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

Naomi, appreciate you joining us today. What sort of legacy are you hoping to build. What do you think people will say about you after you are gone, what do you hope to be remembered for?
I am still on my own journey of creating and building my legacy. But I can truthfully say that I hope for the same legacy that I have wanted from day one. The story of creating and building my business Naomi’s Styles Boutique is one of adversity. I hope that my legacy will help others know that with dedication and consistency they can find triumph through any barriers they may face. I hope that it inspires people to reach for their dreams and artistic passions and never give up on them. Through my businesses I have also had the pleasure of being able to provide woman with a type of fun, creative and personalized shopping and styling experience that brings woman a certain glow of happiness and confidence in themselves. Whether it be multiple storefronts, events we attend, popup shops, social media or any online presence we provide this value must also go on as part of my legacy.

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
Hello. My Christine but people call me by my middle name Naomi. I am first and foremost a mother to an amazing charismatic little boy who means the world to me. He is the reason I challenge myself to be better every day. Aside from being a mom, I own and operate Naomi’s Styles Boutique in Phoenix, Arizona. We were originally a storefront and transitioned into an online boutique in 2019. I am a proud Arizona native and was raised in south Phoenix most of my life. In high school I realized I had an interest in fashion. But it wasn’t until college that I realized the value and art of fashion as well as my own potential and vision in the industry.

In 2013 I moved to New York City and walked into an entirely different world of the fashion industry and gained so much. The storefronts, the fashion shows and creative street styles, they were all way ahead of time. Not to mention, a lot of the clothing was surprisingly quite affordable. So, when I moved back home, I realized my vision would eventually be to open a boutique style business selling women’s new and trendy clothing styles to the community at affordable prices. Before I would open this business, I did some acting and modeling myself for a while and was introduce to a show called Quinces Princess. It was here I was able to use my creativity and skills in styling cast members. I went on to also offer personalized styling experiences.

One of my clients I will always remember was a woman who had a demanding job and schedule and never had time to figure out what to wear and when to wear it. She hired me and I basically went in and took all her clothes out of the closet and we went through each item, bagging what was older and/or did not fit anymore, so we could donate them. I than put an entire weeks’ worth of outfits together for my client all while educating her on why certain pieces go together and what attire was appropriate for specific events, as well as what colors go well with her skin tone. I will never forget the expression on her face when we were done and the words she said. “I can’t believe you put this all together, I would have never thought to combine these items. I didn’t even know I had so many good things already here in my closet”. With a big glowing smile, she gave me a big hug. The value of making someone feel that way is why I carry that value in all my business today.

I am most proud of not only sticking to my value but also believing in myself and my business dreams. We must believe in what we are passionate about and push past any barriers and adversity we face. Especially in today’s economy limitations. If you are a small business owner, artist, philanthropist, or whatever industry you are in, if it is your passion, keep going, don’t give up!

If you are a current client of mine, potential client, customers, followers, fans, I want you to know that I will always strive to provide you with my best. I will stick to my value and provide customized styling to make you feel confident and comfortable. As much as possible, I will research and implement the latest trends in fashion for you, whether it be on Naomi’s Styles Boutique or on my Influencer platforms. You all deserve the best! Thank you for following my journey and for being a part of my legacy!

Let’s talk about resilience next – do you have a story you can share with us?
After closing my storefront and transitioning to an online store, I experienced a huge bump in the road that halted what I was expecting to be a new and exciting transition. In 2019 I became very ill. I was hospitalized for 4 days and restricted from working for over a month after. I had to move in with family to cut costs and cut out all expenses not contributing to my main means of living. This included my small business. I went through a very tough time. Having everything taken from you is physically and emotionally tough. At times I was understandably very sad and depressed. I am forever thankful for the support of family and friends at the time. Even thought this was a very difficult time, I could not stop thinking about my business and what would be. I am a very independent person, so living with others was tough for me. But not as tough as the thought of losing my business completely. I just couldn’t lose something that I had worked so hard for and believed in so much. So, since I was on bed rest anyway, I picked up my laptop and started organizing finances and figuring out how to keep a piece of my business alive. I ended up finding the value in using different platforms like Poshmark, offer up, eBay, etc. that require minimal labor. I put a freeze on any new inventory and focused on selling older stock. My only cost of business had boiled down to the cost of my website. Honestly, there were times where I made zero dollars, just a few dollars and even went in the red. But I knew I had to keep my business going. As my health began to recover months later, I was able to get a job and contribute more funding into building my business back up little by little. Today, it is still not where I wish it to be, BUT far from where it once was. I know the resilience I had is paying off and ended up opening my eyes to bigger and better opportunities for growth in my small business.

Any advice for growing your clientele? What’s been most effective for you?
The world we live in today lives and breathes social media. I struggled with this in the beginning because of my knowledge of it and time constraints. Although fun, innovative, and effective, developing and maintaining social media platforms to engage and grow clientele is not easy. It takes research, education, and consistency, which can be very time consuming. I am learning though this past year to allot that time and prioritize it because it will be the key to my growth as a small business. I am already seeing that difference.

Contact Info:

• Website: https://naomis-styles.myshopify.com
• Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/naomisstyles
• Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/naomisstyles
• Twitter: https://twitter.com/naomi_imparable
• Youtube: https://www.youtube.com/channel/UCZZb-I69vfYXJwIz2CcUQkg
• Other: https://www.instagram.com/naomi_imparable

Image Credits
Images by Seb