We recently connected with Kaitlin Johnson and have shared our conversation below.
Kaitlin, we’re thrilled to have you on our platform and we think there is so much folks can learn from you and your story. Something that matters deeply to us is living a life and leading a career filled with purpose and so let’s start by chatting about how you found your purpose.
Hi!
We are Kaitlin and Kenzie, we are sisters and co-owners of K & Company Boutique and Gift. In the Spring of 2023, we were both feeling burnt out from our health care related jobs, and we felt we needed something more lighthearted and uplifting! That is when the idea for K & Co. was born. Both of us are plus size women ourselves, and we felt the need to offer boutique style clothing to women of all sizes. We knew all too well the challenges that come with being plus size and looking for cute clothes. We also felt it was difficult and discouraging to go shopping with our friends of smaller sizes, we felt the need to offer clothing for women of all sizes. Since opening our store, we have found our purpose! Helping women of all sizes feel confident and beautiful in their own skin, and offering a space where friends of all sizes can shop together.
Thanks, so before we move on maybe you can share a bit more about yourself?
Our little boutique is located on Main Street in the small town of New London, MN. We love this little town, it is where we were raised and graduated from, it truly has our hearts! We remodeled our store-front space with the help of our parents. Our dad is a handy-man and built all of our fixtures, fitting rooms, and shelving. In July 2023, we were ready to open! Our goal since the beginning is to offer size-inclusive clothing for women of all sizes. When we select merchandise for our boutique, we make sure that every style we bring in comes in all sizes, at least Small- 3xl. We even have select styles that come in XS and up to 6x. As plus size women ourselves, we felt this was something very important for rural Minnesota. Finding a large selection of plus size clothing can be challenging. The best part of our job is when groups of sisters or friends of all sizes come in to shop and they can all shop together in one place!
We also have an online store. You can find us at shopkandco.com. Our online shop offers the exact same inclusive feel. Here too, all styles are in at least Small-3X with select styles in XS and up to 6x. Our website offers features that make shopping easier, such as the ability to filter for sizes. We use models of various sizes so customers can see the clothing on different body types. We also take notes on the fit of all items to help customers select the correct size. It is a labor of love, but we feel it is so helpful for women, especially those with plus size bodies like us.
In addition to our store front and our online store, we also have a mobile boutique. We love to load up and take our boutique to neighboring towns, and cities farther away. This gives us the opportunity to meet so many of our customers and get to spread the word about our size-inclusive offerings. We are blessed that our dad was able to custom build our mobile racks so we can easily roll them into almost any location. We have set up in schools, churches, garages, community centers, and private homes for both large craft fairs and private parties. If you’re interested in hosting a private party (with host perks) for a group of friends of all sizes, contact us at [email protected].
If you had to pick three qualities that are most important to develop, which three would you say matter most?
1. Determination and purpose – we found our purpose and have focused on it since the beginning! We make sure to offer a minimum of size Small- 3XL in each piece of clothing we bring into our store. We keep our hearts and minds set on making sure we have a safe place for friends of all sizes to shop together. It can be difficult to maintain this standard, especially when not all clothing designers offer the full size range in their pieces, but with determination and effort, it remains at the forefront of our decision making.
2. Confidence – We take all of our own product photos in house, we are our own models for our social media and website. This can be super intimidating. We have never been big social media people, we don’t post much of our personal life. So when we opened the store and had to take pictures of ourselves modeling the clothing, we had to dig deep and find some confidence (or at least make it look like we have confidence). None of this came naturally for us! But to serve our greater purpose, of helping women of all sizes feel more comfortable in their own skin, we knew it was a necessity! So, we try to model all of our pieces on at least 2 models of different sizes. Typically this is one or both of us, and another friend, customer, or family member, of another size. We understand the importance of showing the clothing on bodies of all sizes!
3. Eager to learn- Coming from healthcare, we didn’t know much about the retail world. We had to learn quickly, and we continue to learn every day. We have studied all areas of our business including taxes, business paperwork, managing retail inventory, becoming DIY photographers, managing our social media, advertising, our website and so much more! Each area has room for improvement and we hope to continue to grow and improve as we learn!
Our biggest piece of advice is to find your purpose and run with it! Also, you can fake it till you make it. Growing up, our Mom always encouraged us to be like a duck. Float gracefully on the surface, but paddle like heck under the surface. No one will know if your confidence is real or not, and eventually things will start to feel more natural. We do this daily! Finally, continue to learn and adapt. As humans, our learning will never be complete! Network and find resources to support you and continue to educate yourself in your craft!
All the wisdom you’ve shared today is sincerely appreciated. Before we go, can you tell us about the main challenge you are currently facing?
The biggest challenge we have faced is sourcing brands that offer their styles in the range of sizes we need. We have only bought merchandise from brands that carry a minimum of Small-3X, something that is rare to come by for clothing brands. We have held ourselves to this standard because we have felt the frustrations as a plus size shopper, the fashion industry isn’t built to cater to the range of sizes that women deserve. Due to this, there have been many times where we have found clothing pieces we’d love to bring into our store, but haven’t because the range of sizes aren’t available. It can also be difficult to find pieces that will be flattering on all sizes. We pay attention to details, especially details that are important to women in plus sized bodies. There are a few brands that do offer the range of sizes that we need, and we have fallen in love with their offerings and have built great relationships with them. We plan to continue these relationships and offer these brands. The best part is that most of these brands are small women-owned companies; we love supporting other businesses like us!
Contact Info:
- Website: https://shopkandco.com/
- Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/kandcompanynewlondon/
- Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/kandcompanynewlondon
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