Her Story
About Julie
I've been in the fashion industry for two years after making a major pivot from a 20-year career in banking and finance. In 2023, I lost my job at a fintech company when rates were ridiculously high and 40% of our team got let go. After about a year of looking for jobs with underwhelming offers, I went around my neighborhood and realized there wasn't anything in downtown San Bruno where women would love to go to shop and feel beautiful. I've always been into fashion and luxury, so I decided to open my shop in San Bruno where I live. The inspiration also came from my travels - I wanted to open a small Anthropologie with apothecary, vintage furniture, and luxury pieces like bags, jewelry, and shoes. My first year of business was basically a lesson in the evolution of my business. It taught me that women gravitated more towards the bags and styling and private shopping, not the furniture or apothecary. I threw my first fashion show four months after opening, and that expanded my horizons into the fashion industry. I started working with content creators and influencers, and it just grew into this whole ethos of fashion. Now I do creative direction, photo shoots, and all these things I would never imagine I would be doing if you asked me five years ago. I mainly do fashion events, fashion shows, trunk shows, and private shopping events and community events in San Bruno and San Francisco. I got into editorial styling just last year and I've done two covers so far and three features, including being featured myself in a luxury global magazine for fashionistas and art connoisseurs. I was named best consignment shop in San Mateo County by Google for 2025 and 2026, which is a big achievement since I am a really small 500 square foot brick and mortar.
Her Interview
Ten minutes with Julie
01What do you attribute your success to?
I'm surrounded with the right people in this business. I actually failed fast in my first 90 days of business - I hired the wrong people and got burned really bad, but I was able to glean advice from a lot of my creative friends who've been in the industry, particularly in media. One is an international media mogul who has a media company in the Philippines that he expanded here. Him and his wife helped me tremendously in terms of direction and advice as to the kind of people I should be associating myself with, as well as the kind of content I should be putting out. From that connection, I met more people in the field that helped me mold my business into what it is now. I also learned through my education as a single mom with two kids that there isn't anything in life that you can get that's easy - everything you want to achieve, you have to work for. I was a living example to my kids that you can do anything in life if you just put in the work.
02What advice would you give to young women entering your industry?
Number one, you need to really sit down and write down all the things that you have envisioned your business to be, and from that, you have to actually dissect it and be realistic, and ask hard questions, and talk to people around you. Number two, you have to have the courage to make mistakes, because that will happen. Failure is part of business. You have to have the grit. There will be highs and lows, peaks and valleys - it's never a straight line. Things will sometimes not work out, and you just have to learn how to stand up and get back up and find ways and means to grow your business. Number three, if you have products to sell, sales is everything. You have to have the guts to say if it's not working out, to try something else. And get the advice of the people that have actually failed in business more than the people that have succeeded, because I believe you will learn more in failure than you will learn from success. That's what I've been through. Believe in yourself. Also, a lot of women in this industry are very fierce and spicy - not a lot of women have the heart to actually mold or mentor younger women. I love seeing women thrive. When I see models try out and they get paid $100 for 12 hours of work, I try to highlight them and do everything I can to help them out in terms of whatever advice they need, whatever styling elements they need, without having to charge them extra. I try to put them in work as much as possible and highlight them in their best light.
03What are the biggest challenges or opportunities in your field right now?
There's a lot of crossbreeds between retail and tech. With the emergence of AI now, a lot of these jobs would need a woman's eye to be able to discern whether something looks pretty or not. Fashion tech is definitely a word - there are a lot of components out there that not a lot of people know about. Organizations like Retail Women in Tech are helping women in tech who are at a crossroads, working for big companies like Walmart and Apple, and sometimes they're trying to transition from being a mom going back into the workforce.
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