We recently connected with Julia Freeman and have shared our conversation below.

Alright, Julia thanks for taking the time to share your stories and insights with us today. So, naming is such a challenge. How did you come up with the name of your brand?

I’ll be honest, I don’t feel that I am the best at things like picking a company name. I didn’t want to go the route of using my name when I started my company but I am sentimental so I came up with The Avera Boutique. Avera, pronounced “Avery”, is a town in Mississippi where my great, great, great grandparents lived and ran a boarding house. I’ve always thought that the Avera boarding house was a cool bit of family history so I used that to come up with my company name.

Awesome – so before we get into the rest of our questions, can you briefly introduce yourself to our readers.

I started The Avera Boutique while still in college, I was looking for a way to make money using my creativity. When I started, I was just making and selling handmade journals but my business has grown over time and I’m so glad it has. My main product focuses currently center around stationery and novelty products. My best sellers are my enamel pins and I have to admit, they are currently my favorite to design and illustrate.

Can you talk to us about manufacturing? How’d you figure it all out? We’d love to hear the story.

I do get help with manufacturing with some of my products. The first product I had manufactured was my first enamel pin. I felt like I didn’t know anything and it took me a long time to take the leap but I have learned so much since then. Thankfully, there are a lot of resources available when it comes to learning about manufacturing and finding companies to work with. YouTube has been a helpful resource for me for several manufacturing related questions. One of the biggest things to know about manufacturing is that it can be risky. There are things I have manufactured that have sold very well and other things that have not. Manufacturing requires large up front costs and not every product will sell well. Working with new manufacturers always feels a little risky too because you have no relationship with them but the best advice I have is to research, research, research. Some good places to start: Google, YouTube, FB groups, Alibaba, other makers in your space that are open about the manufacturers they work with.

What’s worked well for you in terms of a source for new clients?

Defiantly Etsy. I am not great at SEO or advertising. With Etsy, like many platforms, there is already clientele, you aren’t working from zero to build an audience like you do with a stand alone website.

Contact Info:

• Website: theaveraboutique.com
• Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/theaveraboutique/?hl=en
• Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/theaveraboutique
• Youtube: https://www.youtube.com/channel/UCYYMqH2rzFoZsGKeja6K7OQ