Today we’d like to introduce you to Vira Basaraba.
Vira, please share your story with us. How did you get to where you are today?
My story started eight years ago when I moved to the US. After graduating from the University and being lucky to work for the Federal Reserve Bank for two years, having an entrepreneurial spirit, I decided to take a leap of faith and opened a bridal boutique where I carried wedding dresses of well-known designers. My inspiration was born of my frustration with wedding and evening dresses selection, specifically with high prices and not necessarily a vast assortment of designs. I wanted to bring a fresh look to the bridal world, and close “affordable luxury” gap that existed in the industry. After six months of running Viero Bridal boutique in Chicago, I opened a small atelier, in Ukraine where I started making gowns of my own designs. It has been three years since then and our atelier turned into a real production where we make gowns of our own brand and distributing them to the boutiques around the world. We currently have partners in more than ten countries and this is only the beginning. Besides the Chicago store, there are also Viero Bridal in Las Vegas and Philadelphia. I would never do it myself without the support of my family and amazingly talented people I work with.
Has it been a smooth road?
It was a rocky start, filled with trial and error. I have the litany of stories about my mistakes, bad business decisions, and wrong investments. All of them I consider lessons, very expensive lessons though, that you have to master to ensure you don’t repeat these faults anymore and take constructive steps to reach greater success. For those who are at the beginning of their journey I always advise to just start somewhere, stop thinking about it, reading, planning, all of these don’t count until you actually make the first step towards your dream. It’s not going to be easy, it will actually be pretty tough, and scary, you just have to go the extra mile and have a strong faith in yourself and your idea.
So, as you know, we’re impressed with Viero Bridal – tell our readers more, for example, what you’re most proud of as a company and what sets you apart from others.
At Viero Bridal stores clients experience an impeccable service of our Viero Bridal team, we offer gowns of any style, as well as translate customer’s dream dress into reality by creating the dress from the sketch. Having our own production gives us flexibility in everything, from almost unlimited customization of gowns for affordable prices, to delivering dresses as fast as three weeks. Viero gowns are high quality handcrafted of exclusive fabrics that make our clients feel and look beautiful!
Who have you been inspired by?
My mom is my biggest inspiration – she is kind, humble, compassionate, and at the same time strong, disciplined and extremely hard working! Having such a charismatic mom, it’s hard not to make things happen. Everything I have I owe to my mom!
In general talking about motivation – nothing motivates you more than your own goals and ideas and desire to have an impact on the world. I strongly believe that motivational books, speakers, podcasts can inspire you for a short-term, but they can’t force you to implement your plans and make you wake up every day and work hard towards your goals. You need to have this willpower and a strong desire within yourself, if you do not feel motivated, then you don’t desire it enough! The books that I found interesting and read more than one time are “The 7 Habits of Highly Effective People” by S. Covey; “Moonshot” by J. Sculley as well as “The Monk Who Sold His Ferrari” by R. Sharma.
Contact Info:
- Address: 2236 W Chicago Ave
Chicago, IL 60622 - Website: vierobridal.com
- Phone: 630-540-8618
- Email: vira.vb@vieroweddingdresses.com
- Instagram: @vierobridal
Image Credit:
Viero
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