Alright – so today we’ve got the honor of introducing you to Lauren Linden. We think you’ll enjoy our conversation, we’ve shared it below.
Hi Lauren, thanks for joining us today. What’s been the best thing you’ve ever seen (or done yourself) to show a customer that you appreciate them?
My customer service is the best out there. I make it my business to be accessible and relatable to my customers. I worked in retail management for over 10 years before I started my boutique. I have learned first hand what it means to take care of your customer. I am also a consumer, so I know how I would want to be treated when spending my hard earned money. I provide real feedback about my clothing and accessories. I take pride in making sure I am putting out the best quality merchandise for my customers. Being a small business, for now, I love that I am hands on with packaging and shipping. Recently, a customer said I am faster than amazon prime with the shipping. Now, I can’t control USPS but when you order, I am right there ready to pack it and get it to your closet.
Great, appreciate you sharing that with us. Before we ask you to share more of your insights, can you take a moment to introduce yourself and how you got to where you are today to our readers
I worked in retail for over 10 years, When I graduated with my MBA, I went into healthcare IT. With more of a work life balance, I was able to focus on creating a retail business for myself. It actually started with me selling brand new or gently used items from my own closet. I love to shop and would often have more things in my closet than I needed. As time went on, people would say I love your style choices, i’m just not your size. That’s when I decided let me start my own online boutique. Starting out was not easy, especially doing it all on your own. Sourcing quality vendors was the toughest. I have spent thousands of dollars on inventory and not all of it was quality enough to put my brand’s name on it. In the last 3 years my business has grown tremendously. I do more pop up shops all over the US to get my brand out. I have the best vendors and I have even expanded to adding accessories and plus size. Fashion is truly my passion. With my boutique, I strive to put the look together for you or show you multiple ways to style the looks that one buys from me. I always encourage my Lola Babes ( what I call my customers :-) ) to talk me when they are making outfit choices. They can always reach out to me via DM on text to ask about sizing and fit or if they simply have a general question.
Any insights you can share with us about how you built up your social media presence?
Social media is always changing and it can be tough to navigate. However, one thing you have to be is consistent. I noticed the more consistent I was with putting out quality content the more people I would attract. You have to also stay on top of where your audience is. I recently created a tik tok. I did not want to because it is already hard enough to manage instagram and facebook but I had to pivot to grow my business. Besides consistent and quality content on social media, you also want to invest in marketing ads. Running campaigns on facebook and instagram really help put my business in front of a new audience constantly. I also invest in physical marketing such as passing out my business cards and placing my QR code stickers in different places locally and when I travel to different cities for work.
Any stories or insights that might help us understand how you’ve built such a strong reputation?
Who I am as person helped my reputation. I go above and beyond for people and I bring that to my business. I stand by having top notch customer service and I have the reviews on Google to back it up. I also have great relationships with some of my top customers. Through those relationships they vouch for me and my business when they are spreading the word or wearing my pieces out and about.
Contact Info:
- Website: www.fashionlolaboutique.com
- Instagram: @fashion.lola.boutique
- Facebook: FashionLoLa
- Other: TikTok: fashionlolaboutique
Image Credits
Photographers: Chris Triplett and Bashir Cotterell