We recently connected with Sundae Oakes and have shared our conversation below.

Sundae, appreciate you joining us today. Before we get into specifics, let’s talk about success more generally. What do you think it takes to be successful?

I think defining what success means to you is the first step. The definition of success is different for everyone. This is something my husband (who is also a small business owner) and I often discuss. Success to me is not only measured by financial gains but more importantly the freedom of making our own schedules, my attendance at every sporting event for my son, taking off to visit with our daughter who lives out of town, the happiness I gain from doing what I truly love which is serving women on a daily basis and allowing my creativity to be shared with others. I am not someone who graduated college with a business degree, nor high school, having a support system in place that you can lean on, asking questions, hiring out experts who specialize in the parts of your business that you may be ready to off load, building an authentic brand combined with mental toughness, dedication, work ethic, & passion lead to success.

Sundae, 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?

As a young girl I was always pretty fascinated with design, fashion, art, etc. In high school I was sure of moving to a city and attending a fashion school once I graduated so I enrolled in apparel classes my sophomore year of high school where I also learned I was pregnant with my first child. When I had my daughter the summer before my junior year began, I quickly learned how difficult it was to be a mother at 16 while grieving the loss of my own mother who passed shortly before I gave birth. This led to me dropping out of high school and enrolling in classes to get my GED. From there on my daughter’s father and I went onto have a son. We divorced a little after his birth and I was able to obtain my insurance agent license to provide a stable life for my children and I. Going from being a child to a full blown adult and having to care for another human, my dreams to work in the fashion/retail industry almost became non-existent until an old friend and I had the idea to start an online boutique. We launched our first shop in early 2017. That online boutique was dissolved in late 2018 and I then launched my solo brand Brooklyn Jayne. Brooklyn Jayne is a brand that I have built from the ground up for the last 6 years. It’s my heart. We have both an e-commerce store which is our roots and a small curated B&M in San Marcos, Texas. We are here both online and in-store to make shopping effortless for women. We have a style bar in shop with a personal style survey I have created along with some color swatches to help women decide which color they feel most confident in. In a private online community group we do fit videos, ways to wear it videos, etc. I am here to serve women. This road has not been easy, my past is not pretty, I have jumped many hurdles to get to where I am today and am still growing and learning every day. I am most proud that the women who are apart of our shop journey know that and find a friend in me because of that. They know I’ll be on the sidelines cheering them on just like they do for me. Brooklyn Jayne is not just a shop with clothes inside, it’s a place where women can come and feel like they have support, love, and community.

Do you sell on your site, or do you use a platform like Amazon, Etsy, Cratejoy, etc?

I sell on Shopify. I have watched Shopify grow over the last 8 years and become one of the top e-commerce platforms to utilize in my industry. They have many integrable features, outstanding customer support, user friendly websites, insights and report features, etc. I always highly recommend Shopify for anyone looking into starting a product based business due to its affordable and easy to use plans.

Has your business ever had a near-death moment? Would you mind sharing the story?

I would say being organized is not one of my strongest suits so I will admit I have missed a payroll before. ONE time! I was honest with my employees, I gave them options on what I could do as an employer to solve the problem I created, and it was fine. No one died, the payroll company we use understood, my employees had grace on me and I learned my lesson. Use my planner!

Contact Info:

• Website: www.shopbrooklynjayne.com
• Instagram: @shopbrooklynjayne
• Facebook: Shop Brooklyn Jayne
• Other: Our Shop Address is: Brooklyn Jayne 102 Wonder World, Ste 302 San Marcos, Texas 78666

Image Credits
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