Today we’d like to introduce you to Ali Reff.
Ali, can you briefly walk us through your story – how you started and how you got to where you are today.
I’ve always thought that opening a store would be the ultimate dream job. I was the girl who moved to Chicago immediately after college and opted to live in a three-bedroom apartment with four girls so we could save money… and then spend said saved money on clothes. Living in one of the best city’s for shopping, I was always shocked to find many of the boutiques in the area carried such expensive stuff. How does the 22-year-old intern living in Wrigleyville afford rent AND a $300 sweater? It was a question that lingered in me for a while.
During this lingering phase, my real job was pursuing my corporate carrier in marketing and public relations. Over eight years, I found myself at three different agencies, always getting comfortable in a role and then finding myself wondering “what if'” all over again. In 2015, my previous job doing healthcare PR presented an opportunity to work on a consumer piece of business and I jumped at the challenge. I had been in health care for my entire career and was ready to try something new. Little did I know, accepting the new role would catapult me into an 8-month season of long work hours, tremendous learning and surprising growth. All of which I’m thankful for looking back. I’m a big believer in the power of God’s timing but during this season it became clear to me that even though in some respects I was doing my “dream job” in the PR world, I was still being pulled another direction. After a ton of contemplation, prayers and support from family and friends, I decided to leave my agency that August in search of the other “dream job” I had always been too scared to go after.
Without any previous knowledge of how to open or run a store, I started Alice & Wonder as an online shop. I knew the online world was bigger-than-ever and I figured this was the perfect place to dip my toe into entrepreneurship. I sought out advice from people, some practical strangers, who were in the same profession. My Mom and I traveled to markets, put on the name badges and acted like we knew what we were doing. I read the entrepreneur subreddit daily. Then I read the entrepreneur subreddit twice daily. And, I quickly discovered that there is no “dipping your toe” in entrepreneurship. Only jumping, with both feet, straight in.
After a year-and-a-half of running the business online, we had gained a great local audience, built up our social channels and had become active in community markets and pop-ups where I actually had a chance to interact with my customers. A big piece that I underestimated in starting an online business: actually getting to interact with my customers, the ones who believed in me and my mission enough to spend their own money on my products. Thus, I knew a brick-and-mortar was in our sights.
In another awesome swoop of God’s timing, we looked around the Lincoln Park neighborhood and came across our shop months before actually deciding to sign a lease. There were so many questions: would our fans actually come? Would this be a good location for our ideal customers? Would a brick-and-mortar be worlds different than an online shop (spoiler alert: YES)? So we started at our location as a pop-up: a three-month summer trial to test our concept and work our hardest. Fast forward to today, we learned more than we thought possible, hired our first full-time and part-time employees, redone the entire space ourselves and we’re (finally) here for good!
We’re always bombarded by how great it is to pursue your passion, etc. – but we’ve spoken with enough people to know that it’s not always easy. Overall, would you say things have been easy for you?
The road to building a business and establishing a brand is anything but smooth (but if it was for any of you reading this, call me!). I think one of the biggest learnings for me is that an entrepreneur’s road isn’t as much about the moments that it’s smooth or rocky, but about the longevity of the journey. Before starting the business, I knew in order to establish ourselves I would have to work harder than I ever had. But I also thought there would be a time where the road would become silky smooth and all would just become easier. In some respects, the job does become easier. However, as each challenge is conquered, as each role becomes more natural, as each problem is solved, a new one arises. There will always be times where the road is smooth and where the road is rocky. It’s keeping your passion strong that will take you through each part and keep you moving forward. The moment your journey becomes stagnant is where the real struggle sets in.
So, as you know, we’re impressed with Alice & Wonder – tell our readers more, for example, what you’re most proud of as a company and what sets you apart from others.
Alice & Wonder is a Chicago based shop curating ‘pretty fun things’ for her and home. The pieces we offer are the hard-to-find gems that we saw and couldn’t live without. Because we value the confidence that comes with having the perfect dress for a killer day at work or just the right cocktail glasses for a last-minute happy hour.
When uniqueness meets affordability, that’s when we’ve done our job. It’s hard out there for a girl on a budget. So we offer our $100 promise, which means that you won’t find anything in our shop more than $100 unless we whole-heartedly believe the product is worth the spend. We know there are some things that are worth it. And be sure that we’ll bring you those goodies when we find ‘em. As a majority though, our pretty fun things will be quality products offered for$100 or less.
One of the things I’m most proud of is that we focus on not only curating unique products at prices that don’t break the bank but on building a brand that customers really relate with. From our bright, airy atmosphere to the overall feel of our website to our tone on social media, we want customers to leave feeling like they’ve purchased from a friend. A stylish friend, at that.
So, what’s next? Any big plans?
We’re always learning and know there is constantly room to grow. So our plans for the future mainly include bringing customers more and more of the stuff they love (aka more products!), finding more brands to carry that align with our customer needs, expanding locations and continuing to grow our business within and outside of Chicago.
Contact Info:
- Address: 956 W Webster Ave.
- Website: https://aliceandwonder.com/
- Phone: (312) 253-7393
- Email: info@aliceandwonder.com
- Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/aliceandwonder/
- Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/aliceandwonderboutique/
Image Credit:
Melissa Ferrara of Iron, Honey Photography (http://ironhoney.com/)
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