Background

                I’m sitting here in my apartment eating a California roll from Trader Joe’s and staring at a Word document. The outline for my business plan is staring me in the face and I can’t help but wonder what I’m doing. This just isn’t me. I don’t take risks like this and think that others who do are crazy! I want to open a boutique in Alexandria, Virginia and become my own boss. That’s most of the appeal to me- being my own boss, along with directly benefiting from my hard work and getting excited to go to work most days. I’ve worked for companies and it was ok. Not all bad and not all good. It was just... work. The kind of work you go to everyday and get comfortable doing. I’ve held two jobs since graduating, and I wasn’t excited about either of them. They were just kind of there.

                My husband and I moved to Northern Virginia about two months ago. I started job-searching when we first arrived, but I couldn’t find anything I wanted to do in my field. I applied for a couple jobs, but my heart just wasn’t in it. One day while walking around Old Town Alexandria I noticed that there weren’t many boutiques for women my age on King Street. I couldn’t believe it! There are a couple great ones on the side streets, but not that many on King. In the car on the way home I mentioned this to my husband and said that maybe I should open the kind of boutique I was looking for. I was only half-serious, but he was all for it. You see, I’m just not the kind of person that would risk it all to own my own business.

Growing up I was always very cautious and I always thought all decisions through. I’m definitely not what you would call spontaneous, and I don’t like that, but I just accept that that’s who I am. I’m cautious with people, conservative with money, and tentative about new situations. Boring, I know. So…I’m attempting to change the way I think a little (or a lot) and open a boutique. On this site I’ll be documenting the steps I take to get my store open. From business plan, to financing, to acquiring inventory and signing a lease, I’ll be writing about the whole process, and I can’t wait!

Comments

[kit]

v - good luck, girl!!! i'm so excited for you. can't wait to see how everything unfolds. you'll be fab!! xoxo <3

[Rachael]

Oh boy, you've really done it now! Once you've become your own boss there's no going back! So be it. You're exactly the type of person that will not just succeed, but thrive in this situation... Are you calling it Powder/Powd'r/Pouter??? Oh by the way....It also makes me think of that scene at the end of Scarface when he's going nuts and he has that giant mound of coke on his desk and he just buries his face in it and inhales. That is such a sweet scene... Good luck! This is exciting! Oh! And I know people in Alexandria that would shop there! Let me know if you need a theme song for the radio add!

[Lara]

Vanessa, loved reading this. You are hysterical! I can't wait to see what happens next! Kick some A sister!