Today we’d like to introduce you to Kelly Pearson.
Hi Kelly, it’s an honor to have you on the platform. Thanks for taking the time to share your story with us – to start maybe you can share some of your backstory with our readers?
I started Aiden & Oak in the fall of 2016. I just had my first child (Aiden) and while on maternity leave, I was trying to think of ideas of what I could do that would allow me to stay home with my son and provide me a full-time income instead of needing to return back to my office job. I stuck with what I knew and started an online based women’s clothing store. My bachelor’s degree is in Business Marketing and I thought what a great opportunity to truly put it to use. I learned fairly quickly that this wasn’t going to be a quick jump into a full-time career as I needed it to build large enough to allow me to make the transition over. I grew it while working full-time from 2016-2020. In the fall of 2019, I gave birth to our twin daughters and once again thought while I was on maternity leave, I would try and put some focus on growing this business, but sometimes the plans I try to make ahead of an event humble me in the moment because having two newborn babies didn’t leave me any spare time to even think between diaper changes, feedings, and lack of sleep x2. We finally were at a place in the fall of 2020 where we needed to make some changes for our family and the business could support me financially that I left my full-time job and became a full-time entrepreneur. 2020-2021 was a rollercoaster of a year as an e-commerce business with the highs and lows truly taking me for a ride. We have seen more stability throughout 2022 and in the most recent months have hit a patch of hypergrowth where we are trying to keep up with the demand and plan for what the next year could look like. What started in a spare bedroom in our house has now evolved into a 1700 sq ft warehouse shed that has a studio space where we shoot all of our own product photos, designing and manufacturing of our own exclusive designs, weekly releases of graphic shirts and new arrivals, and a team of 5 employees + contractors.
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?
I have learned that nothing about growing a business seems to be smooth, or if it is starting to feel smooth, something changes and causes you to re-evaluate everything as you go. I think from the outside, it may seem like an online women’s clothing store may seem like a fun or easy business, but there is just so much more than picking out which products to carry. I have had to become an expert on Shopify our e-commerce platform running the back-end inventory management, website design, SMS marketing, email marketing, mobile app development, social media marketing, accounting, and overall managing a business and employees. The e-commerce landscape and social media is always changing and evolving so I have to be prepared to make adjustments regularly to the way we run our business.
We’ve been impressed with Aiden & Oak, but for folks who might not be as familiar, what can you share with them about what you do and what sets you apart from others?
We specialize in women’s clothing – we work hard to provide quality styles that are on trend for our demographic (majority of our customers are 25-45, but we serve a wide age range) and can be worn season after season. We have a large offering of graphic shirts and sweatshirts that have been growing tremendously, we release new styles every week along with our regular new arrivals every Saturday. I am proud that we have been able to build a community of women who are engaged with our brand and look forward to new arrivals, styles, and of course a great sale!
So, before we go, how can our readers or others connect or collaborate with you? How can they support you?
Because we are an online only business the best support we could ask for is social media engagement. Any interactions with our content helps others see it and continue to spread the word of who we are and the styles we offer.
Pricing:
- $8.99 – $69.99
Contact Info:
- Website: www.aidenandoak.com
- Instagram: aidenandoak
- Facebook: aidenandoak | https://www.facebook.com/groups/120865978573760
- TikTok: aidenandoak
Image Credits
Aiden & Oak
Kelly Pearson
