Today we’d like to introduce you to Katia Gounou.
Katia, let’s start with your story. We’d love to hear how you got started and how the journey has been so far.
I have always had a dream from a very young age to own a personal clothing line. My friends used to call me “Katia Fashion” because I used to talk a lot about creating a fashion brand. However, I did not know it would happen anytime soon or that I would end up setting this business as a nonprofit to fund women’s education.
The idea of “Katia’s Kloset” came during my trip in Madrid, Spain, where I was working as a Mechanical Systems Engineering Intern for three months over the summer of 2019. I quickly fell in love with the uniqueness of the styles and the shopping culture there. Women were unstoppable when it comes to creativity in fashion. All retail stores had some sort of summer discounts going on which made shopping a fun activity.
About a week before the end of my journey in Spain, I started thinking about buying clothes that I can resell. In fact, reselling clothes wasn’t new to me because I had sold some of my clothes online before. I only had about 200 Euros of wiggle money but I wanted to do something meaningful with it.
A Friday after work, I went to a smaller retail store down the street from my place and asked to speak to the manager. I explained to her that I’d like to buy all the cute skirts she had left if she could give me a better deal which she did after about 15mins of negotiations. I thought to myself, “Maybe I could try that again at other stores!”
I tried pitching about my “business” to a few more stores but unfortunately, it didn’t work as great so I tried getting clothes and purses that had the best possible deals until I had no “shopping” money left.
When leaving Spain, I had an extra suitcase that I had to pay for at the airport. I did not anticipate it when getting all these clothes, and I truly had little to no money left. I was so anxious until I checked my bank account, and all of a sudden, my scholarship stipend had just dropped. I truly took it as a sign, I felt like God was telling me something. In fact, I am a 2017 Terry Scholar. The Terry Foundation has given me so much more than funding my entire education; it gave me hope, support, amazing opportunities and a sense of security when it comes to my future. I knew I had to use this business to bless other people the way the Terry Foundation has blessed my entire generation by choosing me.
A week after I got back to the US, I created a Facebook page and an Instagram account for the business and started posting photos of the items I was selling. I also asked a few friends to model for me and I tried my best to make the photos appealing to customers, although they were just taken from my iPhone. I made about $1000 which I directly reinvested into the business while adding some of my own money to launch my first collection of personally designed luxury purses. The return on investment wasn’t so great as I did not price them high enough to make good profits so I had to keep working hard on the side to keep investing in the business and buy more products to sell. By November, I had my business registered as an S-corp, and I also launched my website. At that point, I had already decided to use all profits from this business to help fund women’s education. I had reflected on my own story and how God pulled me out of certain situations and abundantly blessed me by leading me on the right path and to the right people/organizations. Before I became a Terry Scholar, I had several people trying to pull me down. Some men offered to cover my school fees only if I could get in bed with them. They knew I was young, unattended, and passionate about my Education so they were trying to find a way to manipulate and use me. Of course, I refused, I knew God had a plan for me so I just struggled to keep myself in community College until I was awarded the scholarship when transferring to University. I want other women to feel the joy and relief I felt when I found out what the Terry Foundation was going to do for me. All I want to do is to build an empire that could give hope to other women so that they don’t go through so much hardship and don’t fall for certain types of temptations and manipulations.
It took me a while to make my first sale on the website. I tried several different types of marketing strategies, at least to the best of my knowledge and abilities, but it really wasn’t working well. However, I was making in person sales with friends and that helped keep the business afloat. I was also blessed enough to get in contact with a few fashion designers in New York and Los Angeles who were able to give me lots of advice and good offers for some high-end pieces that I had added to the collection, although I could not afford their full services or partnerships.
After graduating in May 2020, the only job offer I had lined up got canceled due to COVID so I decided to go full-time into the business while also applying for engineering jobs and tackling a few temporary jobs to afford life and keep the business running. I never spent a dollar out of Katia’s Kloset money for my own needs, everything always gets reinvested into the business. In August 2020, I renovated the business, got a new logo and redesigned the website. Over the last three months, my sales on the website grew way more than I could imagine, and that only came from staying consistent on social media and also lots of trial and error. I was also able to participate in a couple of vendor expo events which also helped get a few more hundred dollars into the business accounts and already reinvested into getting a few styles ready for the holidays.
We’re always bombarded by how great it is to pursue your passion, etc – but we’ve spoken with enough people to know that it’s not always easy. Overall, would you say things have been easy for you?
While the road has not been easy, I truly enjoy the process and I learn so much along the way.
The first and biggest challenge I had to overcome was fear. I was afraid of people not liking my inventory, I was afraid of people’s reactions as to why I am selling clothes while working on my mechanical engineering degree, and I was afraid of not being able to manage business and school at the same time. After dealing with fear, I had to deal with the actual situations like making time to build the business without sacrificing my coursework, especially since it was my senior year and I had some of the most challenging classes on top of my senior capstone project.
I did not have anyone to guide me or help me, I was very limited on budget, and I did not have the professional knowledge and experience required to run a business.
I spent many nights trying to figure out building a website, registering a business, finding local designers and vendors etc…
Another challenge has been managing my social media accounts and trying not to let my mental health take a hit by the fact that very few people were showing support. Over time I realized that people actually watch and that I had to just stay consistent and focus on building my brand. Now I notice an increase in my social media engagements which honestly makes me feel better.
I still struggle on several different levels, including finances and balancing regular life and business life but everything gets better with time as long as there is determination.
We’d love to hear more about your business.
Far beyond an online clothing store, the particularity of this business is that it is a non-profit created with the purpose of funding women education focusing on underdeveloped countries internationally but also minorities in America.
All profits from this business are reinvested until it’s ready to create scholarships and build vocational schools.
The Katia’s Kloset Scholarship Foundation is projected to take effect by Fall 2022, starting with providing funds to 10 students, then we will be expanding every year.
Currently, the team is mainly composed of me, a very good friend of mine, Rida who voluntarily helps and supports me, and a couple of brand ambassadors who get the word out there about the business. I have also partially partnered up with a few New York and LA-based designers and vendors who continuously send me the newest additions to their collections and offer their best rates for service, knowing I am a small nonprofit business.
Katia’s Kloset provides the latest fashion trends focusing on Classiness, elegance with a pinch of sexiness to enhance the woman’s femininity and empowerment. Our collections include professional outfits that can be worn for work or job interviews, casual outfits for a nice brunch or dinner date, fancy blazers and evening gowns for upscale events or holiday celebrations, stylish accessories like beret hats and more. We also include plus sizes so far up to 3XL, and we plan on incorporating more sizes, possibly up to 5XL for certain styles.
We mainly choose high-quality materials that are long-lasting for all of our clothes and we provide vegan luxury purses specifically designed by myself that are not only waterproof but also tested to last longer considering extremely hot and humid weather conditions.
What made us successful from the very beginning, despite our selfless goal of giving back, has been not only the quality of our product but also the outstanding customer service, the continuous improvement in our business, and last but not least our 2-day US shipping which is free for all orders over $49.
What I am personally most proud of is the fact that I overcame my fears and threw myself out there. I bravely stood up and took on a heavy mission without ever wanting to give up even when it got extremely difficult.
I am so proud to say that Katia’s Kloset is owned by me, a Spring 2020 first gen College Graduate who felt the calling to create this business during my senior year of College while still being a full-time Engineering student.
I moved to the United States at 16 years old by myself without anything other than a dream of getting a College Degree, and today I am not only a Mechanical Engineer but also a strong entrepreneur with huge humanitarian goals. I am proud to say that hard work pays off, and that the hand that gives wholeheartedly never lacks anything.
What were you like growing up?
Growing up I was a very curious kid and I ought to help everyone. My parents adopted lots of kids and taught all of us to be humble and help people in need to the best of our abilities. We had very little but we shared a lot with others.
I loved to play dress-up, especially when it comes to dressing like a “boss”. I would sometimes distribute my clothes to friends outside so we could dress alike and show off, which would get me in trouble with my mom whenever she did not give her permission to do so. My brother would often tell my older sisters, “before you go out, make sure you ask Katia if she likes your outfit,” especially when they had job interviews or an event at school.
I also enjoyed learning new languages. My first language is French, but from a very young age, I learned the basics of English, Spanish and later on Portuguese.
In school, I was always one of the most brilliant students in the classroom, but also always the youngest because I started school earlier than most kids my age. I was tall and definitely looked much older than my age which used to bother me until I learned to use that as a strength. My dad used to say that I was too mature for a kid and that I was advanced for my age. I was very active and participated in several activities such as church summer camps, kids’ beauty pageants, and Math contests in High School.
At home, my siblings started calling me “Maman Katia,” which means “Mom Katia,” since I was about six years old because I was very caring and always wanted to make sure everyone was full after dinner. I would go as far as giving away my own food to someone who needed it. One day I brought home a friend that I had met outside who was homeless and hungry, and my parents ended up keeping her for a week until we found her parents. My mom adopted 3 of my cousins, all girls in their 20’s whose parents never enrolled in school. Every night after dinner, I would teach them whatever I learned in school and slowly, they learned how to read and write before my mom found a literacy school for them to deepen their reading, writing, and speaking skills.
Until today they tell my mom stories about how knowing how to read and write saved them from several embarrassing life situations and how they can now manage jobs and read the medication notices for their children. One of them named her first daughter Angel Katia, and she tells me how much she prays her daughter could be like me; what an honor for me!
I knew I had a calling to do something meaningful in life but I didn’t know what it was. I wanted to become a lawyer, then a doctor, and finally, one day as I was watching a documentary with my dad about oil and gas in my country, I decided to become a Petroleum Engineer. At that point, I stuck to it until I grew up and came to the US, then switched to Mechanical Engineering because I found myself enjoying different areas of engineering, so I wanted to open myself to exploring more horizons.
Through it all, fashion was the one thing nobody could take from me. It was always in my heart, even in my lowest moments, when I didn’t express it. I often tell my friends, “it’s not about wearing expensive clothes, it’s about taking what you have and rocking it like a boss!”
Pricing:
- Our items are currently priced from $5 up to $120
- We offer free shipping for all orders over $49 in the US
Contact Info:
- Website: Shopkatiaskloset.com
- Phone: 972-277-7093
- Email: katiaskloset99@gmail.com
- Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/katiaskloset/
- Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/katiaskloset99
- Twitter: https://twitter.com/katias_kloset
Image Credit:
UT Dallas Erik Jonsson School of Engineering
Carlalie (Yobo Photo)
Frances N’Daloma
Sandra Girgis (Life in Perspective)
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