Today we’d like to introduce you to Valerie Brigham
Hi Valerie, thanks for sharing your story with us. To start, maybe you can tell our readers some of your backstory.
10 years ago I started this sassy journey. My amazing sister thought what I was doing, after I left my corporate job, was just not for me, while making a fraction of what I made at my former corporate job….she felt that my current experience with helping build a business for another company, she said, why not be broke running and build my own business…..she offered to back me financially and help with the business set up, as those were and are her strong points….so 10 years ago, we were officially Go Brazen! I remember her calling me in June, wondering what I wanted my business name to be…..hmmmm, I replied…I’m a bodacious blonde, how about that….i could here her finger nails hitting the keyboard….she replied, after search those words on Google by saying “ah yeah, not good, all that comes up is pornography websites…..we giggled and giggled, I then thought of a word that was kind of spot on for my personality, “Brazen”, I said….she clicked away, responding, perfect…it’s good, no pornography sites popped up…she then suggested, I’ll give it an action word, how about “Go Brazen” …perfect she said…Go Brazen it is…truly less than a two minute telephone conversation! So, that’s the background on my name and reaching 10 years this July 24’, now here’s how we starting selling. When I was 40, I had ovarian cancer…which makes you really say, am I getting out to see the world enough…although I had been to Europe a few times and spots around the states, plus I came from a line of explorers in my great grandfather, my grandfather traveled all over the world and my dad had a passion as well…so I decided to buy a motorcycle, learn to ride, and go see the wild Wild West. My travels through Europe were met with conversations with locals telling me how they can’t wait to go see the Grand Canyon, etc… as I reflected, I thought, I best see the West, South and Northwest before I ever spend money going back to Europe. So…I thought, let’s turn it up a notch and see it on two wheels, soaking it all in…so, I plans a 2.5 week trip in the southwest and west and west, all by myself….very Brazen indeed… which leads me to how i was first directing my business to a few years later…. While riding up and around the Mighty Mississippi, as Red Wing, Mn is located on the Mississippi, I would stop and establishments to eat and enjoy the view of the river from their establishments, which of course other bikers were at, and started conversation with some of the biker babes…they were always complimenting me on my style, which had nothing to do with the so-called “biker black” style. I had brown leather chaps, buckskin fringed long jacket, etc…. When my sister proposed opening my own shop, she suggested ladies biker clothing since I always received so many compliments on my style……so off I went…….opening a part biker, part plus size ladies clothing store…plus size as I was a size 18 and could never find fashionable everyday clothing that wasn’t some horrid duck on a sweatshirt…plus size fun and sassy clothing was just not anything that I felt retailers focused on and vendors still were putting out god awful plus size patterens….so, I spent 1.7 years on the road, doing rally’s and sitting up a tent of my goodies at a fun bar on the river, before opening my sassy 4 walls in Red Wing’s West End District. As women of all sizes and shapes shopped my store, the “skinnies” I call the small to xtra large gals, were always complaining that I didn’t carry their sizes, I always had a snarky response to them, as they have three trillion stores to shop in, where we curvy girls get a section in a store, usually on the third floor, behind the returns department where dim lighting and messy thrived, along with ducks on sweatshirts ran rampid….after hearing the “skinnies “ complaints for over a year, I decided that I best start covering the clothing range from small to 3x…. And away I went. Different things along the way, these past 10 years had lead to different inventory being added to my sassy 4 walls (more than that as I occupy 3rooms in a historic building, where now amazing jewelry, purses, scarves, winter accessories and adding this most popular shopped area of my store is the funny snarky gifts and accessories too! So laughter abounds, when both ladies and gents come in…nothing better than hearing laughter, it also opens up barriers to so getting to know these gigglers more, which was a huge win win for me, as with the popularity of so many folks staring at their phones, conversations kind of were slipping away, which really put a but in my britches, but know I’m a very happy Bombshell listening to laughter, makes going into work a treat! So, today, I still reside in my sassy historic building, in Red Wing’s West End District, filled with so many fun family owned businesses, we started a West End Facebook page and celebrate our businesses on there, so I’m thrilled to be a part of that group, supporting each other as well, I would have made far more money in downtown proper, but having your fellow businesses treat you like family and a slower paced area, feeds my soul. We did start a website 10 years ago, so even though it’s not a money maker, it sure s loved by so many, ladies like to kick back, relax and go thru the web, and then come in and show me what they are interested in and away they go, trying on and walking out my front door with laughter and joy in their souls…a perfect combo. The business has turned to mostly everyday wear and we still have.a section for ladies motorcycle clothes, as we shrunk it to accommodate all the fun categories we added to Go Brazen. We are well known for our summer coolant clothing from LuLu B, of which they told us, we are one of the largest retailers here in the Midwest, that’s quite an achievement indeed!
Can you talk to us a bit about the challenges and lessons you’ve learned along the way. Looking back would you say it’s been easy or smooth in retrospect?
Hmm, well, I was on the road in Florida doing rallies, my sister was still silent partner at the time (a few years ago, she transferred all ownership to me. Thru our conversation I mentioned that my bum leg was quite bad again… this was from the cancer a few years back where they removed my lymph nodes in the left leg…leaving it subject to sever growth in size when I don’t sleep right, don’t eat correctly, etc…it simply doesn’t have the ability to drain… which lead my sister to stearnly say…it’s time you get a brick and mortar, cuz your body can’t handle sleeping in back of your cargo van and food choices on the road….she ardently replied…I don’t do retail and if you throw a blood clot, what will happen…. So I mentioned that a few months back I drove down Old West Main in the West End and saw a for rent sign which was across the street from Kelly’s Taphouse, overlooking the Mississippi, I thought it a perfect combination, thinking popular place and being across the street would draw their customers in, I also thought the huge glass storefront was a plus as well….both of my perceptions were wrong, most folks are focused on meeting friends or family for dinner and drinks, not shopping and I close just after 5 so their busiest times, I’m not open, I’m a 1 woman show with help here and there, so 6 days a week and extended hours were just not in my cards. The massive glass windows I love, but attracting street drivers is tough, as I’ve found that humans are drawn to density, meaning the restaurants across the street…I watch as they drive buy and their heads are bent in the direction of the restaurants…. Big learning lessons. My other challenges are the residents of Red Wing thing I’m a biker shop, as when I opened, the local newspaper did a feature on Go Brazen, my request to not make that a focus of the article went unheard, I think they thought something totally different in town would gain them more readers, nice move, but going against my wishes of a biker focus, left a misconception of who Go Brazen is, the most difficult hurdle of the past 10 years. The 2nd most difficult was Covid, I’m a bit of a rebel and refused to close down…taking away my only means of money to pay my bills was not going to be controlled by our Governor, I couldn’t fathom being brought to ruin, if he allowed big boxes to keep all areas that weren’t critical, available to be shopped, then I would defy such crazy thinking, as I could control how many entered through my front door a heck of a lot better than big boxes. My decision to remain open, was the best thing ever, even though I sold no clothing or sassy gifts thru this time, I made my bills by selling masks. But the most important reason I found by defying his orders, lead me to the most human loving actions. Folks that found out I remained open, lead those who were going thru silence and loneliness with no human interaction, leaving them in despair, found their way to my lil boutique, where they knew they could share brief conversations and a masked hug from me…. Such despair, wrecked me emotionally listening to my customers, but knowing their loneliness, I was thrilled beyond measure to give them some laughter and love, thru one of the most horrible experiences came a total appreciation for we humans to have an emotional one on one connection. The latest and most difficult hurdle is a political first hand experience, when the current admin signed no oil independence, with in 36 hours, shipping more than doubled with many added fees on each invoice,….which became a domino affect on everything we pay for in business and personal. If I were to raise prices to accommodate all the added charges, my reasonable prices would become outrageous pricing, leaving me quickly going out of business, I only raised my shipping by $2 so it’s $7 now, trying to cover some of the shipping, I don’t build all the charges into my pricing as credit card fees have soared and soared, I give all cash and check buyers a break, as I just can’t survive on all the increases in credit card fees… I feel that my thought process of not relying on cards, will change the world..it’s the Brazen in me.
Appreciate you sharing that. What else should we know about what you do?
Go Brazen has rules, which far to often we have to let our customers know, there is no self deprecating words about their bodies spoken within our walls. Too often woman are so harsh on their self image, is hard to hear..so time is spent helping them pick out something and taking a picture and showing them the beautifully fun picture of themselves, as it is also a requirement to put their hand on their hips for the picture, that simple request of how to pose, brings a smile and a lil sass to the picture, versus standing with arms at sides
Can you talk to us about how you think about risk?
Well, I have a helper gal now, that I managed years ago, trust her like a daughter, so that drained every inch that I saved and now I’m back to broke broke broke…did I say broke broke broke? But, it has me focused on building the business better and becoming more focused on bringing in more money to pay her and pay myself back for draining my savings. I was perfectly content living a very inexpensive life and taking a vacation a year, living in an old house without luxuries…I truly was okay with that… and still am, but I have no retirement, hence I need to payback my savings so I feel better about my age.
Pricing:
- -no price gouging
- -4% savings if using cash
- -reasonable pricing cuz Im a reasonable Bombshell
Contact Info:
- Website: https://Www.gobrazen.com
- Facebook: https://web.facebook.com/GoBrazen
- Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/go_brazen_bombshell
