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

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

I am Very fortunate to have the parents that I have. I am an only child, and my parents brought me everywhere with them. Their friends are my friends. What I think that that taught me was how to get along and communicate with all different ages and types of people. I don’t feel lonely, being alone, and I don’t feel overwhelmed being in a crowd. They taught me to be loyal and hard-working, and never lie. So many of the qualities that they raised me with have made me the business owner that I am. Helping women and men feel better about themselves when they leave the store.

Erica, 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?

I opened my first store because I felt like in the area that we live in and a lot of other areas, There was something missing in the retail stores. Shopping used to be a really fun activity for people where you would get pampered and helped. Now everyone just sits on their cell phones and don’t care to communicate with customers. I wanted to open a store that was more like a Styling service than just a retail store. A store that had all different products for all different sizes and ages of men and women. A place where a mother, a grandmother and a grandchild could all shop together and find something that they loved. A place where someone who isn’t used to finding their size can walk out with a full bag of clothes and tears in their eyes, because they feel better about themselves. A place where someone can go when they’re going for a first date and need a outfit or a place that they can go when they’re going in for an important interview and need something to make them feel confident. The best thing I’ve ever seen when someone comes out of a dressing room is a huge smile on their face and tears in her eyes saying that they have not felt this good about themselves in years. I get calls from customers saying that the outfit made their night the day before, and the compliments kept coming and boost their confidence, more and more. Those types of experiences make the hardships of owning a business worth it.

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

Saying yes, to almost everything. We’ve said yes to marketing strategies. Made mistakes. Learn from them. Pop-up shops. Advertising in all types of places. Social media. Having a marketing team. The last few years we’ve just tried everything. The more times people see your business name and your personal name the better. The more outfits we can get on customers that are out and about The better. The more times people say your name in the community the better. So just try it all.

We’d love to hear a story of resilience from your journey.

My first store was in a salon. When Covid hit we had to shut everything down. People weren’t shopping like they were before. So I started doing a gift basket delivery system totally different than what I used to sell in the store. I did it all from my house, and I drove around my area, delivering them and ship them all over United States. It was a gift that you could give someone like a nurse or a family member even though you couldn’t see them. We only had two days for the entire time. We were close that we didn’t sell anything. It kept us relevant and important, and kept us in business for when we got to reopen

Contact Info:

• Website: Dylanstar.com
• Instagram: Dylanstar.sb