Hi! I’m Ali Travis - the owner of The Paisley Rose Boutique!
Wow, I still can’t believe I can say that, even after a couple years of being open! #bossbabe
I want to take the time to answer everyone’s big question ‘How did you come up with The Paisley Rose Boutique?’. Let me just start out by saying - I’ve always been a girl with big dreams and I don’t typically let them slip away.
If you dive into my baby books it wouldn’t take long to realize that fashion and “modeling” has been something that I’ve been passionate about for years. Ever since I could walk I’ve been picking out my own outfits and posing for each and every photo. That led up to winning the “Best Dressed Award” in high school.
When I was little, I used to spend a lot of time at my grandma’s clothing store in my hometown. Ever since I can remember, I always enjoyed helping dress mannequins, greeting people at the door, helping customers find the perfect outfit, all while getting to express my own style! When I turned 16 my grandma hired me as a REAL employee where I got to learn even more about retail. I started to pick up on style trends, the process of buying and reselling clothing, and how to work with customers. When Grandma told me that she was retiring I came up with the idea of my own boutique.
Throughout high school and college I took numerous business classes to help me get my ideas on track to lead to opening day at the store. I learned a lot through classes and meetings with business professionals on what it was going to take to do my own thing. In my senior entrepreneurship class in high school, we had to develop a mock business of our own. When I heard about this project, I knew this was my time to let my ideas soar.
After only a few weeks of hard planning I created a business plan for the boutique I wanted to open. I felt as though I had a pretty good footing to be able to share with my parents the crazy idea I had! I proposed the idea to them telling them that the store would start online and maybe one day become a brick and mortar. One of the first questions that my mom asked was, “What is the name of your future store?”
This question took a little time to answer but I knew exactly what it would be - Paisley Rose.
For a little backstory on the name… I have always wanted to name my first daughter Paisley Rose. To this day I have no idea where that name came from. Maybe it’s the fact that I have a dog named Paisley and another named Henley Rose. I’m a BIG dog person so that makes sense! FYI, I will not be naming any of future kids Paisley Rose.
Flash forward a few months and January 22, 2021 became my opening day of The Paisley Rose Boutique online. I spent a little over a year working on building up my footing online, mastering business ownership, and creating a brand for myself. Flash forward again to May 9, 2022, and The Paisley Rose Boutique opened its brick and mortar in my hometown of Creston, Iowa.
From this day forward I have continued to create a bigger and better brand that I can follow, offering affordable and super cute (I might be a little biased) clothing to more ladies than beyond my community. Orders have even been sent across the country! The store continues to change all the time - even walls have been knocked down for more sale floor space. I took my first trip to Dallas Market in March of 2022. I just bought tickets to go back in June of 2023 and I couldn’t be more excited. I’ve even been able to hire employees to help out!
Little 18 year old Ali never would have thought that this business would take off like it has. Never did I think that before the age of 20 I would be in my own brick and mortar location selling items that I have hand selected to all the beautiful ladies in my community and beyond.
I wouldn't be able to do this without the support of my husband, family, and friends. :)