We’re excited to introduce you to the always interesting and insightful Marissa Gove. We hope you’ll enjoy our conversation with Marissa below.

Marissa, thanks for joining us, excited to have you contributing your stories and insights. Almost all entrepreneurs have had to decide whether to start now or later? There are always pros and cons for waiting and so we’d love to hear what you think about your decision in retrospect. If you could go back in time, would you have started your business sooner, later or at the exact time you started?

If I could go back in-time I would have started my business as soon as the idea had come to me in 2019. I ended up starting my business in August of 2022. I was a year out of collage and was working full time as a bookkeeper/account manager for an excavating company. I worked full-time and did my business on the side for almost a year before I opened my store front and decided to pursue the boutique full-time. From my experience staring after Covid ended a lot of people were ready to shop in-person again and not as many people were shopping online as they were during Covid. I did a lot of pop-ups when I could but was alway getting asked if I had a storefront. I had always dreamed of getting a store front so I knew it would be a good thing for my customers to be able to always shop in-person instead of just at pop-ups. If I would have not gotten in my head about the “judgment” I would get for starting a business I believe my store that started as online only would of grew greatly during that time due to the influx of people shopping online during lock down.

Marissa, 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?

I love shopping and I love to style pieces together so a Boutique was such a fitting business for me to pursue. I had watched endless videos and researched about opening a boutique on and off for a little over 2 years. I was always so afraid of what would happen if I opened a boutique between “judgment” and “failure” it took me the two years to get the confidence in my style that my community was lacking to finally open my own Boutique. Pink Petal Boutique is a Boho Western style Women’s Boutique. In the Manitowoc area this isn’t a style of clothing you find. I knew bringing this style to the area would give the opportunity to anyone who has a Boho Western style. A lot of our clothing items are versatile pieces that can be styled in so many ways to fit customers needs/style preference. We love to make everyone feel like they can express their personality through our clothing and give them the confidence to wear the outfit and not worry about what others may think.

We’d love to hear the story of how you built up your social media audience?

As soon as I started my business I set up both an Instagram and Facebook for the Boutique. I struggled a lot in the begging getting ideas of what to post, worried about everything being “aesthetic”, and just being in-front of the camera. As soon as I realized people aren’t only following because everything looks perfect but because of the brand I was creating it became much easier to be in-front of the camera and get ideas of what posts to make. I stay active on my stories daily and try to post multiple times a week. I like create styling videos, behind the scenes, and fun/goofy videos. To anyone who is just starting their social media presence I just encourage you to be your authentic self and that is how you will attract the right people to your page.

Where do you think you get most of your clients from?

The best source of new customers for me has been having my store front. Being right in downtown Manitowoc has made my business visible to anyone in the community and people visiting the area. The store front has grown my customer base and has helped me get customers who only shopped online to my store front. It also has giving me the opportunity to reach the people who are visiting the area to shop online when they aren’t in the area anymore.

Contact Info:

• Website: https://pinkpetalboutiquellc.com
• Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/pink.petal.boutique/
• Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/PinkPetalBoutiqueLLC/