Alright – so today we’ve got the honor of introducing you to Whitney Robinson. We think you’ll enjoy our conversation, we’ve shared it below.

Whitney, thanks for taking the time to share your stories with us today One of the things we most admire about small businesses is their ability to diverge from the corporate/industry standard. Is there something that you or your brand do that differs from the industry standard? We’d love to hear about it as well as any stories you might have that illustrate how or why this difference matters.

Gypsy Feathers slogan is Blending in is Boring. Right when you walk into the store you will see just why. Our store is decorated with tons of color, really fun wallpaper, and lots of fun touches – we even have glitter on the walls. Most retail stores build out a box and hang their clothes in there to sell. Here at Gypsy Feather, we want you to experience more than just your everyday shopping trip. We want to excite all your senses when you walk through the doors. It’s almost like an art immersion experience and a retail store all in one. Even at night we are making a statement. When the lights turn off and the store closes, black lights kick on in the windows and all our mannequins are painted with glow with the dark art and out Blending in is Boring neon sign glows. We even have fun laser lights!

We carry a wide variety of athletic wear, athleisure wear, boutique clothing, fun crystal jewelry, festival clothing, turkish towels, and so many more fun gifts such as candles, crystals, and cookbooks! It really is your one stop shop for anything you need. Here at Gypsy Feather, we love the matching workout sets. You will find over 75 fun and unique matching sets to choose from. We also carry a wide variety of jackets, shorts, tanks, and pretty much anything you need to workout, lounge or go out. We pride ourselves in providing high quality clothing without a big price tag.

Our jewelry is another showstopper that sets us apart from other retail stores. We have hundreds of one-of-a-kind crystal pieces that are handmade with love in Indonesia. We also carry a couple other designers that make very unique statement pieces.

So what are you waiting for? Come check out our new location at 687 S Coast Hwy 101 Suite 105 right next to Bier Garden.

Whitney, 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?

My name is Whitney Robinson and am the Founder of Gypsy Feather. I have always loved to travel and one of my favorite things about traveling was finding fun and unique pieces of clothing or jewelry and bringing them home as a souvenir. On one trip to Southeast Asia, I met a gemologist who made jewelry. We exchanged contact information and began to collaborate to create a fun line of jewelry that I could sell in the states. I wanted something that was unique and you didn’t see anywhere else.

On that same vacation, my husband and I were hiking up Mt. Batur at sunrise and I was thinking of fun names for the boutique. Gypsy Feather popped into my head and I loved it. I had lived with a Gypsy Soul most of my life traveling around and seeing the world and feathers are attached to birds that fly high in the sky seeing all parts of the world. Feathers also symbolize strength and growth – two things I find very important in life. It stuck and I still love the name.

We opened up Dec 2019 in a little 100 sf boutique in downtown Encinitas, then covid hit. I was all geared up to put my name on the map by going to street fairs and pop ups and that was all put to a halt due to covid. I began to build an online store and market through social media. I had to adjust to be able to keep it alive. We were trucking along when I saw an opportunity to change directions a little.

I was working out at home since all the gyms were closed and I was not very motivated. My workout gear was all old and mismatched and my dumpy clothes were not adding to my motivation. I went online and pretty much every cute workout set I liked was over $200. I couldn’t believe it. Why were they all so expensive?

I set an intention to create a fun, unique, and high quality workout line that wouldn’t break the bank. I wanted to have a plethora of choices with tons of colors and prints. Most athletic stores I walked into offered a very neutral color palette and there were only a few different styles to choose from. I wanted customers to be able to come in and find a fun set that they won’t see 10 other girls wearing at the gym.

Ever since I was a little kid, I have always worn bold and unique clothing. When I was in high school, I used to sew my own clothes and wear them to school. I loved to have things that were different and not what everyone else had. This continued on throughout the years. I love to wear really fun clothing and many pieces that I wear are great conversation starters. Many of these things I carry at Gypsy Feather. In addition, my pink hair makes for a great conversation starter as well.

It took awhile for me to navigate my way through this process but now we have a beautiful store filled with tons of great products. I love to share my story and hope that it can show women that it is ok to stand out and be your true self. You can dress however you please and it is ok. I want each women to find their inner Goddess and let her shine.

What else should we know about how you took your side hustle and scaled it up into what it is today?

When I moved to California in 2018, I began a commercial real estate career. I was new to the real estate world, so I had a lot to learn. I was really enjoying learning the business and loved that I was able to break into a new field and expand my knowledge. There wasn’t much creativity that was needed to be able to lease out a commercial space, so I decided to start a fun and unique jewelry line. Gypsy Feather was born to let my creative side run wild and it was a passion project. About a year in, I saw a need for a fun and colorful athletic line. I did my research and rolled out Gypsy Feather athletic. It was a huge success so I leased up a larger space and built out a really fun boutique. I am still doing commercial real estate as well as running Gypsy Feather and loving every minute of it. Gypsy Feather has turned into a passion project that I can now live in and share everyday.

How about pivoting – can you share the story of a time you’ve had to pivot?

In my late 20s I was living in Austin, single and traveling the world. Not a care in the world and no one to worry about or feed other than myself. I was very free, but I knew that something was missing, I just couldn’t put my finger on it. I was comfortable in my job, but it wasn’t pushing me to learn new things or better myself in this world. I was thinking I was ready for a move or a change but I was scared to take the risk.

Cinco de Mayo is one of my college girlfriends birthdays. She moved to California after college and was living in Oceanside. She was having a couple friends out for her birthday and we were all going to go wine tasting in Valle de Guadalupe. I bought a ticket and hopped on a plane to go out and visit her. The day I got there, we were going to Taste of Cardiff to meet up with a few of her friends. We didn’t have time to stop by her house to change so we ran by one of her friends houses in Encinitas. We pulled into this amazing property that looked like you were in Hawaii. Lots of plants and a really unique house. We go inside and it was completely empty. There were two lawn chairs in the living room and a 18 foot semi circle mattress wrapped in plastic in the master bedroom with 2 sleeping bags on it. I couldn’t quit laughing. Who lives like this? No one was home so we changed and went on to the event.

When we arrived at the event, I met Adam (the guys who lives in the house we were just at). He was about a foot shorter than me in my heels but very nice looking guy and we hit it off. That weekend we spent every minute together and by the time I left, he called me his girlfriend. He even planned a fun Tulum getaway that was about 6 weeks down the road that weekend.

We went back and forth several times over that 6 week time period and always had a really great time. He flew down to Austin to meet me before the trip to Tulum so we could be on the same plane. When we arrived in Tulum, and it was pouring. We were scheduled to go on a tour the next day and I asked him if we should cancel. He refused and said we are going to a cenote so it doesn’t matter if it rains, we will still have fun. Little did I know that he would propose in that cenote the next day, after only knowing me for 6 weeks. I thought he was crazy, I thought it was a joke. I was speechless for about 5 minutes before I said yes.

Everyone thought we were crazy, and my friends thought I had lost my mind. It took me about 3 months to get everything together and move out to California. We have now been together 4 years, married for 3 and couldn’t be happier. I was inserted into an insta-family. I now have 3 step kiddos, 6 dogs, 9 chickens, 1 sulcata tortoise, and a pot belly pig. I started a new career and built up my dream business. I quit drinking and became mostly gluten and dairy free. During covid I wrote and published an entire gluten & dairy-free cookbook, The Barefoot Gypsy.

A ton has changed over the past 4 years in my life. It is all for the better and had I not met Adam I would not be on this path.

Contact Info:

• Website: Gyspy-Feather.com
• Instagram:@GypsyFeatherEncinitas
• Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/gypsyfeatherencinitas

Image Credits
Laura Bravo Mertz, Todd Murphy Art