We were lucky to catch up with Latonja Welch Smith recently and have shared our conversation below.
Alright, Latonja thanks for taking the time to share your stories and insights with us today. How did you come up with the idea for your business?
I have always been very fashion forward. When my daughters were in school I loved helping them put outfits together. With a big emphasis on accessories. Once they both went off to college. I started the business out of an empty nest. What started out as an accessories and jewelry business in 2012. Soon turned into a women’s boutique when I acquired a suite in 2016. We’ve been a vendor for numerous expos, festivals, pop up shops, fashion shows, conferences and more since the beginning. Currently we’re online only. Our customer base are from social media, events, and word of mouth.
Latonja , before we move on to more of these sorts of questions, can you take some time to bring our readers up to speed on you and what you do?
A women’s online boutique. We take pride in great customer service, affordability, and quality. You have to learn your customers style and price range. Once we’ve identified that, they become repeat customers. When new items come in we suggest it to said particular customers. We keep up with the latest trends in fashion. Our motto is “We accessorize women of all ages”.
Have you ever had to pivot?
When we added apparel to our business, we used models from the internet. In 2020 we started modeling most of the items and our sales increased.
What’s a lesson you had to unlearn and what’s the backstory?
That everyone isn’t our customer base. Even though, we sell items for women of all ages. Our items aren’t very upscale and that’s ok. It’s the everyday woman, stay at home moms, and the go jetsetters. We attract the everyday woman, stay at home moms, and the fashionista’s.
Contact Info:
- Website: www.bejeweledboutique615.com
- Instagram: Instagram.com/615bejeweledboutique
- Facebook: Facebook.com/bejeweled615
Image Credits
My husband Samuel Smith