These days, everyone’s doing what they think is easy to make money in different ways, the most current being online boutiques. With the rise of the web-based businesses peaking in the past few years, it’s hard to tell who’s doing it for the love or just the money. Entrepreneurs like, Markesha Tillman, want her PINK Lavish Boutique to be one that stands out and stand out for her passion for affordable fashion.
In July 2012, Tillman had no idea that a hobby shared with her sister would be the start of a business venture that would shape the rest of her life. The two, raised in a single parent household by their father, would dream of owning the flashy clothes they saw in magazines as children. With her sister being very into fashion and, Markesha being the laid back, more creatively stylish one – it just made sense that they created an opportunity for girls everywhere to be able to purchase fashionable yet affordable clothing online. Markesha spoke to Her Source to give us the background story on how PINK Lavish Boutique became the online fashion staple it is today, how they stay current and their plans for the future.

Where the name comes from:
– We always like flashy things; always in magazines looking at expensive pieces – Lavish Boutique was already taken so we combined it with our favorite color which is pink.

How it started:
– People say it doesn’t happen over night… In the beginning it was custom pieces – I made a vest with studs on it and it was really cute and we thought for a while about who would be a good person to send it to, to promote it and my sister reached out to Angela of Its Rich Girlz jewelry. She got it and loved it and has really been promoting the company ever since. She posted it on social media and I think she wore it to an event the same week and after that we got so many orders and basically its been history ever since then.

Product selection:
– I design some of our signature pieces and we have manufacturers here in Virginia. The inspiration comes from a bunch of different things like looking at magazines. I like to create things that look really fashionable and expensive but they’re not because we sell them at a really good price. We also buy wholesale pieces from a separate vendor that not too many boutiques have. And those are vendors you have to build relationships with and get really different pieces that you wouldn’t really see when you walk into a store or something like that so its basically a lot of things that would easily catch the eye.

With so many of these Instagram boutiques emerging, how do you stay unique?
– Its very hard. I don’t follow a lot of them but I do see them. I try to get what looks different because a lot of boutiques that are open now have the same things because they use the same vendors. That’s why we try to build with vendors who are a little more difficult to get. The industry is very saturated with all different types of boutiques because people just think that its easy money. So basically I try to stay focused knowing that I want it to be a career and an actual brand of movement not just something I want to do on my spare time or make extra money – its not like that for me. We also have customer hotline whereas other boutiques have just an email address you can reach them at but we make it more personal.

What are your plans for the next few years?
– I’ve been blessed to have been able to meet a lot of business owners who inspire me and things like that so my vision for me company is to get the word out and eventually be at that level where ill be able to open a store front and be something that’s well known not just something that’ll be here for a little while and fade away.