We caught up with the brilliant and insightful Maggie Matthews a few weeks ago and have shared our conversation below.

Alright, Maggie thanks for taking the time to share your stories and insights with us today. What do you think it takes to be successful?

To be successful I believe that you have to work hard, treat people fairly and with respect, and most importantly build relationships with the people around you or in your business. My bridal shop has become what it is now mostly because of the way our customers have always been treated. I believe my personality has grown my business to be very successful. I view my customers as friends and have built lasting relationships with them which I believe has made more people want to come to me to shop for their wedding dress.

Maggie, love having you share your insights with us. Before we ask you more questions, maybe you can take a moment to introduce yourself to our readers who might have missed our earlier conversations?

My name is Maggie Matthews, and I am the owner of a luxury bridal boutique named Margaret Ellen Bridal in Santa Rosa Beach, Florida. At a very young age I had a desire to become a wedding dress designer. As I grew older and was faced with the choice of my career path, I ended up choosing to study elementary education and taught elementary school for six years in the Mississippi Delta. I was a few years into my teaching career when I decided that teaching was not my passion and it wouldn’t be fair to my students, their families or to myself and my family to continue to teach. During year five, I fell in love with the world of bridal and the thought of owning my own bridal boutique consumed me. After doing market research in the area, I wanted to open and education from the Small Business Association, I decided that I would make this dream a reality and begin the process of starting Margaret Ellen Bridal. Eleven months later I moved my family from Mississippi to the Florida Panhandle to open my bridal salon. Margaret Ellen Bridal carries nine of the top wedding dress designers and two of the leading bridal accessory lines. Our bridal appointments are private, giving brides a personalized and intimate experience while working with a dedicated and knowledgeable bridal stylist. My dream of working with beautiful dresses and pairing brides with their wedding day look turned into so much more than the pretty that surrounded me. I quickly realized that my favorite part of what I get to do each day is building relationships with the women around me in what is the happiest time of their life. I believe what sets Margaret Ellen Bridal apart from any other bridal salon is the friendships that are created within our walls. I am proud of what this business has become in its six years of existence.

We’d love to hear about how you keep in touch with clients.

When brides purchase their dress from Margaret Ellen Bridal, we always begin following them on social media, especially Instagram. We post their YES photo, tag them and begin that online relationship. We have been in business for six years and I still get to look back on my early brides and see the milestones in their lives, which is so fun and amazing. I have watched brides become mothers, lose family members, finish school, create their own businesses and so much more. It is so nice to be able to keep up with all the women we have helped through social media.

We also host “Bride Nights” which allows past and current brides to come in and hang out with us while doing a fun activity such as a paint night, floral making class, etc. It is fun to reconnect and create a community within our business.

Can you tell us about what’s worked well for you in terms of growing your clientele?

The most effective way we have grown our business and clientele would definitely be through our brides and them speaking of our business outside into the community. We have made a name for ourselves from the way we treat our customers and the relationships we have built to our amazing inventory and keeping up with the trends that people want to shop at Margaret Ellen Bridal. Seeing people travel out of state and miles to come shop with us has absolutely been one of the most rewarding parts of having this business.

Contact Info:

• Website: www.margaretellenbridal.com
• Instagram: @margaretellenbridal
• Facebook: Margaret Ellen Bridal
• TikTok: @margaretellenbridal Pinterest: margaretellenbridal Threads: margaretellenbridal

Image Credits
@refinedbusinesscollective @fyimages