By starting Pink Lily as a side hustle, we
were able to learn a lot in the early stages while
maintaining our full-time jobs. This allowed us to
reinvest the profits we made back into the business
without having to pay ourselves salaries. It wasn’t
until we saw significant sales that we left our jobs
to focus full-time on the business. This gave us a
lot of flexibility and allowed the business to grow
naturally.
What media and marketing strategies did you
implement to transform an eBay shop to a
business with a huge following?
Lily was so overwhelming that within 6 months
we both decided to leave our “real jobs” to
concentrate on Pink Lily full time.
What is the inspiration behind the Pink Lily
Boutique? How were you able to
self-fund?
Our vision for Pink Lily has always been to be the
world’s best family-owned fashion destination for
trend-driven styles that offer superior quality and
value. We are focused on continually introducing
new looks with dozens of updated styles each
week and want to provide our customers with
captivating experiences. We love interacting with
Pink Lily fans on Instagram,
bringing them behind the scenes with us, and
involving them in everything from helping us
select styles to sharing tips for how they recom-
Social media has always been our top tool to
connect with customers, listen to their input and
involve them in how we grow the
business. We are incredibly active on
Facebook and Instagram where our
followers are also engaged, repeat shoppers.
Connecting with audiences through social has
allowed us to scale and grow awareness virally.
Some of the tactics we have used to engage our
followings on social media include hosting daily
contests, bringing customers behind the scenes
when we shop market events, letting followers
vote for what looks we bring into the store, and
featuring photos their own #PinkLilyStyle on our
homepage.
How do you keep your merchandise on trend?
Where do you seek style and trend
information from?
I am constantly reading magazines, reviewing
trend forecasts and visiting market events to keep
up on the latest trends. We also seek style advice
directly from our
customers. By bringing them behind the scenes
with me when I shop market shows, I’m able to
get direct feedback as to which looks they’d like
us to see bring into the shop. This kind of input
is immensely valuable in helping us ensure we’re
always focusing on the merchandise, styles and
trends our customers love.
www.clichemag.com
mend styling our looks.
Is it possible to sell trendy clothing that is also
high-quality? Where do you source
your clothing from?
Absolutely! Accessible price points don’t have to
mean low-quality. If our
merchandise isn’t high-quality then we wouldn’t
be providing our customers with value – no matter
what our prices are.We feature styles that are
sourced both abroad and right here in the United
States and with every single item we pay as much
attention to the quality as we do to the style.
What are some of your most popular pieces? Is
trendy clothing versatile?
Right now, some of our top trends for
summer include rompers, straw bags, knotted tees
an