We were lucky to catch up with Shira Walden recently and have shared our conversation below.

Shira, thanks for taking the time to share your stories with us today Let’s kick things off with your mission – what is it and what’s the story behind why it’s your mission?

Everybody always asks me how I got into this business. This story is more about sisterhood than it is about a boutique. There are two sides to sisterhood. The first is mirroring, the search for oneself through reflection of the other—that which powers the undercurrent power struggle, competition, and insecurity; the delicate dance of love and hate that only siblings often share. Then there is the built-in best friend.
Tova always knew how to see the bigger picture. The first to dip her toe—actually, to cannonball—into the pool of opportunities, and pull me in afterward. Into the cold lakes spotted across Ontario, whizzing down the steep road in rollerblades she went, and I followed. From teaching dance to teaching high school she forged, and I joined. In a twisted sense of fate she got divorced, as did I the same calendar year. Much like brethren sharing a foxhole, we sought solace in each other. The unconditional love, mutual respect of sisterhood grew, and the competition faded into dust of the past immaturity.
Tova and I have a yin-yang thing going on. She is the Coke to my Sprite, the sweet red wine to my dry white, and most importantly, the air to my fire. What we discovered here is that together our differences create a more wholesome result. So Tova shared Fringe with me and eight months later we transformed it to Sisters on Fringe with two locations, one in Toronto and one in south Florida.
Fringe is a place where two sisters curate a collection of modest fashion for their communities. The racks are the confluence of female entrepreneurs, providing access to a wide range of modest fashion. The boutique is a culmination of many Jewish brands, bringing diversity, unity, and sisterhood.
Our motto here is dress to express, not impress. There is this idea in pop culture today of the ideal woman. It’s not explicitly said; it’s more of an image portrayed and taken in by the subconscious mind. We adopt this idea without even realizing it, of how one is supposed to look. It’s ever-present in our everyday lives, right there in the palm of our hands. To the point that when we look in the mirror, what we see reflecting back is what’s wrong rather than what’s right. How do I know? I have this large mirror in my store, leaning against a wall. Standing in front of that mirror is a vulnerable place for people to be. The truth is, there is no one way to look. Diversity is what makes us whole. The sum of our parts is greater than the whole. There is so much beauty in our differences. There is always a dress that is right—for your unique shape, for your style, and your expression. And what I want to create at Fringe is a celebration of life. To empower women to look in that mirror and see what’s right, to see their beauty and express it.

Shira, before we move on to more of these sorts of questions, can you take some time to bring our readers up to speed on you and what you do?

Everybody always asks me how I got into this business. This story is more about sisterhood than it is about a boutique. There are two sides to sisterhood. The first is mirroring, the search for oneself through reflection of the other—that which powers the undercurrent power struggle, competition, and insecurity; the delicate dance of love and hate that only siblings often share. Then there is the built-in best friend.
Tova always knew how to see the bigger picture. The first to dip her toe—actually, to cannonball—into the pool of opportunities, and pull me in afterward. Into the cold lakes spotted across Ontario, whizzing down the steep road in rollerblades she went, and I followed. From teaching dance to teaching high school she forged, and I joined. In a twisted sense of fate she got divorced, as did I the same calendar year. Much like brethren sharing a foxhole, we sought solace in each other. The unconditional love, mutual respect of sisterhood grew, and the competition faded into dust of the past immaturity.
Tova and I have a yin-yang thing going on. She is the Coke to my Sprite, the sweet red wine to my dry white, and most importantly, the air to my fire. What we discovered here is that together our differences create a more wholesome result. So Tova shared Fringe with me and eight months later we transformed it to Sisters on Fringe with two locations, one in Toronto and one in south Florida.
Fringe is a place where two sisters curate a collection of modest fashion for their communities. The racks are the confluence of female entrepreneurs, providing access to a wide range of modest fashion. The boutique is a culmination of many Jewish brands, bringing diversity, unity, and sisterhood.
Our motto here is dress to express, not impress. There is this idea in pop culture today of the ideal woman. It’s not explicitly said; it’s more of an image portrayed and taken in by the subconscious mind. We adopt this idea without even realizing it, of how one is supposed to look. It’s ever-present in our everyday lives, right there in the palm of our hands. To the point that when we look in the mirror, what we see reflecting back is what’s wrong rather than what’s right. How do I know? I have this large mirror in my store, leaning against a wall. Standing in front of that mirror is a vulnerable place for people to be. The truth is, there is no one way to look. Diversity is what makes us whole. The sum of our parts is greater than the whole. There is so much beauty in our differences. There is always a dress that is right—for your unique shape, for your style, and your expression. And what I want to create at Fringe is a celebration of life. To empower women to look in that mirror and see what’s right, to see their beauty and express it.

Can you tell us about a time you’ve had to pivot?

Before I joined my sister in Fringe and opened a branch here in Florida I was a, high school biology teacher, dance teacher, social media manager for doctors, secretary, business developer of a PCR lab, shadow for a special needs boy and ran a kindergarten classroom. The point is, it took me a while to find my forever job. There is so much pressure for 20 year olds to select their lifetime occupation and work toward building it. Not saying that doesn’t work for some people. What I am saying is that you shouldn’t be afraid to try different jobs. Each job that I did, i learned a valuable skill that I use in my business today. Not only that, each job taught me what I didn’t want to do, forever, day in a day out. Every job is going to have parts that you love and connect with and parts that are difficult to do. What carries you through the redundant work and hard times is the overall passion you have for the work and mission you are doing. Sometimes you don’t know if you connect to your work unless you try it. Don’t be afraid to just give it a go, get real experience in the work field, interact with and try a job you think you will like. Worse comes to worse, you will learn a valuable lesson and pick up some business skills while you are at it.

How did you build your audience on social media?

It was during COVID when I built my social media audience. I was working as a business developer for a lab during the time and the company went under when COVID hit. At the same time, my landlord asked me to sign another year lease on my rented apartment, and it didn’t sound feasible to me without income. I looked around for another job, until i realized that no one was hiring during a pandemic. I packed up all my things into a storage unit and drove from Florida to Toronto, ON Canada and moved in with my sister to hunker down during this unknown time. And- I was bored. She owned a clothing boutique and with my empty time I would try on her clothes and story about them, or create a dancing reel. I started pulling my sister into the reels too. Within a few months I doubled her sales in her boutique…. during a pandemic. What I found was most intriguing about our social media content was our authenticity. There is so much content out there, but humans crave humanity. They want that feel-good story about sisterhood. They are genuinely curious about your real life challenges. I’m not saying to spill your guts out there for the public to see, but the more authentic and sharing you are about your real life, the more people are gonna connect to you and stay engaged. It definitely doesn’t hurt to be entertaining too!

Contact Info:

• Website: https://fringeboutiquefl.com/
• Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/shiraonfringe

Image Credits
Lilyta Photography Legion Photography, Mauricio Chabarriaga