We recently connected with Gabby Bennett and have shared our conversation below.

Gabby , thanks for joining us, excited to have you contributing your stories and insights. Let’s talk about social media – do you manage your own or do you have someone or a company that handles it for you? Why did you make the choice you did?

I manage our social media at this time. I have learned a lot about the importance of social media for a growing brand. We love interacting with our customers and keeping them up to date on all our new products and events.

Gabby , 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?

We are a mother-daughter duo who opened up a women’s clothing boutique located in Denton, TX. We opened our storefront in May of 2022. It has been a dream to be able to own this business together and serve our customers in the Denton community!

I, Gabby, have previously worked in youth ministry but have always dreamed of owning my own business. I was inspired by my dad who owns his own business, Access Overhead Door, in Ft. Worth. He has always encouraged me to dream big and work hard toward my goals. I always thought I couldn’t start my own business until I was older but he and my mom encouraged me to pursue my dreams no matter what age…thus Third and Sage was born. I am so thankful for my parents’ support and that I get to own this boutique alongside my mom. Both of my parents have been pivotal in opening up Third and Sage. I grew up seeing their hard work ethic, the way they treat others with the utmost respect, and how their faith has inspired them to work hard in order to give abundantly to others. I am so proud to be their daughter and hope to impact others the way that they have.

We named Third and Sage after our favorite place to vacation as a family! Nestled in the Colorado mountians in a beautiful valley on the corner of Third Street and Sage Lane sits a cabin that is our home away from home. It only felt right to name this dream of ours after our favorite place to spend time together and recharge. You can find a beautiful painting of that cabin in a special place inside of our shop.

At Third and Sage, we specialize in women’s apparel, accessories, and gifts. Something unique about us is that we offer curvy sizes as well. Not many boutiques offer a full size range so we are proud to offer that. We hope that anyone who walks into our shop can find something just for them! We dream big over here and to us, it is so much bigger than just a boutique. Our hope is that our customers feel known and seen for just who they were created to be…uniquely you! There’s only one “you” and we hope our customers feel good in our clothes and learn to rock their style with confidence. We try our best to welcome every person who walks through our doors into our family. We pray that each person who steps inside Third and Sage leaves feeling uplifted and encouraged. We strive to create a relaxing and welcoming environment as we know that shopping can be a stressful and anxiety-producing event for some women. We have worked hard to create a space that feels peaceful when you walk through the doors and we train our staff to treat each person with dignity and respect while making them feel comfortable during their shopping experience with us. We are so proud to be a part of the Denton community and hope to give back as much as we can.

Do you have any insights you can share related to maintaining high team morale?

We value our staff and the ladies who work at our store so much. They help make Third and Sage what it is and we could not do it without them. We strive to maintain a positive and uplifting work environment. I believe that when you hire someone, you are investing in that person and investing in their future. As a business owner, I lead a team, I don’t manage them. I believe that being a leader has so much more value than just managing people and telling them what to do. I strive to know our employees personally and encourage them in their goals and endeavors through leadership. I believe that you can maintain high morale when you treat your employees with respect and desire to know them as a person. I also believe in hiring people who are smarter than you and have different strengths than you. You will eventually plateau if you don’t hire people who you can learn from and who will challenge you to grow as well.

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

We initially started the boutique online with the hopes to grow into a store front so we heavily relied on social media. We had to learn quickly what works and what doesn’t and what our customers want to see. We built (and are continuing to build) our audience mainly through Instagram and Facebook. Both of these avenues started primarily with our friends and family and have grown from the reputation that we are building and word of mouth. Since we prioritize our customers as humans and treat them as family, we have seen that they are more liable to refer friends to us. It has been so fun to see how people find out about us whether it was through a social media post or a referral. We are continuing to learn how social media can impact our business and are excited to learn and grow in the future.

Contact Info:

• Website: www.thirdandsage.com
• Instagram: thirdandsage
• Facebook: Third and Sage