Today we’d like to introduce you to Megan Ronning-Kodet.
Hi Megan, thanks for joining us today. We’d love for you to start by introducing yourself.
I realized my dream of pursuing a career in Fashion at 16-years old when I took my first Fashion Merchandising class offered at my high school. I went on to graduate from Iowa State University with a B.S. in Apparel Merchandising, Design, and Production and a minor in Entrepreneurial Studies, where I was also offered the opportunity to study at the London College of Fashion. With my educational background and 14-years of corporate retail experience, I decided it was time for my lifelong dream of being a small business owner to come full circle.
For the majority of my adult life, I struggled to shop for what I nick-named the ‘in-between’ in my closet. There were no shortages of business professional options, bar/clubbing pieces, and drawers full of leggings. I found it difficult to find versatile styles that could be worn to work, to happy hour with my girlfriends, date night with my husband, family gatherings, and running errands on the weekend. Therefore, my vision for Lily Foster was created out of the need to solve for the ‘in-between’.
Lily Foster is so much more than a company or a brand, it’s an opportunity to share my passion with other women and create a lasting connection with our customers.
Alright, so let’s dig a little deeper into the story – has it been an easy path overall and if not, what were the challenges you’ve had to overcome?
Not at all. 🙂 Launching a business during the current environment has pushed me to navigate through a lot of unknowns.
At one point last summer, I wasn’t sure if I’d even be able to attend my first buying trip to the MAGIC Show (Fashion tradeshow) in Las Vegas due to COVID restrictions. Luckily, the show wasn’t canceled and I was able to attend in-person to establish new relationships with vendors. In addition, the current state of the global supply chain has caused numerous inventory cancelations, shipping delays, and increased costs.
Starting your own business is never easy, but I can say that I’ve developed a whole new skill set along the way! We are a 1.5 person team (my husband helps me part-time). We’ve built this business from scratch and do everything in-house, including the buying, item set-ups, product photography and editing, social media and website graphics, and even had to teach ourselves coding!
I have to continue to remind myself that all small businesses had to start somewhere and that I’m in this for the long-game, just need to focus on consistency and stay true to whom I am and my brand.
Great, so let’s talk business. Can you tell our readers more about what you do and what you think sets you apart from others?
Lily Foster is a new online women’s clothing and accessories boutique, based in Plymouth, MN!
Established in October of 2021, Lily Foster is proud to be a self-financed, female-owned clothing & accessory company inspired from a 20-year dream. Our vision is to become a one-stop-shop for all of our customer’s fashion needs! We’re committed to offering trendy, affordable fashion with quality that customers can trust. We focus on value and longevity rather than this year’s fads. Our mission is to offer women with styles that elevate their current wardrobe and can be styled for seasons to come! We also believe that every woman should experience joy and confidence in what she wears and in purchasing our styles. We strive to reach the everyday woman and provide her with a community for all of her fashion styling solutions!
The long-term goal is to offer more styles & colors, extended & inclusive sizing, and additional product categories such as denim, footwear, and more!
While Lily Foster is primarily online, I have been working to schedule in-person pop-up events around the Twin Cities to offer customers the opportunity to see and feel the assortment in person. My goal is gain their trust to make future purchases online.
I’m most proud that I finally took the risk to realize a dream I’ve had since I was 16. I love fashion and knew I would own my own business someday. This has been the single-most rewarding part of my career
How do you think about happiness?
Reading customer reviews, DM’s and comments and social media, emails, and text messages from customers. I’ve only been around since mid-October, and am overwhelmed by the positive feedback and repeat customer purchases. It makes me so happy that other women are appreciating what I have curated for them and that they are happy enough with their purchase to take time out of their busy schedules to share that with me!
In addition, I did my first large pop-up event in mid-December at one of our local malls and I had HUNDREDS of women stop by to look. The pop-up was a huge success and once again, the number of women who came over to tell me how much they loved my style was so rewarding. It re-affirmed that I know I can continue to build a community around Lily Foster.
Pricing:
- The majority of our product offering is under $100! My average retail since we launched is $59.
Contact Info:
- Email: lilyfostercs@gmail.com
- Website: www.shoplilyfoster.com
- Instagram: https://instagram.com/shoplilyfoster or @shoplilyfoster
- Facebook: https://facebook.com/shoplilyfoster or @shoplilyfoster
