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

Alright, Hayley thanks for taking the time to share your stories and insights with us today. How did you find your key vendor or vendors? Maybe you can share the backstory and share some context and the relevant details to help us understand why you chose them, why they chose you, etc.

Part of finding my vendors just came from already being submerged in the world of independent designers and sustainable kids wear for my own family. I’ve kept a list of brands I wanted to carry in my store ever since the idea to open one popped into my head. I am always looking for brands that take their impact on the environment seriously, as well as having their products ethically produce— meaning the people making the clothing are being paid living wages and working in fair conditions. Representation and inclusivity is also something I look for when finding brands to carry. I want to see diversity in the models they use. Once I’ve checked those boxes and decided a brand would be a good fit for my store, I’ll send them an email inquiring about their wholesale policies and we will go from there!

Hayley, 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 got into this industry through falling in love with slow fashion for my whole family. Through that, I’ve learned so much about the negative impacts of fast fashion, and have reached a point where it’s honestly just gross to me. I realize that it’s a privilege to be able to shop more consciously, as clothing that is made with natural fibers by workers who are being taken care of are definitely an investment that isn’t accessible to many.

I actually found this little community through thrifting and buying/selling in Facebook groups! After I had my first child, we spent most of our days in thrift stores. There was a group I was in where we would do what was called “live thrifting”. We’d make a post while in the store and share what we were finding along with a PayPal link for people to pay for things they wanted. It made it so much fun and I was able to make a little bit of money while doing what I loved, and that money typically covered what I was spending on our personal finds. Covid pretty much killed the live thrifting groups, as well as shipping costs going up, but it was fun while it lasted. Anyways, through that, I found a lot of new brands I loved and learned about textiles and just how much better it feels to wear natural fibers like cotton, linen, hemp, etc. rather than clothing that is essentially made of plastic. Now if I wear something synthetic, I sweat SO MUCH. It’s gross. So I’ve become very passionate about finding clothing that is good for our bodies as well as the environment.

I decided to start my store because in my area, there aren’t any stores carrying the types of clothing I want to buy for myself or my family. I also get a lot of compliments on how I dress my kids when we’re out, because many people around here just haven’t seen that type of clothing for kids before. They’re used to stuff they see in the big box stores that have words or rainbows and trucks and super bright colors on them. I keep a pretty minimal, earthy palette, which makes it easy to not only mix and match basically everything, but also makes it easy to pass down to siblings and/or friends, no matter the gender. I think that’s what sets me apart from other stores. Also just the passion I have for the behind the scenes of what I’m bringing in. I don’t just see something cute and say oh yes, I need that in my shop. To me, it’s not cute if the people who made it were forced to work for free or very little. I take a lot of pride in making sure the things I carry are top quality standard and have good ethos to back them up. It’s easy to justify the price point as an investment when that money isn’t just going into the pockets of some CEO somewhere.

Shopping more purposefully is something we should all be trying to do. Fast fashion isn’t good for anyone.

Can you open up about how you funded your business?

I started VERY small. With about $2k, and I made it go as far as I could. I got my LLC, built my website, and found a couple of brands to bring in to start with. A lot of what I carry is vintage clothing I’ve sourced myself over the years, so that was really helpful as far as not having to pour a ton of money into inventory. I still don’t have a huge inventory, and I probably never will. I’m very careful with what I buy and I continue to learn what sells best for me, so I reinvest in those things and get a little bit more each time I purchase.

Can you share a story from your journey that illustrates your resilience?

The hardest part of all of this has been working from home with 3 kids 5 and under. Finding the time to sit and get anything done is near impossible. I still haven’t figured out a perfect recipe for time management. Social media is also a big challenge. It used to be a lot easier to reach your audience than it is now, and it has caused a lot of small businesses to close their doors. So navigating that is a daily struggle. I’ve leaned into doing pop-ups more often and I really enjoy that.

Contact Info:

• Website: Memphisjune.com
• Instagram: Instagram.com/shopmemphisjune
• Facebook: Facebook.com/memphisjune
• Other: You can join our VIP Group on Facebook at https://www.facebook.com/groups/163887116474943

Image Credits
The 6th photo (where you can see the rainbow at the bottom) is by PBT Photography