When life hands you lemons... thrift some Louboutins

The Beginning

Sometimes life drives you into unexpected places where you never thought you would end up. I had this sunny idea of life, go to school, go to college, find a wonderful husband, have a few kids alongside a fabulous career and eventually retire someplace south with warmer weather. This is not the path my life took.

For a few years I thought I had found the love of my life, had a child, had a business and a nice home to boot. Life was good, living the American Dream, until it all fell apart.

Due to a series of circumstances that could not change I ended up divorced and losing everything. I was now a single mother of my beautiful daughter Zoe.  I asked myself how I could support myself? The divorce had occurred during the beginning of the recent great recession and my graphic design business was drying up like the Mohave dessert.

I attempted to become an eye wear representative for Tom Ford, which was probably not a

My daughter striking a pose in Tom Ford 

great idea considering I didn't wear eye wear or know anything about the industry. But, the fashion side of this job had won my heart. And the fact it was Tom Ford eye-wear even made it better. It forced me to go out there and meet people, and most of them were wonderful and inspirational entrepreneurs. I loved walking in the boutiques and talking to the owners. I was hungry to be a part of this world.

At the same time when I was trying to dress my rapidly growing daughter, my position demanded me wearing designer clothes when on call with clients. With no child support from my ex-husband and a very average salary, I would turn to consignment and thrift stores to find a wardrobe. Often, my clients would compliment my outfits, which encouraged me to continue shopping them.

It then became a passion and I started hunting in every consignment and thrift store within 60 miles of where I lived. When I went to visit clients in other cities, I would always make time after my appointments to stop by the the local consignment or thrift store.

I had found some stability with the eye-wear representative job and had made a way to make my money work for me. I was finally feeling comfortable when unfortunately life took another unfavorable turn. I was let go along with other fashion sales representatives due to the recession and a worsening economy.
But don't worry, there is no pity party here.

For about a month, I sat at home and tried to figure out what I was going to do. I went on job interviews which led to nowhere. The income from unemployment was certainly not going to  be enough to support my daughter and I. Everyday I felt like crying. How did I end up here? One day after dropping my daughter off at school, I went out to a local thrift store to shop my woes away. Hey, even a broke woman sometimes needs to shop. And long behold, underneath a heap of mediocre, forlorn shoes was a pair of lovely Christian Louboutins that some well-doer had decided to donate. It didn't matter that they weren't my size, I had to have them. I was going to do something with these shoes!

That day I started to think I could turn my passion of consignment and thrift shopping into a real business. What else did I have to lose? Surely, there were no jobs out there. I had been trying. So I promised myself while I was searching for employment, I would take a shot towards my dream of having a consignment business.

Kim and Zoe in the beginning

During the time that I had lost my job, my peers were losing their jobs, their homes and possessions. Everyone was scrambling around in fright on how to make ends meet. My best friend Kim and I decided we were going to start an online consignment business. We reached out to all of our peers and told them we would start selling their items online on their behalf. Along with scouring all the local thrift stores to see if we could find good investments of designer clothing that we could flip.

Even in 2008, thrift stores still were not huge in popularity as they are today. There were still some great items you could hawk and turn around and sell.

The apartment where it all started.

Kim and I started taking pictures in a tiny studio in my humble apartment, listing them online and waiting for people to buy. I will never forget our first sale. It was a childhood friend of Kim's. I was so grateful. Things were really starting to happen.

As my obsession for this business grew, my friend Kim wanted to go another direction in her career. So, I decided to fly solo in this entrepreneurial adventure.

The business began to grow and friends started referring their friends. Soon complete strangers were stopping by my home to drop off their designer items to be sold online. I decided it was time to have a more professional place to have my clients sell and hopefully customers buy their items.

The sales floor of Le Thrift's first location

1754 W. Division, Chicago IL

My first store was located on 1754 W. Division. It was a shared space, which I recommend to anyone who wants to do a start up in a decent neighborhood and save on expenses. Opening storefronts in big cities are expensive and I did not want to have it get over my head. Who knew if this crazy idea would work. With sharing a space, I had a person to share expenses with and share entrepreneurial experiences together. 

For the Grand Opening my stomach turned. Had I made a mistake? I mean I was responsible for my daughter. What if this did not work? Every piece of doubt ran through my mind. 

Instead, my very supportive fiance, family and friends showed up for an amazing turnout. After that opening I was so excited. But that excitement quickly dwindled when I started to think tomorrow, how was I going to get more people in the door?

TO BE CONTINUED....