Turn Your Passion Into A Side Hustle w/ Allison Boyes

The most important things I've ever learned was just by doing. I started selling vintage clothing all the way back in high school, like my dad said, and I picked up the bug.

And you can have a dream, you can have an idea, and if you're passionate about it, you will make some money on it and hopefully a living and just wake up every day doing what you love.

It sometimes is really tempting to just be like, man, I just. I wish I made it in China because I could offer the product for so much less. But that's something that I'm going to really have to hold strong with because I don't want to have to compromise on that.

This has taken you a couple years to get to this point. What would you have done differently? Welcome, everybody, to another episode of the Main Street Business podcast, where we interview Main street entrepreneurs making a difference in America. I'm so excited to have a special guest, Alison Boyce, a young fashion designer. How cool is that? Some of you may have a dream of designing some clothing or opening your own line, selling some product online. Fashion, merchandising. Male or female, you're old. It's an incredible industry. Alison, welcome. Thanks for being here.

Thanks for having me.

We're excited to have her here and talk about these beautiful coats. We're going to get to these in a moment. She's got several online businesses that deal with clothing and patterns. One disclosure. Can I say I'm going to tell them. This is also my amazing daughter. Can you believe that she picked up the bug of entrepreneurism? I said, I don't care when you graduate from college. I don't care what grade you get, but I want you to graduate with a small business. And she's like, all right, damn it. And what degree did you get? Tell them about fashion and schooling at least, and then how this business kind of evolved. I'm so proud of you.

I mean, so I went to byu, Idaho. I took a bunch of classes in apparel entrepreneurship. The best way you can learn is just by doing it yourself. The most important things I've ever learned was just by doing. I started selling vintage clothing all the way back in high school, like my dad said. And that's where I learned most of the skills that I've developed. But all the technical, like, really complicated things I learned in school. So that's cool.

That's great. I mean, she would raid my closet for any old ACDC shirts and sell those online. I'd be like, I gotta buy my own clothes again on your website. I didn't Know where those went? No. It's always been fun watching Alison. She's always been sketching and drawing different clothing designs. Let's get to it and at least show right now what your current product is. And then we're going to unpack it. I want to go back. I want to talk about the process and how you got here, but I'll hold it up while you describe. Would that be okay? So this is. This is probably your most. What do they call it? Iconic or featured item.

Yeah, this is my favorite piece from my collection. So I wanted to start a luxury label, and I wanted it to be a standalone product. I didn't wanna have to develop an entire collection. So I developed these cowhide coats.

Real cowhide? Yeah.

They're made with real cowhide leather with the hair on. So they're really thick, really warm. They protect against the wind, but they're also really fuzzy and fun to touch.

Was Yellowstone an inspiration?

Yes. Western kind of this, like, modern take on western clothing. And I grew up in California, so a little bit more coastal as well.

So I love your label.

Thank you.

You designed that label yourself, I'm sure.

So a lot of the things that inspired me, too, with this collection were vintage things and silhouettes. So this is the chore coat, and so it's a French torcoat silhouette. A lot of people are like, what chores are you going to do in that? But it's just. That's just the name of the silhouette, like a bomber or a trench. So it has a patch pocket. And this is the saddle brown short coat.

All right.

And then this is the Palomino short coat.

Okay.

Yep.

All right. Now, I'm sure many of you are like, how in the heck did you get to this point? So let's unpack this a little bit. Did you kill the cows yourself? Where do you find cow hides?

Well, you raised cows.

I did raise cows. Part of my tax strategy of my health, saving the cow. But you didn't get those cows.

Yeah. Maybe you could give me a discount note in the future.

Good. So where do you find. I mean, I don't even know. I know the answer to this. Where'd you find a person that will sell you cowhides?

I mean, I was just doing a lot of research online, and I get them from a wholesaler online, which is nice, cause they take pictures of each individual cowhide. But the first sample that I made was actually from a rug in your office.

Oh, that's true. I did have a cowhide rug in my office. And I'M like, where'd it go? And all of a sudden, she's walking through the house with a coat. I'm like, what the heck happen? That's true. That's funny.

So they're actually made from rugs? Oh, well, yeah, That's. Most people use them for.

Well, to hang on the wall or rugs. And you said, I'm going to make a coat out of that.

Yep.

And they're fairly soft.

Yeah, they're really, really soft. Yeah. Pliable, I guess. Supple.

So I know you worked really hard on the next step of finding a manufacturer, because I know Allison. She really knows her way around a sewing machine. And so you have all these different sewing machine for Christmas. She would say, I don't want anything crazy fun. I just want a sewing machine that's really special. And she'd send me the link on Amazon.

Like, really?

That's what you want for Christmas? But you had to find a manufacturer because you're going to do these in quantities and volume. Is that hard to do? Where did you. Did you go offshore? Onshore? What was your idea?

Yeah, so I really wanted my coats to be made in the US that was really important to me. A lot of people develop overseas, in India, China. It's not that difficult. You just do a lot of research. I just found mine by googling leather manufacturers in the US but if you're wanting to develop something in China for a little less, you can just go on Alibaba or Aliexpress and find something similar and message the seller directly and send them a tech pack and ask if they can give you a quote on that design, the minimum quantity order, and you can just start the process off like that. It's actually not that hard.

Now, some of you young designers out there, you may have a skill to do the actual pattern because you may have an idea of what you want to make, whether it's shirts, pants, jackets, swimsuits, whatever. But it's gotta go down to the granular level of a pattern. I remember you working a lot on those. You have that skill set. You were able to do that.

Yes. So I was able to pattern the short chore coat because I already had made something really similar. But for the trench coat, I had the factory itself make that for me. But you can also go on Fiverr and send someone just a basic sketch and ask them to make a pattern for you. The one thing that is really important, though, is to actually make the item from that pattern and make sure it fits correctly.

And before you send it off to China.

Yeah, exactly. And you want to make sure it looks like your sketch, because sometimes I've gotten patterns back from Fiverr, and they don't exactly fit how I was envisioning.

All right, so let's see if we get these steps here. Someone has an idea, they sketch out an idea for a clothing item. Could be a tie. Yeah, it could be. I mean, the story of Ralph Lauren. I love that story. I don't know if it's Netflix or Prime, but how he was designing ties in his apartment in New York, and that was the beginning of Polo. This is the beginning of something great for you. I can feel it. Okay, so you have this idea, you start designing it out, you get a pattern with some outsourcing or yourself. And. And I guess you could hire a seamstress to do your first if you don't have those skills. Again, you were able to do a lot of these steps because of your schooling in fashion, merchandising and entrepreneurship. So you get someone to come up with this prototype, and then you have proof of product. You start kind of seeing what it looks like and feels like once you go to mass production. How expensive is that? What are your options there?

Yeah, I mean, it really just depends on how many quantities you're ordering. The. The more you order, the less it's going to cost per unit. Thank you. And then also, like your materials. My materials cost a lot because it's real leather and it has the hair on it. And I also don't want to cheapen the other things like the lining. And I want to make sure it's all up to the same.

These are luxury. The lining is incredible. If you're in Jackson Hole or Yellowstone, this is going to keep you warm. I mean, this is like a real trapper. You know, back from the 1800s, they had to keep the wind and the cold out. These are thick. They are a little heavy because they're so quality.

Yeah. So it just depends on the amount of materials. But the best way to start is by ordering swatches from companies that you know can give you materials. And sometimes the factory will provide all of that for you as well, and they can give you suggestions. I would, I honestly suggest asking the factory their advice because they're a lot more experienced than you are, and they have a lot of recommendations and people that they work with. So that's always a good way to get some feedback and some more.

And you ended up with a factory in la, actually visited, and that was one of your best choices, huh?

Yeah. Yeah, they. I mean, they showed me a lot of their samples. I went to their showroom and I really liked what they were making and the man that I was working with was really nice. And they definitely helped me out with a lower minimum order because I was just getting started and they liked my design. So that was a really big reason why I decided to do it.

Which brings us to marketing. Now you gotta sell these things.

Yes.

So tell us what you. Now you've already been building a little brand over the years, selling vintage clothes. Did you come up with a new site? Did you just do a huge refresh? I know you needed to do some photo shoots once it was time to market. What were some of the steps you took that you felt were important?

Well, it's really important to start off with like a brand guideline book. Like what's your logo, what's your color scheme? Because that will help guide you with the overall aesthetic of what you're gonna be putting out there. So you wanna make sure that you're, you know, staying consistent with that. So I started off with choosing the colors and like the vibe that I wanted to go with. And then I started going on photo shoots. I started designing the labels, the packaging, and just overall like the message and the story that I wanted to convey. And then, yeah, you just gotta be consistent with posting and taking little videos

and yeah, some of you can see now if you're watching this on YouTube, we've brought in some images of a photo shoot in Texas, one on a beach in California, which is cool about these. They can be mountains or beach.

Yeah, it's kind of like a western, coastal, Western vibe. I love it.

So if, if you're catching this on the itunes podcast, make sure you get over and catch this on YouTube. Some of the images here of her website and the photo shoots are just so beautiful. Yet that one in Texas was a. As an actual equestrian rider.

She's a professor, she was a professional horseback rider. And yeah, she knew her way around a horse and she was great. Yeah. And I didn't know what to expect either. She was just a family friend and it ended up working out perfectly.

So what's next? I guess you've said it's getting now influencers and getting exposure, going to boutiques and placing because I guess you could sell online as well as through boutiques. Where do you think it's going to end up really going?

That's a good question. I mean, I've really been going with the flow and letting it kind of develop on its Own because I do have other businesses going on at the moment. I sell patterns on Etsy and so that's another way I'm getting exposure with my, my name and my, my designer labels. So. But yeah, I, I would love to wholesale to boutiques to help other people acquire the product easier and so like pop up shops and little trunk shows will definitely be an option in the future and I am sending my stuff out to influencers so that's another way I'm getting exposure and yeah, just direct to customers. The main plan right now just because I can keep the price a lot lower for my product.

So someone's going to probably ask, so we should. What's the general range of these coats Again? These are luxury and a lot of costume materials. Where someone like Ralph Lauren was making ties for $5 of silk or something.

Yes.

What's the price range on it?

So it is a luxury item. The trench coats are 1700 and the chore coats are 1500 and there are other brands doing the same thing for more. Banana Republic has a cowhide coat out there for like I think 2,400 and I think mine's better. So. And mine's made in the US Theirs is made in like Bangladesh or something.

So US made.

Yeah, yeah. Buy small, shop small.

I love it. Look at you, got it all down. Okay, big question at this point. You're early on. I mean this is your big first fall push for Christmas. A lot of people may want to and tell us your site right now. I know it's been down there in the lower thirds, but for those that are on YouTube. But what's the site for those just

listening, it's alimarie.com a l l I m a r y e dot com.

Okay. Ally.com, we'll have that down in the description. So get one before Christmas. Great present.

Yes.

Very unique, Very present. Yeah. What would you do differently? Like where you're at right now? I know you're really in the big scheme of things right at the front end. Yeah, you really are. But this has taken you a couple years to get to this point. What would you have done differently?

I don't know. I mean that's a hard question because I am still so early on in the stages of this process and it sometimes is really tempting to just be like, man, I wish I made it in China because I could offer the product for so much less. But that's something that I'm going to really have to hold strong with because I don't want to have to compromise on that. Even though it would make my, you know, my item a lot cheaper, it's. It's just not something that. So I have thought about that. Like, should I have made it in, you know, China or overseas? But. So that's something that I've thought about. But I kind of go back and forth, but. Yeah, I don't. I don't really know.

No other regrets? You're on the path.

Yeah, I'm just like, yeah, I guess you cannot have to just carry on and you have to not really think about regrets or else.

Do I qualify as an influencer to have a coat? Do I get to do it on boxing?

Yeah, maybe. I don't know.

You gotta look at my numbers.

Yeah.

Gosh, it's tough. It's tough now, but they mostly are female. The sizes.

Yeah, yeah. The short coats could be unisex. I have, like, seen other guys wear them and be interested in them, but I don't know, just depends on your style, I guess. There's no really, you know, gender is fluid these days.

Yeah, yeah, it is fluid. It is fluid. What does the future hold? What's your plans now with them?

Yeah, I mean, I would really love to develop the collection further in spring. I would love to do maybe some colors and get some white cowhides and then dye them like yellow or green and do something fun with that. But this is a part of my core collection, so it's not going to change that much. It's something that I kind of wanted to be very constant throughout my brand just because it doesn't require a lot of hands on design every single season. And with my me being a mom and me also having my pattern business, I needed a business model that would allow me more freedom.

Yeah, let's just talk about that for two seconds. You're doing this while being a mom.

Yep.

So, ladies, this is doable.

I only have one, but.

Yeah, but he helps you out.

Yeah, he does. He helps me a lot and he keeps me on my toes. So.

Yeah. On that note, for those of you again that would like to check out Instagram. Oh, my gosh. Little videos of Oliver helping you sew. And it's really cute. I want to unpack one other item there. You said collection. So if anybody out there budding, and I've talked to Ally about this, I don't completely understand it, but the collection is something you want to kind of decide on early on. So you're not just scattered. You want to say, here's my core. Like Ralph Lauren I'm going to make ties. You're like, I'm going to make cowhide coats. Then you add on to that based on seasons. How does that work?

Well, and it's hard because, I mean, fashion has changed so much in the last 50 years, and a lot of people, you know, have fallen into the fast fashion realm where it's just, they can never keep up because you have companies that are copying you and coming out with the same exact thing for less a week later. So I. That's why I decided to go with luxury as well, because they can't replicate this in a cheap way. And so I wanted to create a product that I knew couldn't be copied very easily. But a lot of designers like Gucci or Prada and Hermes, they have their signature pieces, like airme has their Birkin bag. And so it's nice to have a core collection that you're not having to redesign every single season or every year. You just kind of switch out the materials. And that helps a lot when you're getting started with, you know, cost, because then you're not having to redesign a whole pattern and all of those things. So. And then also, like, helps people, like, identify your brand easier. Like, oh, I know that's a Birkin bag. Or, like, I know that's an Ally Marie coat.

And should I. Should I get a Birkin bag?

They're really expensive. Like, the most expensive purse out there, but really, man. Yeah, they're like 100 grand.

So what?

Yeah.

What are these bags?

Yes. I know they're crazy, but, you know, I mean, Gucci, you know, I have the belts, and, like, you. I mean, I don't even think that was their first signature piece, but every brand, you know, has their signature silhouettes and their signature pieces, and. And that really helps create some.

Some brand and some identity awareness and all that.

Yeah.

Well, I am so excited. And you, you're amazing. So proud of you.

Love you.

Love you, too. So for my minor little influencing role that I do have in her life, I guess I get to have you on my YouTube channel, for what it's worth.

Yeah. This is special for me, too.

Yeah. So proud of you. Keep up the good work. And really, I want you to give one last piece of advice to entrepreneurs. I'll say this, you know, that's with all the good and bad in the country, and America is not perfect, that's for sure. But the still incredible beauty is you can have a dream, you can have an idea, and if you're passionate about it, you will make some money on it and hopefully a living and just wake up every day doing what you love. And so I would just say, don't give up on those passionate ideas. When Allie was just a little girl, I could see her with these ideas, and it's so neat to see them come to fruition. Any final advice for an entrepreneur out there as well?

Just fake it till you make it. You'll figure it out and, you know, you just learn throughout the process. So, yeah, that's true.

A lot of people think I've got to know it all before I do this.

Yeah. And that's how I felt, too. Like I've got to be, you know, super good at pattern making and designing, but you just. You just gotta have faith and move forward and just hope for the best.

I love it. Thank you, Elliot. All right, everyone, we'll see you next week for another episode Main Street Business podcast and other interviews on a regular basis with entrepreneurs around the country on Main Street America, making it happen with USA Made products.

Yes.

Damn it.

Made in America.

Made in America.

America.

See you next time.