We recently connected with Michaeline Fraser and have shared our conversation below.
Michaeline, thanks for joining us, excited to have you contributing your stories and insights. Often the greatest growth and the biggest wins come right after a defeat. Other times the failure serves as a lesson that’s helpful later in your journey. We’d appreciate if you could open up about a time you’ve failed.
As an entrepreneur I am always looking for ways to improve. I’ve taken a lot of courses and like to spend time on YouTube University to find ways to improve my business, my mindset etc. During the end of 2021 I decided to put my business on hold so that I could focus on building capital and starting a 2nd, easier business model. This would improve my cash flow and provide capital for my fashion brand. One thing about starting a fashion e-commerce brand is that it takes work. I share this with my interns frequently– that if you’re starting a fashion brand just to make money there are many other business models where you can scale to a profitable revenue quicker and easier. I have decided that my company, The Posh Supply is something that I genuinely love doing. I don’t mind doing the extra work because I know this is what I want to commit to in the long term.
With that being said I closed in 2021 to think about the direction of my business and to build capital. I decided to start a sister company to The Posh Supply, a beauty brand, Posh Beaute. Within this business I sold lashes and press on nails in a beauty vending machine. This business model was related to my industry and would provide a reliable source of income to help produce quality content for my clothing brand, and also leads for my fashion brand. I spent months working multiple jobs and saving just so I could place my machine at The Bowie Town Center. My machine was placed May 2022, but unfortunately 10 days later my machine was completely vandalized and robbed. I felt like my journey to entrepreneurship was over. I was in my second year of business, on my 3rd business venture and still had not been able to develop a consistent sales cycle. (No my insurance did not cover this incident unfortunately)
Anyone who runs a business knows how much time we dedicate and months of work was destroyed in a few minutes. This was devastating.
Although this was challenging I felt like God was telling me not to give up yet. As a result I have evolved my beauty brand and I now sell kinky straight tape-ins online. I’ve decided to re-focus my efforts on my e-commerce business model and I am happy with the direction both of my businesses are going in.
Will I ever place a vending machine again? who knows. but as for now I am working to make everyday glam accessible to my community. I only sell products that I believe in. I sell kinky straight tape-ins because this style provides an easy hairstyle to women who want that well put together look everyday without having to do much work. With my clothing brand I focus on providing easy to style sets so that you can look styled without having to put a lot of effort into planning your outfit.
It’s my mission to provide products and services that make it easier for women to show up at their best, and feel and look amazing (without working too hard)!
You can find me at: https://theposhsupply.us & https://posh-beaute.co
Michaeline, 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 have always enjoyed fashion and have worked in the fashion industry since I was 17. I decided during the beginning of the COVID-19 pandemic to start my work as an entrepreneur. I’ve had some trials and errors and started and stopped a few businesses but that’s a part of the journey. After taking several classes and thinking about the niche I wanted to occupy I decided to serve a market that I identified with. As a boss babe who enjoys looking good, I figured providing clothing items and hair that also serves this market would be fulfilling. How often do we get cranky and lack focus because our hair isn’t styled the way we want or we feel like we don’t have anything to wear? I created my brands to make it easier for women to approach those daily life decisions. I hope they feel that when they shop with my brands. Prior to owning my business, I spent a lot of time thinking about cute outfits that meshed well with my laidback lifestyle and I created my brand to provide similar items to those who feel the same. They may not want to be full glam because they’re not going to a huge event but they still want to feel good about their hair and clothes without spending too much time trying to figure it out.
I have 2 businesses. I sell easy to style sets and outfits, where everything is under $50 through my clothing brand, The Posh Supply. (https://theposhsupply.us)
I sell kinky straight tape ins through my beauty brand Posh Beaute. (https://posh-beaute.co)
I definitely pride myself on providing high quality customer service and providing a great experience with my brand. From the detailed packaging to prompt responses to any customer inquiries. In this day and age there are so many digital business owners that simply do not care and that is never OK. It can feel difficult to voice a complaint or ask questions and I try to respond quickly to all inquiries and fairly resolve any potential concerns. I’m big on that because I know we all work hard for the things we have and I would never want to come off as entitled to what others have. I’m a business and at the end of the day we’re here to meet your needs! Community is also important, we often feature our posh babes on our Instagram and actively respond and chat with our followers in the DM and show love to their pages! We’re not that super mysterious, ego driven company–we’re on social media to be social and love to engage with others! We’re not here to take people’s money, I have plenty of women who I provide styling support to and answer fashion or beauty related questions without expecting a sale or anything in return.
Can you talk to us about how you funded your business?
Even before I became a business owner I was always interested in wealth and financial management, I studied economics in undergrad and worked in finance for a few years. That being said It’s important to have a budget to see how you’re spending your money so you can decide the best way to cut costs. I didn’t want to look into loan options, because I believe borrowed money should only be applied to scalable, reliable and profitable business decisions. I’m still in a place where I am testing the most profitable way to grow my business. Once I have a consistent strategy I may look into outside capital to scale at a faster pace.
Pulling together my initial capital was challenging but I did two things. I spent a lot of time learning and finding hacks so that I could start with the smallest amount of money. (Finding quality but low-cost photographers, using Fiverr, learning how to build websites on my own etc) I had to choose what I was willing to learn (to save money) and find cheaper options when I needed to outsource. Once I decided what I would need for my business I created a budget and set a goal. I worked two jobs and used most of my disposable income to buy things over time. Once I had everything, I needed it took about 6 months. I recommend finding work that you enjoy and can do for long periods of time so that while you’re working and saving you don’t get burnout.
Any advice for growing your clientele? What’s been most effective for you?
TikTok! Although the algorithm does change, (the way all social media evolves) to date this has been the easiest platform to grow my brand. Tiktok gives you a platform to go viral organically which I think it still hard to do on other platforms. Virality is not important for the fame but because it increases the number of eyes on your content and gives you a way to build your sales funnel and now bring people into your community. I have tiktoks for both of my businesses
Clothing brand – https://www.tiktok.com/@
Beauty Brand – https://www.tiktok.com/@
These followers will also sign up for your email lists and follow you on Instagram or other platforms so it’s a great way to connect. It’s also easier to create content for tiktok because since it’s video your content does not have to be super perfect or fit a certain aesthetic; it just has to be engaging. I haven’t figured it all out because great marketing truly requires trial and error over and over and over again but I’m slowly but surely finding my tribe.
Contact Info:
- Beauty Brand Website: https://posh-beaute.
co - Clothing Brand Website: https://
theposhsupply.us - Instagram: https://www.
instagram.com/poshbeaute.co/ - Twitter: https://twitter.com/
theposhsupply - Youtube: https://www.youtube.
com/channel/ UCIy1sZGUzKQdNmfztwMTNjw