MY
CAREER

1. Emily Haggart, who owns Fresh (now closed) and Avalilly's in North Carolina where I lived there for almost a decade. She has an impeccable eye for fashion. I run my boutique exactly as she had me run hers. She maintains an upbeat, can-do attitude and doesn’t let anything slow her down. Emily and Shari Pollack (who has since passed form cervical cancer), who owned Lavender Boutique in NC, founded 'Catwalk for a Cause' which helps children with cancer. The first year of the event, I was the stylist for all of the models.

2. Lori Lecker, who owned a Benetton franchise (I managed the one on King Street in Charleston, SC where I lived for a year) and has since moved on and opened multiple proprietary boutiques. She is the strongest, savviest, smartest business woman I have ever had the opportunity meet. I am grateful that I have had both of these women to turn to when I need help with my business.

I did the social media and website for both stores and multiple others throughout my career.

I started selling on Poshmark in 2012 when the app first launched and I now have close to 200,000 followers. Retail arbitrage was my sole source of income from 2018-2020. I am proficient in Word, Excel, Google Workspace, CloudHQ, Canva, Shopify, Squarespace, Hubspot, HootSuite, Vimeo, Lightroom, Darkroom, Photoshop, Adobe CC, and countless photo editing applications. I was recently approved to sell on Whatnot, a live-only selling app and completed their onboarding program. I am creating my own clothing line, and I have been working with suppliers across the globe for it’s launch.

I also got my real estate license for the second time in 2020.

I have an unquenchable thirst for fashion and business that started at a very early age. I opened my first boutique, Pique Boutique, in Rhinebeck, NY when I was 26. I closed it because I had a partner who thought it would be a good idea to use company money to pay her bills. When that happened, it broke my heart - I had a hard time getting over it. The only thing I ever wanted was to own my own boutique. Fast forward 12 years, ater working corporate jobs and boutique jobs, I opened Meraki. I have always had a huge place in my heart for all things boutique. After closing Pique I decided to move to Charleston, SC where I managed Benetton on King Street. Ater that I made my way to Charlotte, NC where I went back to work for Nordstrom before becoming the store manager at Vince Camuto in the Southpark Mall. When I wasn’t working at my day job I was a dog walker through a small pet sitting company that I established.

I am wildly supportive of other women in business and women in general. I am on the chair of a nonprofit called WNGTI We're Not Gonna Take It, a 501c3 helping women and children who are victims of domestic violence. I am currently in the very early stages of planning a fashion show for the nonprofit called 'Fashion for Freedom' and I am in the negotiating stage with a very prestigious venue in my area to have time donated; they normally charge $10,000-$15,000/day for use of their venue. I’m in the process of finishing up the website for the nonprofit which will be done soon. I am also starting my own nonprofit with the goal of helping women who are victims of domestic violence called Woman Alone.

I recently launched my own jewelry, "Stoney Lonesome", named after my Dad's band. The first collection that I have officially launched is the healing gemstone collection. The collection features very special necklaces and bracelets made with the tiniest gemstones, accompanied by even tinier gold Vermeil Karen Hill tribe beads. Everything I use is gold filled and threaded on 100% silk string, and each bead is put on the string by hand, one by one. I am self taught. You can see some of the necklaces on Instagram @stoneylonesomexvanessa - although it is very new and there are very few posts. I am also in the process of creating my own clothing line, "180 Out" named after my Dad's 1st band when he was living in Korea in his early 20s.

I've had a lot of hardship in my life and I have struggled greatly to get where I am now. It's the reason behind the nonprofit. It's been a rough go business wise as well - I was constructively evicted from my first space, in my second space I had to take my landlord to court to get my security deposit back after he wrote me a bad check - which took 8 months - and my current location flooded twice within the first year of opening, destroying a total of $140,000 in merchandise, fixtures, and supplies. I received $0 in restitution. The first flood happened 2 months after I moved into my current space; I had to close for COVID 2 weeks after doing so.

A little about the store:

I’ve been open for close to 5 years now. Meraki started out as consignment - although I never actually took clothing on consignment from anyone. I filled a 2000 sq. ft. space with all of the clothes I had acquired over the years from my closet and storage. (That's what happens after 26 years in the fashion industry. ) When I relocated to my second space, I started carrying lower end RTW - it wasn't what I wanted, but it was the only way for me to build the business and turn it into what it is now. A year after that, I moved to my current space which is where it is now! In this space, I started out buying overstock from a friend of mine in LA (we went to summer camp together for 6 years) who has a 10,000 sq. ft. warehouse filled with every line you can imagine; she used to be a fashion designer and a stylist for well known celebrities like Beyoncé and Lady Gaga. I was purchasing inventory from her and selling it at a discounted price - kind of like a Marshalls or TJ Maxx, but boutique style. I was also buying some RTW from Faire and a couple of B2B vendors - Boyish, Gorjana, Miranda Frye, Rollas...but I wanted to be able to curate my merchandise exactly as I saw it in my mind, so I slowly transitioned from buying overstock to being 100% RTW contemporary.

My goal is to open a few more locations; currently I am looking into opening a second location in Hudson, NY where I plan on carrying mens clothing on one side, womens clothing on the other, and some artisan home decor/novelty items in between. My customers are mostly women ages 30-mid 50 (although women of all ages shop with me, I had a 75 year old woman buy a Good America thong bodysuit!) mostly from NYC, Long Island, Jersey and Philly. My aesthetic is a “Brooklyn meets LA boho vibe" and I pride myself on my store being warm, welcoming and non-judgmental. Customers are friends and they are treated as such from the moment they walk in the door. All of my clothes hang from pieces of driftwood that I went and foraged myself.

The name of the store, in summary and in my words, is to put your "youness" into whatever it is that you do. I want my customers to be able to feel like they know me - even if they've never met me.

Some of the lines I carry or have carried: ⥥

Denim: FRAME, Re/Done, Hudson, Boyish, Rollas, Ética, Noend, and I carry a diferent brand of repurposed Levi’s as they do very well called Je Suis Vintage. They were featured in Vogue, Elle and Vanity Fair. I also just picked up Mother, DL1961 and Paige; I have yet to place opening orders. Denim is the thing that got me into fashion...I have been obsessed with it forever! I have no idea why, but I just can't get enough denim. At my first boutique I had an entire denim wall; I carried True Religion, Joes, 7 For All Mankind and Citizens of Humanity.

Other lines I just picked up: Free People, Pistola, Cleobella, Black Orchid, 525 America, Daydreamer, American Vintage

Up until very recently I did the majority of my buying on Faire because I like both the convenience and supporting smaller/artisan businesses with unique products. However, Faire as a platform has been such a nightmare I’ve decided to go back to buying the way I used to - directly from vendors. This allows me to buy brands that I am truly passionate about. I have also incorporated an “outlet” section on my website; these are items purchased from my friend in LA sold at a discounted price, available exclusively online. I have had a $15,000 revolving line of credit/60 day net terms, never a late payment, for 3 years with Faire.