Today we’d like to introduce you to NICOLE BRIGGS.
NICOLE, we appreciate you taking the time to share your story with us today. Where does your story begin?
In 2007 I started a streetwear online store for men and women with my brother in Chicago called Shrink Boutique selling brands like Made Me Dimepiece and Brian Lichtenberg. The customers were young so I was pressured to give discounts on $35 t-shirts and it drove me crazy. My true retail and styling background was working with premium to luxury goods so it was a mistake to pursue a juniors or contemporary customer in the first place. So in 2012, I decided to develop a more thoughtful site that targeted folks that had the income to afford my brand mix and I bought better and less items. I pursued up and coming designers and included lifestyle brands that I felt were sustainable and incredible quality versus chasing trends which you have to do with streetwear. Everything is going so fast now that trend is just not a sustainable pursuit but rather I like t0 promote “slow fashion”, buy well and keep for a long time. I like women who are always adding to an already interesting capsule collection in their closet. Marketing esp. online has become trickier than ever but if I can’t find a pop-up series to participate in, I sell live on Talk Shop Live. Live commerce is just reinvented HSN but I think it could become the future of shopping since customers want to feel connected AND they want to shop from home. A website is just not enough, you have to build community and that will always be my ultimate goal. Once your community loves and trusts you, they will buy from you.
We all face challenges, but looking back would you describe it as a relatively smooth road?
The road for any entrepreneur is nonlinear but for a Black American woman, the road zigs and zags with lots of bumps and surprises along the way. We are living in a tricky time of anti-affirmative action, anti-DEI when the whole point of those initiatives is to recognize the immense disparity and attempt to level the playing field. Women receive less than 4% of all venture capital funding and Black women receive less than 1%! This should be a crime. How are we suppose to compete? And disruptor funds, like the Fearless Fund that give grants to Black women business owners, are being attacked and dismantled in a calculated and frankly racist way. If we know that discrimination is embedded in all systems and industries what do we do to combat that? So there are lots of struggles along the way. Also consumers are buying more clothing faster and cheaper, hence fast fashion, and expect to return everything no matter the condition of the item. While Amazon may be able to support a system like this, small businesses cannot afford constant returns or promos. I also morally do no want to participate in the business of fast fashion knowing that tons of old clothing ends up in landfills in Ghana and overseas in places that are out of sight, and out of mind.
Can you tell our readers more about what you do and what you think sets you apart from others?
I am an OG creative professional and sales person that’s had to work multiple jobs to support my website Shop Jiyu and podcast “You Have To Wear Something”. I spent 9 years in upscale hospitality managing restaurants and events and when I burnt out on that I worked notably for Henri Bendel, Neiman Marcus, Alexander McQueen and Tesla. I have sold everything from designer goods, jewelry, to cars to SAAS products and fine furniture. I have a knack for selling in a way that does not feel like sales and I can close well with my extroverted personality. I always joke that the only things I haven’t sold were houses or weapons. Additionally from age 17 to 25 I worked as a freelance photographer while completing a journalism degree in 2006. What sets me apart is while people assume I have a pretentious demeanor I am actually a hardworking hustler from Chicago who would not be too proud to wait tables if I lost it all. I think the minute you lose your work ethic and go “fancy” and start announcing what’s beneath you to do as a job you’ve lost. I am proud of every job I’ve done especially the difficult ones like my time at Tesla, you learn the most from tough experiences. I am most proud of my consistency and cultural literacy. I treat almost everything like a learning opportunity and I work on my business even when it seems I should quit. What sets me apart from others is my patience, I don’t care about overnight successes or what others are doing. I am tapped into my own vision and don’t care how long it takes.
We love surprises, fun facts and unexpected stories. Is there something you can share that might surprise us?
I think as a dynamic woman, I lived “many lives” and people are most surprised by all I have done in a short time. I think people are surprised to learn I spent 7 years learning classical piano and they are also shocked to hear me speak French. I am not fluent but I am definitely not a beginner. I recently realized this while traveling through the South of France last month.
Contact Info:
- Website: https://shopjiyu.com/
- Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/shopjiyu/
- Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/shopjiyu
- Twitter: https://twitter.com/ShopJiyu
- Other: https://www.tiktok.com/@shopjiyu?
Image Credits
Personal photo: Juan Huerta all others are my own
