Today we’d like to introduce you to Audrey Houston.
Hi Audrey, we’d love for you to start by introducing yourself.
As a Walt Disney World Cast Member for 17 years, I had always imagined retiring from the Disney company much later in life. In April of 2020, my future as a Convention Sales Manager for Walt Disney World was forever changed by the company-wide layoffs of over 32,000 people due to the global pandemic. After taking a few months to process the shock and settling into stay-at-home mom life with my two little girls, I also found a need for re-inventing my very work-related and professional wardrobe. I wasn’t showing up to an office anymore, wasn’t conducting business meetings with important clients…I was NOW fetching snacks and planning activities for the two most important people in my life, my own kids. I didn’t have cute t-shirts, athleisure wear, and stay-at-home styles and I found my other friends didn’t either. Everyone was now in a world of Zoom calls and quarantine chaos and shopping was taking a weird new turn. I have always LOVED shopping for great deals and new styles as a hobby, but now unemployed and at home…that didn’t really fit into my world anymore. I started shopping online for cute and comfy clothing for myself and for friends and neighbors and sharing these items with them.
After a couple of months…I started to wonder, “Could this be an actual business? Could I shop for fashion for myself but then also share it with my friends?” I learned that I could do that! I did some research to find out I could start my own boutique business; buying and selling fashion that appeals to me specifically at a price point that I find comfortable; and sell it to others. I decided (more so as a joke at the time) that I would call it Love Story Street Boutique. I live in a community with storybook names and since so many of us live on Love Story Street, I thought that would be a fun little place for friends and neighbors to come shop for affordable fashion from my new little side hustle. Soon after launching the boutique to friends and neighbors and starting a website, the Facebook group Ear For Each Other was started as a way for furloughed and laid off Cast Members to showcase their side hustles on social media. I immediately jumped at the opportunity early on to post to this group and over time have found exposure to thousands of new customers through this group from all over the country! The small “stay-at-home side hustle” I started for fun is now shipping to customers who have found me from across the country. Because of the support people have shown our local impacted hospitality workers in the community, I have been able to grow my business, expand, and learn new things I never would have imagined I would be doing after what I thought was my forever Disney career! With the demand of “quarantine fashion” mostly being t-shirts and comfy clothes, I knew right away that I should probably learn how to design and print my own shirts…since that was the majority of the sales I was seeing. Through many hours and countless YouTube videos, I eventually learned how to print super soft, sublimation t-shirts with a variety of designs and sayings. These items were always my best sellers!
As the lockdown lifestyle started to change; people returned to work and going out, and we started to see some normalcy; I began to get lots of questions on if I had a brick and mortar store or if people could come by and try things on. Women’s fashion is complicated, as there is not always much consistency in sizing or fit and shopping online can be so hard! I started to see an increased demand for shopping in person for customers to be comfortable with their purchases. Soon outdoor markets became a thing again and my wonderfully supportive husband and I began doing Love Story Street Boutique Pop-Up Shops at local outdoor markets. We would advertise via our social media pages where we would be and when and that we were also bringing our “mobile fitting room”; which is an easy way for our customers to try things on when they visit our Pop-Up Shop location. It has been a great success and we love connecting with the people and communities we visit during our pop-up shop events; which are usually about twice a month. Our website www.lovestorystreet.com now adds new inventory every two weeks and has regular pop-up shops twice monthly. We have always been committed to finding fun and unique fashion at an affordable price point for our community. We ship anywhere in the US, but also offer FREE delivery for our local customers in the Winter Garden and Windermere, FL area. The best way to know what is new in stock and where we will be in person is to follow our social media pages on Facebook and Instagram @lovestorystreetboutique.
Would you say it’s been a smooth road, and if not what are some of the biggest challenges you’ve faced along the way?
On this journey, I have had to learn a lot about social media and how to drive traffic to a website. I am still learning every day and have so much still to do in terms of growing the reach of my boutique to a new audience. One of the first challenges I realized I needed to overcome was the ability to make my own t-shirts. With that being a best seller for my boutique, the ability to design and print a t-shirt quickly based on what was going to sell well at the time was a skill I knew I needed in order to stay successful. I had no experience in this and had to start researching this process and what made sense as a skill set I could learn for my business. I’m very proud of the t-shirts that we design and create today, as we always use a soft tri-blend material with sublimation printing; making our shirts comfortable and easy to wash and wear.
As you know, we’re big fans of Love Story Street Boutique. For our readers who might not be as familiar what can you tell them about the brand?
We are an online women’s clothing and accessory boutique specializing in fun and affordable fashion for wherever life may be taking you. We ship anywhere in the U.S. for a low flat rate, as well as offer our local Winter Garden and Windermere, FL customers free local delivery! If you are not a fan of shopping online, you can always check out our social media pages on Facebook and Instagram @lovestorystreetboutique to see where our next pop-up shop will be in the Orlando area and shop in person and try on the items you see on our website.
What matters most to you?
What matters to me most is making women feel cute and comfortable in whatever they purchase from Love Story Street Boutique. I want to offer them personally curated boutique fashion at a price point that makes them smile.
Pricing:
- We offer reasonably priced accessories and clothing, with most items being under $35 each!
Contact Info:
- Email: hello@lovestorystreet.com
- Website: www.lovestorystreet.com
- Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/lovestorystreetboutique
- Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/LoveStoryStreetBoutique
