Alright – so today we’ve got the honor of introducing you to Melissa Lopez. We think you’ll enjoy our conversation, we’ve shared it below.

Melissa, thanks for joining us, excited to have you contributing your stories and insights. Before we get into specifics, let’s talk about success more generally. What do you think it takes to be successful?

Success has a million definitions and means something different for everyone. For me it means achieving a goal but also having enough self-awareness to understand that sometimes goals can look different than the original plan so that I’m allowed to always learn and grow in my achievements.

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’m Melissa Lopez, Owner and Founder of Bella Brides. I started my boutique as an online retailer in the ‘90s as a hobby offering bridal accessories. Clients seemed to enjoy what I had to offer so from there I set a new goal to evolve this hobby into my retirement career and one day build a storefront where I could add in gowns. That goal was achieved in 2016 following an early retirement in 2015. Since then Bella Brides has been offering bridal, prom and special occasion gowns, veils and accessories to our clients from junior size 6 to plus size 32 women. Bella Brides is known for having some of the most beautiful gowns and many of our clients are plus size as they know they do not have to sacrifice style or brand. After all, Bella does mean “beautiful!”

How about pivoting – can you share the story of a time you’ve had to pivot?

When the pandemic struck Bella Brides had to pivot by changing gown price points to meet the needs of the new consumer, the “pandemic consumer” who had now become the “micro bride”. These were the brides marrying in their backyards, at parks, lakes, on farms and open spaces. Gone for the moment were the grand cathedrals and ballroom weddings with packed attendance. These brides wanted $1k and under gowns and Bella Brides had to quickly rise to meet this need by developing a Bella Brides in-house gown line that ranges from $550-$1k.

Another pivot that Bella Brides had to transition to was evolving into an off the rack boutique retailer as the pandemic created a supply chain crisis as brides became frantic to secure venue availability so we found brides scheduling appointments for wedding’s within a months time and we had to be ready! And ready we were!

Learning and unlearning are both critical parts of growth – can you share a story of a time when you had to unlearn a lesson?

When the pandemic struck Bella Brides had to learn to “say no” to a few of its long time vendors that normally would have been told yes with regard to purchasing minimums. Just as Bella Brides felt the stress and strain of the unknown that came with the pandemic, it brought out the worst in some vendors and part of financial survival is having a solid understanding of your own financial boundaries so that you know when a business relationship is no longer mutually beneficial. Unfortunately, this meant the loss of some goods that had worked well for Bella Brides clients but it also opened up new vendor opportunities that might not otherwise have happened so in the end everything truly does work out the way it needs to.

Contact Info:

• Website: www.bellabrides.us
• Instagram: Bellacedarhilltx
• Facebook: Bellacedarhilltx
• Twitter: Bellacedarhilltx
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• Other: www.bellabrides.us