Happy ONE YEAR, The Retail Therapist Boutique

“Your work is going to fill a large part of your life, and the only way to be truly satisfied is to do what you believe is great work. And the only way to do great work is to love what you do. If you haven’t found it yet, keep looking. Don’t settle. As with all matters of the heart, you’ll know when you find it. And, like any great relationship, it just gets better and better as the years roll on. So keep looking until you find it. Don’t settle.” Steve Jobs

ONE YEAR, can you believe it has been ONE YEAR since I opened "The Retail Therapist Boutique Online"?! I can't.  I can remember when it all started as a dream (read more about that dream here)…and then a text from my mom asking what I thought about a mobile boutique and texting me a picture of the truck you now know as Priscilla.    

I announced on April 24, 2014 (see blog post) that I was opening MY VERY OWN boutique (online, with a mobile boutique to follow) and on April 25th, I had my VERY FIRST sale, this darling "Just A Small Town Girl Tee"! Thank you, GRACE :)

   

I was graduating May 10, 2014 from Coastal Carolina University and in the midst of ALL this, I had opened my online boutique on May 1st, participated in a fashion show to raise money for Cystic Fibrosis at Club Boca in Myrtle Beach...

…AND with the help of Mom, Dad, Brennan, and friends, set up at The Beaver Bar for Bike Week in Myrtle Beach ALL while studying for finals.  I decided to skip graduation and just receive mine in the mail as I would rather have been making money and playing in pretty clothes, duh! :)

We even celebrated my 23rd birthday at The Beaver Bar with to go Jimmyz Hibachi (my favorite) and cupcakes :)

As soon as bike week was over, it was time to restock for our online sales and pack everything up to head home for an event in my hometown; the Back of the Dragon.  This was the FIRST time we would be using Priscilla.  Man oh man, was she….silver!  We didn't have time to get her wrapped before the event, so we took her with just the inside finished…

As pretty as the unfinished look was, haha, it was time to get her wrapped!  Blake with the Bargain Finders in Tazewell, VA wrapped her and OH MY GOSH, the moment we drove across the railroad tracks and I saw her, I started crying like a baby!  It was seriously the best moment of my life because she was EVERYTHING I could have imagined…and MORE.

From a Lance Chip truck to a mobile boutique…WOW!

A few weeks after she was wrapped, she was ready to head to Morgantown, WV to set up at Schmitt's Saloon for Bike Fest, we had a great time there and even had customers (and long time best friends) drive to see us from over 4+ hours away!

 As Summer came to an end and our online sales were growing, it was time to move The Retail Therapist from my garage in Myrtle Beach to a place back home in Virginia where I could have more hands on help 24/7.  There, we were able to do Tazewell pick ups and set up a few events in and around the area.  Bill, from Italian Village, and my cousin Clint, from Your Grate Escape, have always been SO supportive of me and any dream I have ever had! I couldn't be more thankful for letting me take over their restaurants with my store and tons of women!

Tazewell, thank you for standing behind me and being so supportive.  I am so happy to have the chance to not only STYLE you but hopefully inspire each and every one of those girls going through our school systems that it doesn't matter WHERE you come from, you CAN do what you want to do and be who you want to be if you have the power to dream.  

To my models and photographers, THANK YOU!  I honestly have the most selfless, outgoing, and beautiful models.  You each go above and beyond to make my dream a success and I couldn't be more thankful for each of you.  

To all the bloggers who have styled The Retail Therapist on their blog, THANK YOU! Without each and every one of you styling my pieces your way and wearing them on your blog for all of your followers, I truly believe my boutique would not be where it is today.

To all of you who have treated yourself to a little retail therapy…1.  I hope you found some peace in the items you bought AND they made you feel like a million bucks (lol) 2.  Thank you, Thank you, Thank you!!! I have had SO much fun shopping for you and I hope to do it the REST of my life!!!  Don't forget to TAG US WEARING! I love seeing how you style our pieces! #shopretailtherapist

Brennan, in this year, you and I have grown closer together than I could ever imagine.  You are my best friend and I will never be able to repay you for your friendship and all of your hardwork.   You have been such a big part in my dream (and with the help of mom created my DREAM store) and going flying with you a couple of weeks ago and seeing your dreams was one of the best days of my life.  Thank you for letting me be apart of it!  I cannot wait to see where YOU go in the next year, even tho I hope it is not far from me :).  I love you to the moon and back, Felicia.  

Mom, I cannot believe this journey we have been on!  THANK YOU doesn't even begin to express my feelings towards you and our dream.  YOU are the greatest woman in this world and without you, none of this would EVER have happened.  I know you have prayed much more than I have throughout this past year, and he has heard everyone of them, it's clear, because I also know that God made you my mom for this very reason.  You have sacrificed so much of your life for Brennan and I and believe me when I say it does not go unnoticed.  I love you and dad so much and hope to one be able to do for y'all what you have done for me.  

Since opening The Retail Therapist Online + Mobile, I have gained so many beautiful friendships, whether via email or texts from customers who have now turned into friends or just late nights tagging clothes and eating pizza, each and every one of you make my life a better place to be.  

One year later, that dream I had has now become a reality because I had trust in God when the opportunity came to take a step…through that trust, he has brought me up the stairs.  I knew I wanted a brick and mortar store and thought well if I do this passionately, then maybe I can eventually have that.    I love the quote "Never give up on a dream just because it will take time to accomplish it. The time will pass anyway" and I honestly thought maybe 5-8 years down the road owning my own brick and mortar store might happen, but I would have never imagined I would be weeks away from opening MY OWN STOREFRONT.  With real mannequins, display windows, tables...merchandising MY OWN STORE, and A SCANNER….I have dreamed of scanning my own barcodes hanging from my own hang tags my whole life.  I am so blessed by not only the most amazing parents and brother, but by Our God.  This is most definitely one of those times when I can look up, smile, and say "God, I know this is you."

I cannot WAIT until our Grand Opening and I can reveal 

The Retail Therapist Boutique [Storefront]! STAY TUNED.

Thank you all again so much, 

XOXO!

Special thanks to Aubrey Kinch for taking my spastic emails and creating the most PERFECT logos and hang tags ever and to Jonathan and Heather Carter of Carter Studios for the most beautiful pictures for my truck and billboards!!!   

One Year Later...

         A year ago I would’ve never pictured my life 
the way it is now!!

October 24, 2013 post (click here to view)

            It’s so hard to believe that a year has passed so quickly.  I started this blogging journey with the help of my dear friend Hannah Parrish, owner of Gallery Boutique.  She was so instrumental in getting everything perfect and without her help and the design of Aubrey Kinch (who just had the most beautiful baby girl), this blog would not have become a reality.  A couple days before October 24, 2013 I had NO idea what a blog was but was soon introduced to McKenna Bleu, Rachel Parcell, and Kendi Skeen (Hannah's FAVORITE blogger)!
Thank you both SOO much!! Xo

            When I started my blog. I was a senior in college, hating every minute of it.  You have no idea how many times I called my mom and told her I was either going to quit school or take a year off.  The last time I called to tell her that, she informed me that I would have to tell my dad that I wasn’t finishing college.  I guess that was the turning point as I knew deep in my heart that I had to finish for no one other than my parents.  So I sucked it up and continued on.  Surely I could survive 7 more months of school.  Besides, during that time there would be time off for Thanksgiving, Christmas and Spring break.  But that 7 months seemed like an eternity until………………. 

            Fast forward to March 10, 2014.  My mom has always known my love for fashion and that I wanted to open a boutique but how would this ever happen, especially with me just graduating from college???  Mom called me after class to tell me the news that they had found a bread truck to turn into my boutique on wheels and would I want to set up a booth at Myrtle Beach Bike Week.  NO WAY WAS THIS REALLY HAPPENING!!!!!  I had no idea that mom and dad had been discussing my “dream”.  The mobile truck “Prissy” took longer than expected to be finished but since, she has been keeping the roads hot.  The Retail Therapist Online Boutique opened on May 1, 2014 and what an exciting adventure this has been!!!  My love of fashion has grown more than I ever thought possible and my day is truly made knowing I am helping so many of your either style or
dress yourselves daily.  Shopping for YOU is now my favorite thing, ever!

Blogging my daily outfits grew faster than I ever thought imaginable and I have made SO many

adorable, FASHIONABLE, friends who honestly make my Instagram feed absolutely HEAVEN.
I LOVE waking up and scrolling my news feed to so many uplifting, beautiful posts.  

This past year I was able to not only take tons of pictures wearing my favorite pieces, but I was invited to Kate Spade NYFW this past Spring and was able to attend Charleston Fashion Week.  Let me tell you, CHARLESTON knows how to do Fashion Week!  I cannot thank my mom, brother, Scott Lee, Scott Smallin, Marie Rodriguez, Hannah Parrish, Kara Cushman, Casaundra Chandler, Robbie Welsh, Lindsey Mills, Jessica Ferrell, and Alison Jordan enough for the numerous photos you have had to take of me through out this past year, over and over and over! 

Here are some of my favorite looks:

                 

                 

                   

                 

      

                   

                  

                  

To the boutiques who believed in my sense of style enough to send me pieces to style whether on here or on my Instagram, THANK YOU! Without each and every one of your boutiques, this blog would NOT be quite as fashionable and as a boutique owner, I am a STRONG supporter of boutiques owned by other individuals who once just had a dream.  

            Looking back over this past year my life has totally been turned upside down and inside out but WOW what a journey it has been.  I don’t know exactly what my future holds but I’m not afraid to work hard for what I want or what town or city I will call home.  But I thank God for my wonderful life and will continue to enjoy this crazy journey.  Thank you for being apart of this ride from the rebrand of The Retail Therapist to Whitney Rife.  Today, I am taking a close look at the present I am constructing to make sure it looks like the future I am dreaming.
 I promise to start blogging my daily outfits again soon!