With a background in retail, fashion mogul and entrepreneur Jance Staten had no plans of owning a clothing boutique. But when her old job closed in 2018, she revived an old passion for fashion that would take her the distance.
“I never intended to coach,” Staten said. “I never intended to have the boutique. They both kind of happened simultaneously just through people having curiosity and listening to me talk about my own experiences.”
The owner of Brazen Boutique, Staten has made over 2.5 million dollars in revenue since opening in November 2018. With a combination of income from the boutique, coaching services, and her Youtube monetization, Staten is Black Girl Goals as she’s mastered the art of being her own boss. However, fashion was the only factor in her massive success.
“Every time I took a trip somewhere, I came home with either a new idea, whether business or personal, a new sense of inspiration and a new reason to try something in my business,” she said.
Staten’s travels played a major role in turning her business into a million-dollar empire. No matter if it was for business or personal, her network and mindset continued to expand with every trip she took. With fashion as the point guard, travel served as the alley-oop that helped score many business goals.
Still striving for new heights and fresh perspectives, Staten is conquering the fashion business world with ease, in a pair of sweat pants, one destination at a time.
A Passion for Fashion
Before venturing into the e-commerce industry, Staten had worked as a store manager for a clothing boutique. In college, she’d majored in communications. But she’d worked in retail stores since high school. Her passion for fashion, combined with her degree, led her into store management.
However, Staten described herself as a worker bee during that time. Her views were limited to being an employee and she had no idea about the inner workings of the fashion industry. Little did she know, her store management job was preparing her to walk in her destiny.
At the boutique, Staten was responsible for wearing many hats. From merchandising and inventory to managing employees, she did a little bit of everything. It wasn’t until her job sent her on a business trip to the LA Fashion District she realized how endless the possibilities were.
Discovering The Fashion District
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Staten’s first visit to the Fashion District was a life-changing opportunity that reshaped the way she viewed the industry. Never before had she thought about the behind-the-scenes components of running a boutique. Now, she realized she was a small piece of a much larger scheme.
“I didn’t have a business mentality until I went there and saw all this opportunity and the type of decisions that have to be made that would ultimately impact the business’s bottom line,” she said.
She returned from the Fashion District with a new outlook on the business. However, when the boutique she worked for shut down in 2018, Staten decided to pivot and take her future into her own hands.
She hopped on Youtube and began sharing videos about her experience working inside of a boutique. Her transparency and insight into her true journey attracted tons of viewers. Slowly, people started reaching out to Staten to help them run their online boutiques.
In the midst of this transition, Staten took a leap of faith and started Brazen Boutique. Since launching, the brand has made millions of dollars and Staten assists other entrepreneurs through her coaching services. What began as a trip to the Fashion District blossomed into a multi-million dollar empire that is still growing.
“I went from traveling for work for my job to then traveling for myself for the business that I was launching and just realizing there were no limits to knowledge and no limits to experience,” she said.
Trade Shows
After launching Brazen Boutique, Staten begin spending time investing in traveling for her brands. She visited conferences, events, and meet ups across the country to expand her business and network in her industry. Over time, travel began to play a bigger part in her business endeavors.
“Traveling plays a huge role not only in my business but also to connect with the right people,” she said.
Another way travel manifested itself in her brand was through attending trade shows. From Dallas, Atlanta, New York, and Las Vegas, these specially curated events allowed Staten to experience new fashion technologies, preview upcoming releases, and meet other like-minded business owners.
“Some of my best friends, at this point in time, are women I’ve met through traveling to a trade show or the fashion district or an event in another city,” she said.
Different trade shows allowed her to connect with suppliers while staying on the cutting edge of fashion innovation. While the Dallas show gave a glimpse into western styles, New York and Atlanta provided the trendy, upscale vibes for even more inspiration. The Las Vegas Magic Show was a little bit of everything and Staten made sure to get a well-rounded view of the industry as her brand evolved. Whereas some e-commerce business owners never leave their homes, Staten found comfort in traveling in fashion.
“Going outside of your comfort zone and your home town to places with people who understand is really important,” she said.
Everytime she traveled, her network expanded. She begin meeting new people who understood her struggles as a boutique owner. With each trip she invested in, her company grew and her funds multiplied.
Travel Is An Investment
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One thing Staten has learned since launching her brand is that travel is an investment. The opportunities for fresh inspiration when traveling are endless and have been pivotal in the growth of Brazen Boutique.
“Being somewhere else is a breath of fresh air because there is only so much you can do in your own space,” she said.
For Staten, working and living in the same space can be overwhelming. Oftentimes, she becomes disorganized and can become uninspired being in the same place day after day. Traveling gives her the chance to literally be outside of the box while still being productive and making business moves. Being home makes it too easy to become consumed with work. So traveling, whether for business or pleasure, is the reviving experience she needs to keep going.
“Being able to go just remove yourself from that for just a little while does a world of good in my opinion,” she said.
In addition to that, she also says traveling allows her to create new content for her brand’s social media. Instead of capturing the same spots, being in different locations shows something new to her online followers. An investment both in her business and in herself, Staten believes traveling is an essential asset to running a successful e-commerce business.
The World Needs To See Black Women
Outside of traveling for her brand, Staten also finds great value in traveling for leisure. She loves Mexico and will fly there at the drop of a dime. Taking the time to invest in herself through leisure travel keeps her stress levels low.
“It’s so important to say ‘you know what this business is not going to fall to shambles if I remove myself from it for a week or a few days,’” she said.
Staten didn’t fly on a plane for the first time until she was 22 years old. After that first trip to California, she vowed to herself that she would always make enough money to fund her travels. She believes it is vital that Black women travel so the world can see them in all of their glory.
“The world needs to see that we exist,” she said. “I think they need to hear from us. And sometimes I think we think the internet is how people hear from us but sometimes you need to be in the room.”
Staten says their is something magical about Black women and the world needs to experience it. She’s witness herself light up a room and draw the attention of everyone in it. The entire world needs to experience that light.
“They see the power in Black women,” she said “There’s something thats oozing out of us that makes then gravitate to us.”
