Today we’d like to introduce you to Keli Walker.
Keli, please share your story with us. How did you get to where you are today?
It first began as a thought back in the early 2000’s. I was living back home in Grambling, Louisiana. We had a few stores in the area, but none that really catered to plus size women. I have always loved fashion and the idea of being my own boss. So I began planning my dream. I only made it as far as a name, “Just Jazzy”, and a possible location. Other personal factors that I was dealing with held me back from moving forward, and the fact that I couldn’t find fashion that I had envisioned of providing to a HBCU community put my dream on hold. I eventually moved to New Jersey where I acquired a purse connect. I let my family and friends know and started selling purses. This led to me adding jewelry and accessories. But I was still looking for the perfect vendor for plus size clothes. In 2012 I relocated to Arlington. After getting settled in, I was back on the hunt to find trendy plus size fashion. I even began selling adult novelties for Pure Romance. I enjoyed it but didn’t like the idea of going into people’s homes that I didn’t know. I eventually found a vendor that had a few things I wanted, but I needed a business license. So I acquired my re-sellers permit and ordered a few pieces and began selling. It wasn’t as easy as I thought it would be. It was work, and it seemed to be more work than fun to me. And again, I lost my motivation, but not my desire. So I took a break for a while and just focused on my kids and me and adjusting to life in Texas. But my flame to run my own boutique still flickered, I was still reading, researching, learning how to run a mobile boutique. After talking to several accomplished business owners, I realized that if I wanted this, I was going to have to work for it. And work I did. I learned everything I could about running a mobile boutique, about being a small business owner, and networking. I started selling to my friends and family, who told their friends and family. This led to customers sending me pics to personally shop for them. Which led to me currently participating in local pop up shops, gaining ideas and meeting fellow entrepreneurs such as myself.
Great, so let’s dig a little deeper into the story – has it been an easy path overall and if not, what were the challenges you’ve had to overcome?
This road traveled has been curvy and hilly. Some of the struggles that I have acquired were marketing, finding money to began my venture, working a full time job, being a single mother of three while running a small business, and finding quality and affordable fashion pieces to carry.
Please tell us about the company.
The name of my company is Voluptuous Couture Boutique. I specialize in trendy plus size fashion for women. My goal is to make curvy women look good, so they feel good. One thing I am proud of when it comes to VCB would be the compliments I get on my prices and the quality of the fashion pieces I carry. I don’t believe we should have to pay so much more for our clothes compared to that of our smaller counterparts. Also, I love unique and different things, and this carries over into the pieces that I choose to carry in my boutique.
Is there a characteristic or quality that you feel is essential to success?
Not being a quitter has been very important in my success. Now, I have put my business on pause several times. But I never gave up on it. I am not where I would like to be by any means, but I’m definitely not where I began.
Contact Info:
- Website: www.voluptuouscouture.boutique
- Phone: 817-381-6846
- Email: voluptuous.couture@yahoo.com
- Instagram: @imsovoluptuous
- Facebook: @imsovoluptuous
- Twitter: Voluptuous Couture
Image Credit:
All images courtesy of Keli T. Walker owner of Voluptuous Couture Boutique
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