We were lucky to catch up with Shanae Kidd recently and have shared our conversation below.

Shanae, looking forward to hearing all of your stories today. We’d love to have you retell us the story behind how you came up with the idea for your business, I think our audience would really enjoy hearing the backstory.

I first launched my online boutique in 2018 and honestly it was a flop, the only sales I got were from friends. The silver lining was the process. Although I had gained a base of business knowledge by obtaining my MBA, the process of actually creating my business was more impactful than any degree and it forced me to learn at an even higher potential. So although the 1st launch was to crickets, the skills I taught myself turned out to be invaluable. Instead of giving up, I decided to pause and re-think my business idea. As a lover of fashion myself, I turned to asking myself what problem I could solve. As a consumer I found myself searching for a dress for all of life’s occasions.. from date nights, girls night out, to attending a wedding, etc. After also putting out surveys to my ideal clients, I decided to niche down. I went from offering a variety of clothing to specifically offering dresses! That pivot to being a one stop dress shop really turned things around for me and I started actually making sales and my business continues to grow. I attribute this to solving a problem, niching down, and putting my customers needs and wants above my. own. Each one of my dresses is named and inspired by women I admire, this also allows me to pull in different styles and also make my business about them!

As always, we appreciate you sharing your insights and we’ve got a few more questions for you, but before we get to all of that can you take a minute to introduce yourself and give our readers some of your back background and context?

Girl Hi Boutique is a one stop shop for all things dresses. Whenever women find themselves saying “I need a dress for <insert occasion here>”, I’ve got them covered! I always like to say, never underestimate what putting on a dope outfit can do for your mood. During a time in my life where I needed all of the self love, I turned to finally following a longtime dream of owning a clothing store. I wanted a way to help create and bring back confidence in women, and clothing is such an easy way to do that.

Each one of my dresses is named after a woman in my life who I admire, that ranges from my mom, to friends, and even celebrities. I use them as a muse to select which dresses to provide.

In addition to running my business, I work full time as a Project Manager and me and my husband just welcomed our babygirl into the world last October! Needless to say all of this keeps me very busy, but it also keeps me humbled and I dream of growing my boutique into something I can pass on to my daughter!

We are online, however I do attend several pop up events in Phoenix and surrounding cities, those are my favorite as I love seeing customers face to face and seeing the excitement in them when they try on a dress!

Can you talk to us about how your funded your business?

Having a product based business is expensive! On top of all of the system costs, you have to buy inventory upfront in most cases. For me, I was able to fund my business by using my savings. On top of that, I started off really small and only had 8 items in my boutique. I think that’s smart, realize it’s ok to start small and then build up as you go.

What’s been the best source of new clients for you?

Tapping into my local community. Finding fashion influencers or models who are local to Phoenix, it creates a greater connection and is fun being able to meet in person. In turn they share and create content with their audiences. Another aspect of tapping into my community is by doing pop up events. This gives the best of both worlds of being in the online space but also to be able to reach people locally in person and creating relationships.

Contact Info:

• Website: https://www.girlhiboutique.com/
• Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/girlhiboutique/
• Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/girlhiboutique/

Image Credits
Araya Photography FemForce Photography