We were lucky to catch up with Kaitlyn Rodenbucher recently and have shared our conversation below.
Kaitlyn, thanks for taking the time to share your stories with us today Parents can play a significant role in affecting how our lives and careers turn out – and so we think it’s important to look back and have conversations about what our parents did that affected us positive (or negatively) so that we can learn from the billions of experiences in each generation. What’s something you feel your parents did right that impacted you positively.
I have always felt “non-traditional” in terms of typical career path. My parents have always supported that part of me, which made it easier for me to believe in my career choices.
I struggled with finding a part-time job i didn’t just up and quit, i couldn’t ever interview like i felt like other could, and honestly i’d rather struggle financially then have sold myself to the corporate world.
I have always felt entrepreneurial, back from selling girl scout cookies door to door (early 2000’s was something lol). to having multiple businesses throughout college, freelancing, and now GARMS.
My parents have always showed up for me through all of those. Supporting me in that way really made a difference of me believing in myself, trusting my gut, and going for what i want. It gave me the courage to just go for it. I know I am really lucky to have had that.
As always, we appreciate you sharing your insights and we’ve got a few more questions for you, but before we get to all of that can you take a minute to introduce yourself and give our readers some of your back background and context?
hi, i’m Kaitlyn, found and stylist behind GARMS, a clothing brand.
GARMS curates small batch collections that provide a multitude of styling opportunities and constructs confidence through new and pre-loved clothing selections.
My inspiration for GARMS was my background as a Stylist. I saw the gap between women and their confidence far too often.
“I haven’t wore shorts in forever” “I don’t look good in X” “I can’t wear X” etc. etc. No matter who, there was always something wrong with them.
I’d find women who finally found that perfect pair of jean confidence immediately grow, this is where i found the most excitement through that job. From there I wanted to create a brand that offers staple pieces with an emphasis on styling elements and supports women.
I was able to take aspects from the styling job, and my previous marketing life to combine all the things I love. GARMS is still a baby at this point, but building slowly which was always my intention. I have build a wonderful community thus far and am excited to see where she goes from here.
How did you put together the initial capital you needed to start your business?
I spent hours trying to find funding options, and trying to understand how and where I could get some capital to start my business.
Honestly, I had shit credit from a previous life and there was no way I was going to get funding through those options. I also didn’t want 10k i wanted 3k, my intention was always to start small. Something that I knew no matter what happened I could pay back.
So I pitched my mom. I did all the research I could on what I would need to start, luckily it was just product so I pitched her for 3k and to give me a few years to truly start to build it.
Year 2 goal is to give her back her investment with gains!
We’d love to hear your thoughts about selling platforms like Amazon/Etsy vs selling on your own site.
I am only on Shopify.
From my previous marketing experience other platforms are great but there are also caveats. Amazon is an insane amount of work. There are many reasons I don’t want to be on there outside of that such as brand exclusivity and I feel there is a loss of control with customer service.
As a solo business owner, more platforms simply means more work. more isn’t always more in that sense.
Contact Info:
- Website: https://www.garms.shop
- Instagram: https://instagram.com/garms.shop_
