#806: The Messy Middle of Building a Business

Boutique Chat

Ashley Alderson

Entrepreneurship, Business, Marketing

4.9 • 867 Ratings

🗓️ 7 April 2026

⏱️ 23 minutes

🔗️ Recording | iTunes | RSS

🧾️ Download transcript

Summary

Sponsored by Color Guru
This episode is sponsored by Color Guru. Boutique Chat listeners receive $350 off Color Guru Academy with code: BOUTIQUE350. Learn more at: https://www.colorguruacademy.com/

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What does it actually look like to grow a boutique from nothing… into multiple thriving businesses?

Ashley sits down with Alyssa Wagler, owner of Top Notch Boutique, who built her business from the ground up—beginning in a mini barn and growing into storefronts, wholesale, and custom manufacturing.

But growth didn't come with a clear plan… and it definitely didn't come easy. This is the real, unfiltered conversation about what happens when your business starts working—and you're forced to figure out how to scale it in real time.

You'll learn:

How Alyssa started her boutique with no experience
The moment her business unexpectedly took off
Growing from one location into multiple revenue streams
What scaling actually feels like (and why it's overwhelming)

Join The Boutique Hub

Alyssa Wagler & Top Notch Boutique:

Website: shoptopnotchboutique.com
Instagram: @shoptopnotchboutique

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Ashley Alderson: Instagram

Transcript

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0:00.0	Hey guys, Alyssa is a busy woman. She has started a successful brick and mortar store and expanded to two.
0:06.6	Her and her husband have a busy embroidery and wholesale business. And I'm so excited for you to hear this interview with Alyssa today because a lot of times on the podcast, I hear from people saying, hey, not only do I want to hear from people who are at the top and they have it all figured out, but I want to hear from people in the trenches that are going through the heavy times of scale
0:26.3	when you don't always know what the next best move is.
0:29.6	You're hustling, you're spread a little bit too thin,
0:31.8	and you're trying to figure all the things out one step at a time.
0:35.4	And Alyssa and I are going to deep dive into that exact conversation
0:37.8	today about scaling and the relationship between time versus money and when to invest
0:42.6	in more staff or resources that can help you simply get more done. I love her story of how
0:49.3	things have come together as she's built them, how she's leaning into manufacturing some of
0:53.8	her own products and the wholesale side of her business. And I know you'll relate to exactly where she's built them, how she's leaning into manufacturing some of her own products
0:54.5	and the wholesale side of her business. And I know you'll relate to exactly where she's coming from.
0:58.8	So get ready to meet my friend Alyssa on this episode of the podcast.
1:02.7	All right. Hey, guys. Welcome back to the podcast this week.
1:05.5	Alyssa, I'm so glad you're here. Thank you for having me.
1:09.0	I was just loving your background. Tell me where this is at. Do you take photos in this
1:13.7	background? Yeah, this is my sunroom behind me. I had this backdrop. It has about like 18 holes in the ceiling from
1:20.6	where my husband try to put this up. But yeah, it's up. Well, it looks beautiful. And no one will know the difference. Well, so glad to have you here. You have got quite a story. You've got a lot of irons in the fire. So I'm excited to dig into all of it. But before we do, just take me back. What made you first decide you wanted to get into the boutique business? So I didn't really know what I wanted to do at a high school.
1:44.7	So I went to cosmetology school through it.
1:47.5	And I graduated by the time I was a senior in high school.
1:50.3	So it was basically free to go.
1:52.4	So I worked for a couple months after I graduated and I was like, I cannot do this the rest
1:57.5	of my freaking life.
	...

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