Business can be a lonely game, but it doesn't have to be.

Welcome to Boutique Chat, where we explore community over competition and how to scale your company with the balance and the happiness that we all seek.

We'll hear from product-based businesses of all types, retailers, e-commerce, and wholesale brands,

along with industry experts shaping the future of our industry.

I'm your host, Ashley Alderson from the boutique hub, and I can't wait to chat.

Hey, guys, welcome back to the podcast.

I am excited about this. You're going to have an opportunity to really take some notes today because I know this conversation is going to be a really valuable one. Caria, I'm so glad you're here. It's always good to see you. Last time I saw you, we were both randomly walking in a mall in Las Vegas. Yes, that was so weird. I saw your pink coat. I'm like, that's Ashley.

So random. We both were there for the NFR and, I think Hadley was with me. Yeah.

At the time we were shopping, right? Yep. Yeah, so good. Well, it's been a pleasure to just

get to see your journey unfold and to get to learn about your business a little bit deeper

through the hub over the last couple years. So I'm excited to share some of your experience with others today.

Let's get started here. Tell me about where you're from and about your business and how you

got started. Okay. I am from a small town in northeast Nebraska. Our business is in Wayne. We like to say Wayne America instead of

Wayne, Nebraska. So it's Wayne America. I got started in 2017 is when we opened our brick and mortar.

And it's kind of a funny story. I went to school for fashion merchandising and marketing at the university in Lincoln.

I've always loved fashion, helping people anything in clothes. I worked at boutiques in college

was where I kind of fell in love with it. And then I knew I wanted to move back home. So I went

to hair school. I did hair for three years and the ladies at the hair salon always knew I loved boutiques.

And one day I was shopping with my dad at a boutique and we were talking to the owner about owning a boutique and what that looks like and how she started.

And we left and I get a phone call from my salon owner saying that the space next door

had opened up and she thought I should open a boutique.

And the rest is history.

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