Meet Stephanie Miller

We caught up with the brilliant and insightful Stephanie Miller a few weeks ago and have shared our conversation below.

Stephanie, first a big thank you for taking the time to share your thoughts and insights with us today. I’m sure many of our readers will benefit from your wisdom, and one of the areas where we think your insight might be most helpful is related to imposter syndrome. Imposter syndrome is holding so many people back from reaching their true and highest potential and so we’d love to hear about your journey and how you overcame imposter syndrome.

Building an ever growing online presence for Fetch definitely keeps me on my toes and constantly looking to keep the pulse on current events. The imposter syndrome would usually hit hardest when the posts would flop. I would worry that we lost our edge or relevancy, but constantly reminding myself that social media is a tool for the business – not a measure of our success has helped a lot. And finally finding the time to unplug from socials on my days off. It took a few years for me to really be able to let go of the control of our account and now I know it’s so important to do so. Our team is able to post to stories during their shift and it gives new personality and insight every time a different person is at the shop, and I love seeing them all develop their own style and be comfortable being the face of the brand that day.

Thanks for sharing that. So, before we get any further into our conversation, can you tell our readers a bit about yourself and what you’re working on?

I moved to KC from the STL area in 2004, to attend the Kansas City Art Institute. After graduating with a BFA in Fiber/Textiles, I decided Kansas City was now home. I consider myself officially a KC transplant now that I’ve lived here longer than I’ve lived in any one place growing up. My best friend Patrick and I were both working retail in 2016, him as a regional visual director and me as a store manager. We saw the growth of hometown pride happening in KC after the Royals World Series runs and the emergence of the shop small trend. The idea of Fetch: a vintage + gift + paper goods store was born. After the 2016 election cycle, we knew a large part of our business would be political and that we couldn’t be silent about issues that matter the most to us. The political activism, fundraising and education part of the business has made us more than a store, it’s created a community for us that we are so proud of. We opened our doors in the fall of 2017 and have been growing ever since. We just relocated to a new storefront in the Westside Neighborhood of Kansas City, next to many likeminded and wonderful businesses and we are so looking forward to growing even more in this space.

Looking back, what do you think were the three qualities, skills, or areas of knowledge that were most impactful in your journey? What advice do you have for folks who are early in their journey in terms of how they can best develop or improve on these?

I would say Networking, Research, and Self Reflection are the areas I’ve personally focused on the most. Creating a network of other retail store owners as well as makers and other small business owners has helped me immensely. Having a network of people you can lean on and collaborate with is invaluable to your business. Researching products and processes and what other businesses have done has also proven to be a great way to gain inspiration and insight. Ask yourself, How have other brands solved this problem? What can we do differently? I really think self reflection and the ability to give yourself constructive criticism will make or break a brand. Too often I think people want so badly for their customers to want what they want, and they have a hard time adapting to what customers are actually buying or where the trends are heading. This does not mean bending your core values and beliefs though – always remember those are non negotiable!

How can folks who want to work with you connect?

We would love to continue to be more involved in the community. Personally I would love the opportunity to join a charity, board, or organization this year. The fundraising and community aspect of our store is the part that is the most fulfilling to me and I feel that going forward in our country, this portion is going to be more important than ever. If you’re a non profit or group that helps underserved members of our community please reach out and let’s plan an event. We are always looking for new ways to make a difference. You can contact us via E-mail [email protected] or DM on social media @fetchkcmo

Contact Info:

• Website: https://www.fetchkcmo.com
• Instagram: @fetchkcmo
• Facebook: @fetchkcmo
• Twitter: @fetchkcmo

Image Credits

Bryan West, USA Today
@fetchkcmo instagram