We’re excited to introduce you to the always interesting and insightful Kathy Gills. We hope you’ll enjoy our conversation with Kathy below.
Kathy , thanks for joining us, excited to have you contributing your stories and insights. Coming up with the idea is so exciting, but then comes the hard part – executing. Too often the media ignores the execution part and goes from idea to success, skipping over the nitty, gritty details of executing in the early days. We think that’s a disservice both to the entrepreneurs who built something amazing as well as the public who isn’t getting a realistic picture of what it takes to succeed. So, we’d really appreciate if you could open up about your execution story – how did you go from idea to execution?
My inspiration & idea came from my mother, she was a big inspiration for me wanting to have my own boutique. Coming up as a teenager into my early adult years, she had her own boutique for the church women, that she ran from our garage, that was eventually turned into her shop that was called “Ida’s Designs & Accessories. My mother found so much join in selling and connecting with other women, and I can see why, because it was more than jus the money, but she built so many great friendships and relationships through her business. I think she gave away more clothes that she sold (LOL). The year of 2018, I felt like I was in a place of my life, to execute the passion of wanting to start an online boutique. My kids where grown and living their life, and I was married, and in a comfortable space in my life. After talking Praying & talking to my husband about my idea, he gave me his blessings to move forward. I came up with the name “Girl Friendz” because I love to hang out with my female friends to shop, eat, and travel. We just seem to always have a good time when we are together. This was the vibe I wanted the Boutique to have. After solidifying the name, we went to the court house to make the name official. Searching for vendors to order items was our next step, and this is where it became mind boggling, because what you see online is not what you always get, so taking a risk to shop with vendors you’ve never had dealings with was scary, but we had to start somewhere. While searching for vendors, we also came up with our logo, which was easy and so exciting to see, it made me feel like things where coming together. On December 28, 2018, we felt ready, and launched “Girl Friendz Boutique” in our home, with some of my closes family and friends. I’m still figuring things out today, because business is always evolving, so I continue to network, meet like minded people, and pray for direction.
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?
Girl Friendz Boutique for women’s fashion needs. We are dedicated to bringing you the ultimate experience in shopping, while delivering world class customer service. We pride ourselves in offering top fashion that are of great quality. No matter the occasion, Girl Friendz Boutique, has you covered. This is our Motto! What I am most proud of, is that we have have been Blessed to be apart of some awesome conferences here in the DFW area, and some of our pieces have been showcased all across the country. My main highlight for Girl Friendz, is that we keep our customers coming back, and we’ve been able to do that, because of our great customer service.
Any insights you can share with us about how you built up your social media presence?
Because my business is totally an online boutique, social media has really been a great source for building my audience. I created a business page on both Facebook and Instagram, sent invites to my family and friends, and also asked them to invite their friends to the page. Also creating good content, with great pictures, was also a plus in growing our social media presence.
The advise I would give someone just starting to build their social media presence, would be to stay consistent. I’m still working on consistency, because I do have a full time management job, and I’m currently taking college courses, so it gets hard at time to post all the time, but it is critical to your business.
We’d love to hear a story of resilience from your journey.
Being resilience in my journey as a boutique owner has been challenging but rewarding. I have faced many obstacles and setbacks, such as competition, market changes, customer demands, and personal issues. However, I have always tried to learn from my mistakes, adapt to new situations, and overcome difficulties with optimism and perseverance. I believe that resilience is not only a skill, but also a mindset that helps me to cope with stress and uncertainty, and to pursue my goals with passion and dedication. I am proud of what I have achieved so far, and I look forward to growing my business and reaching new heights in the future.
Contact Info:
- Website: https://www.girlfriendzboutiquetx.com
- Instagram: girlfriendzboutique1
- Facebook: Girl Friendz Boutique
- Linkedin: GirlFriendz Boutique