coco blog: Day Five: Dancing Like A Dandelion+I've Got Grit!

Dress: Southern Grit Boutique, Cardigan: Lauren Conrad for Kohl's (Old. Similar here.), Wedges: Steve Madden (Old. Similar here.), Necklace: eBay.Southern Grit Q&AWho are the ladies behind Southern Grit? We a rockin' Mother-Daughter team. Terri Ocker Pilcher is Mom who is in charge of sales and reaching the majority of people and Stephanie Ocker is daughter that manages just about everything else that falls into the business. Both of us put a lot of time and energy into the daily dealings of Southern Grit, but the turnout is very beneficial for all involved. We have both reached places in our lives where we have established our own distinct styles, but by blending these tastes together it’s provided a wonderful array of clothing options for Southern Grit. I, Stephanie, am more down home country. I love my cowboy boots, but I also like a little glitzy glamour every now and then. Mom, Terri, is the upscale, high profile fashionista. She prefers pumps to boots and she’s all about looking completely put together at all times. Think “powder your nose, paint your toes, and hide your crazy” when it comes to Mama.Why did you decide to start Southern Grit? We both shopped on a regular basis and find prices of items to be completely ridiculous. We know that we aren’t alone and boycotting would be too hard so what was left to do? Give the people what they don’t know they want yet. Affordable, quality boutique fashions that EVERY woman can wear. We have great plans for this little store of ours though and online is only the foot in the door for Southern Grit. A laid back, southern atmosphere store front with plank wood flooring and deep turquoise walls is definitely something that lies ahead for Southern Grit. When was Southern Grit born and established online? A cool, rainy, Wednesday morning on May 8, 2013. We sat on the couch just talking about how awesome it would be to work for ourselves, by ourselves, and give people more affordable options. And BOOM! Southern Grit was born. If we are being particular though we’ve been doing the crafty side (Down Home Grit) since Christmas 2012 when we made over 200 Razorback ornaments and multiple wreaths. Who knew that entrepreneurial spirit would carry us this far though?! Oh and our name….it’s Southern Grit for a reason; southern hospitality with confidence.Who are your ideal customers or who would love Southern Grit? The ideal “Grit Gal” is the woman/young lady who wants to stay stylish, wants to keep her southern roots grounded, and who wants a great deal on everything she is getting. Grit is confidence and ladies who want to exude their confidence are going to love Southern Grit. What sets you apart from other boutiques? We aren’t just some online boutique where you shop, buy, and then that’s all. We go the extra step to include personal touches, build friendships, and make true connections with our Southern Grit customers. We provide services that many do not such as: trunk shows, retail therapy appointments, and sponsorship of charitable foundations. Our trunk shows are big events that we have a customer “host” where she invites a group of her girlfriends over for a Girls Night In and we set up shop. A rack of clothes, jewelry, and a checkout center. The host even gets 10% off for every $100 spent up to 60%. And if you’re not very savvy on the food part, we’ll even bring finger foods with us for you to serve up. Retail Therapy Appointments are a little more personalized. They are more for one woman who has given us an idea of her likes/dislikes and we put together a small collection just for that person and bring it to their home to let her try things on and decide which items would be best for purchase. These “retail therapy appointments” are a quick shopping pick me up that can be done on a lunch break, before a night out, or whenever. And if you’re in the mood for a little “Girl Talk” we don’t mind being Chatty Kathy’s and sippin on some homemade sweet tea or a fine bottle of wine. As for our charitable contributions, we greatly believe in giving a hand up, not a hand out. Fundraisers and food/clothing drives are a big part of our community contributions. We also participate in events such as the Warrior Dash that go to benefit various causes. Oh and don’t let me forget our Down Home Grit side to Southern Grit. Down Home Grit is everything homemade! Doggy Treats, Tutus, Wreaths, ornaments, and just about anything else you can imagine. What are some rising trends you expect to see in the near future? We expect to see a continuation of loose, flowy blouses, palazzo style pants, and elements of lace. Color trends are pointing to shades of emerald and also some muted tones (dusty rose, ivory, nude). On the rise currently are hammered metal jewelry and we do not anticipate that changing anytime soon as these are very versatile pieces especially in our area. Pearls seem to be making a comeback, but not your traditional style string of pearls. These are more edgy designs or just pieces with accents of pearl beads. Beyond the “trendy” items we will also be carrying things that fit in within this area such as denim shirts, lace, and looking towards some boot jewelry. As for next season we are kind of anticipating to see more high waisted pants, more printed 60’s era fashions, and more versions of headbands. I think this loose, flowy, hippie feel type of clothing is something many won’t be willing to part with when it comes time for extremely fitted pieces again. Has anything surprised you about running a boutique? The most surprising thing about running a boutique is how much you find out about other boutiques. How much they gauge prices. How they take advantage of their customers. It is often times hard to refrain from sending customers of other boutiques messages when we have the same item for $15 less. But we won’t play dirty. We do everything on the up and up and although there are many boutique businesses out there doing business in an illegal way we figure that karma (or the IRS) will catch up to them soon enough. What is your favorite part about Southern Grit? It is so very hard to pinpoint a favorite part of Southern Grit, because ultimately I get to wake up and do what I love every day; network and shop. Southern Grit has provided me, Stephanie, personally with the ability to stay home with my child and has given me a chance to do something that is so much more rewarding then sitting in a white-walled office yelling at people for not doing their jobs. Where do you hope to see your boutique headed in the near future? What about in 5 years? Hopefully, the near future will include growing our network enough to prove that we can handle a storefront. We want to build our network so that we are recognizable to complete strangers when we say “Got Grit”. I love being noticed in public for being a “Grit Gal” or “Grit Lady”. We greatly want to reach more people so that we can not only sell product, but let people know that we are doing more than just selling clothes. We craft things out of love, we give back to the community, and we want to be known for being more than your everyday boutique. Over the next few years we anticipate owning a storefront in the downtown Hot Springs, AR area that will completely support both of our own life sustaining incomes and also that of at least one full time employee. We’ve tossed around the idea to recruit some awesome “Grit Ladies” who would be willing to advertise/market/sale for us in their areas. We have several other big ideas that we are still in the stage of developing, but it will all just take some time to reach reality. Is there a certain theme/brand/individual/or group of people that influences your buying and styling of merchandise? Southern Grit is city styles with down home feel. I like to think of our clothing as being a blend between downtown Charleston, Nashville, Dallas, and a little bit of Small Town USA. I’d have to say if there were any iconic famous people that our styles resembled it would be a mix of Miranda Lambert and Kelly Clarkson. Polished and pretty with a touch of crazy.I absolutely love these girls! It's so hard to find down-to-earth ladies, but these girls know what's up! I completely agree that there is an unfortunate trend in expensive clothing, and I love that there is a boutique out there that acknowledges that and is doing something to change it! Tune in again soon for a guest blog post from Southern Grit Boutique!I'm so in love with this dress! It's difficult to find a good strapless dress that doesn't cut off blood flow to your chest or make you feel like you're constantly battling the dress staying where you want it to if you've got a larger chest. However, this dress fits perfectly and is really flattering if you're curvy! The slit in the front also keeps the dress sexy while still allowing you to cover up a bit. Pair it with a cardigan for work or school, or pair it with sandals, a long necklace, and a sun hat on the weekends for running errands.