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 this week. I am so excited because one of the most smiley and just, smiley, this is a good metaphor, a good analogy. What am I even saying? Holly, damn it, I love it when you smile. So good having you on the podcast.

Hi. That's quite welcome. Thank you. That was the weirdest welcome I've ever meant because I don't even know what I was saying. You're always smiley. When I see you, I appreciate that about you. So glad you're here. That was maybe a little bit better. That's perfect. Whatever was perfect. So whatever happens happens is good. Well, Holly, it's been fun to get to know you this year. Just at markets, we've been able to spend some time together and Mastermind, we've been able to spend some time together. And I've loved learning all about your business. So we're going to get into all the gift things today. Are you ready for this? Sure. Absolutely. I love gifts. It's going to be good. So as everyone is listening,

just give me some of your background. Tell me how you got into the business. I joke all the time

that my mom trained me as a shopper. She took me to every store imaginable as I was growing up,

both big department stores and small. And I just had a really interesting upbringing with that.

And then I continued my shopping habit as a adult. So, you know, to me, it's just such a joyful

thing to walk into a store where you feel welcome and it's bright and it's awesome and it's inviting.

And I just love that feeling.

So that's why I wanted to do what I do.

I love it. So that gave you the idea. When did you actually pull the trigger? When did the store start? How did you find your space? Tell me about the details.

In 2017, we opened in May, so actually our eighth year anniversary this week. Amazing.

It's amazing.

I've known about my location for a long time before it was built, and they took, you know, in Atlanta, everything's growing.

So they took a center, an area that was

needing redeveloped and they put a center. We are anchored with the Whole Foods. And I knew I

wanted to be where we were before we were there. So before they were broke ground on it. And so we

signed the lease while they were doing build out. And the first time I saw it off of paper was when I got the keys. So didn't get to walk it or anything. So

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