wanted to find a way to express my personality while looking put-together, and finding clothes that looked good on my curvy body.

Through that journey, I came to discover I really do love clothes, but more importantly, I loved the feeling of putting on an outfit where I felt fabulous. It gave me an extra pep in my step and confidence as I went through my day. Eventually friends starting asking me for advice and styling tips, and that grew into a passion for helping women put the fun back into their closet through playful and inspired clothing and accessories. And to empower women to wear clothes they love and feel confident in.

Curly Girl Boutique is not just a retail storefront. It’s a full-service style experience: a place where women can come when they have had a major life or body change and need help finding their style again.

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

In June of this year (2022), my second son was born 3 weeks early, and to say I wasn’t ready would be a grand understatement. My first child was born nearly 2 weeks after his due date, so I had barely even started planning for a potential maternity leave.

As a small retail business, I was still a core member of my sales floor team and hiring help was slow and difficult. I had been looking for a store manager, but when no qualified applicants became apparent, I had to make a shift in my strategy. In fact, I had ended up having to do some hiring interviews via zoom from my hospital room after my son was born, and had to quickly delegate leadership to young employees who maybe weren’t quite ready for the challenge. But there were some diamonds in the rough, and some who rose to the challenge and pleasantly surprised me.

It ended up not being a completely ideal maternity leave, but I was able to continue supporting my staff from home, and then starting bringing my newborn into the store with me when I had to return.

We’d love to hear the story of how you built up your social media audience?

My advice for those just starting to build their social media presence is just to be consistent and remain true to yourself and your brand voice. There is no gimmick or quick easy way to gain true, loyal followers. It is a slow process. But I have had more and more customers come into the store saying, “I follow you on Instagram, and you do such a good job.” Your followers just want to see you having fun.

Contact Info:

• Website: https://curlygirlboutique.com/
• Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/curlygirlboutiquemn/
• Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/curlygirlboutiqueMN

Image Credits
Angela Divine Photography