When Fashion Flops, This Designer Follows a Shiny Object

Notes from Chris

Episode 1021

From a young age, Noor Molvi was interested in fashion. Back in high school, she would spend her time making pendant necklaces and charm bracelets. She didn’t sell any of those pieces then; she just enjoyed the process of making. But after high school, she went on to pursue fashion design and apparel production. She always dreamed of being her own boss and running a fashion business.

Her career started out as a remote stylist for Stitch Fix, an online personal styling service. She also worked in customer support for a jewelry and accessories company. She learned valuable skills in both areas, and began building confidence to pursue other endeavors.

While Noor liked her job well enough, she still had the desire to be her own boss. With her background in fashion design, she used her skills to create high quality jersey basics. She wanted to design pieces that would allow people to have a variety of outfits simply by styling them with different accessories. So to showcase the versatility of the clothing, she dusted off her jewelry making skills and made some nice pieces to match.

She spent a few thousand dollars to buy fabric and other materials for making patterns, and to pay for production. After finding a pattern maker and factory in her hometown of Los Angeles, she had the lofty task of finding suppliers to sell her designs. One day a week, Noor would drive around to different boutiques and pitch her designs. At stop after stop, she had no luck. Finally, one store agreed to listen and take a chance on her brand, which she called NOORNOIR.

This experience was reassuring, but Noor learned quickly that clothing was not going to be a big money maker. The cost of her time combined with a small return on investment gave her pause. Her jewelry, on the other hand, was generating quite a bit of interest and a number of sales. So, she decided to respond to her customers and change her strategy to focus just on jewelry making. After the stressful experience of cold-pitching her clothing line to boutiques, she decided to stick to online sales and small craft fairs.

Upon making the switch, sales picked up. She was getting her brand out there and becoming connected to more boutiques by hosting pop-up events and exhibiting at trade shows.

For anyone wanting to launch a product, she recommends being strategic about where you invest your money. Earlier in the process, she took a risk and invested a few thousand dollars on an event that promised “great exposure” for her brand. However, the return on investment was a complete flop. She’s learned that if someone makes vague promises like “this will be great exposure for your brand,” it’s probably not a smart financial or business decision to make. (Side note: people die of exposure!)

Instead, she has found more value in sharing the behind the scenes wins and work that goes into creating her pieces. By being open and sharing her wins, customers are more engaged and return again and again. By doing that, last year she sold more than $10,000 worth of jewelry, and is on track to double that this year.

 

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MENTIONED IN THIS EPISODE:

• NOORNOIR: Check out Noor's beautiful collection of jewerly at her online store.

 

SEE ALSO:

• Atlanta Couple Sells Affordable, High Quality Accessories: After a year’s worth of shopping and research, a criminal defense attorney and digital operations manager launch a line of accessories at local shops.
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Hometown Bracelets Support Local Marine Life:

A marketer for the financial industry regains touch with his upbringing and starts a jewelry business that benefits the marine wildlife of his home region.
• Actor Lands Role Of Her Life In 24 Carat Side Hustle: A creative outlet leads to a profitable business earning at least $3,000 a month.

Inspiration is good; inspiration combined with action is better. Now get back to work!

Yours in the revolution,