That Charming Woman is all about featuring inspirational women who showcase leading a fulfilling life. For a “That Charming Woman”, every moment is a chance to inspire or be inspired. She’s in this life to live it, and from big to small, she creates the charm in her every day. Today, I’m excited to feature Ali Reff of the popular Chicago-based boutique Alice & Wonder.
It’s an honor to introduce you to Ali Reff of Alice & Wonder
First, let me start with a question. Who here loves pretty, fun things? Everyone, I see! Fabulous. Glad we’re all on the same page.
As one of Chicago’s top boutiques, offering up just that is Alice & Wonder’s promise to the Windy City and beyond. (And may I add, the price points are mostly under $100!) The shop’s owner, Ali Reff, is a female entrepreneur who quit her PR-agency job to go after her dream of owning a store of her own. (When I was also knee-deep in the agency world, we actually used to work together on the same client waaaay back in the day. Small world, right?!)
I love that she was in a world she *thought* she wanted (PR agency), decided it actually wasn’t for her, and had the strength to not only pivot but start her own business. Ali has grown Alice & Wonder to be one of Chicago’s most-loved boutiques — it’s filled with the most adorable items, is a favorite among locals there, continually offers adorable finds, and I’ve got to add that the branding is always on point! Ali is the perfect example of That Charming Woman who showcases making your own happiness and success – always on your own terms – and I’m so excited to dive into her perspective, story, and insights today.
Top left photo by Hannah Schweiss Photography, all other photos by Iron & Honey
That Charming Woman :: Ali Reff of Alice & Wonder
Take us through the journey of quitting your PR job and launching your own store. What was the point in which you said, “Ok I’m doing this”? What were the biggest considerations in launching a storefront? How long did the process take?
I worked for a few agencies in the city for eight years before starting Alice & Wonder and the decision to take the leap was one of those ‘right timing’ things that felt extremely difficult at the time but I’m eternally thankful for in hindsight. Don’t get me wrong, I loved my agency life and wouldn’t have traded it for the experience, knowledge and most importantly, people, it ended up putting in my life. But at the time I took the big leap, I was working for my ‘dream agency’ on a ‘dream client’ and yet I continued to look at my boss’ role and think ‘I don’t want that.’
I’m a huge proponent in that you and you alone are responsible for your happiness in your career. Yes, there are outside factors will make you satisfied or not satisfied in your current role. Maybe you hate spreadsheets, or your boss isn’t great. Or your co-worker is constantly trying to one-up you. But you have to be willing to take a hard look at your actual role and decide whether it truly makes you happy. For me, the answer was ‘No.’ And when the answer is ‘No,’ you’re not only doing yourself a disservice by staying in a role that has no means of fulfilling you, you’re also not serving the company who’s employing you by going into work miserable every day.
I get asked a lot about how you can definitely know when it’s time to leave your job and it’s really a hard question with a simple answer:
Does your job make you happy? Do you feel motivated to get your boss’ job? Is it getting you to where you ultimately want to be? If any answer is a ‘no,’ then it’s time to leave. As soon as I had answered that for myself and set my sights on what my ultimate goal was, I put in my resignation within two weeks.
When we thought about opening a storefront, there were so many considerations that needed to be taken into account. Would we pick the right location? How would we distinguish ourselves from competition? How would we get the word out? Where on earth would we get the money to invest in it? And biggest – do we know what the heck we’re doing? I can say with confidence that the last question was a huge ‘No’. But I truly think that’s how any successful business starts. You may not have an exact roadmap of what you’re doing, but if you’re motivated enough, you’ll figure it out.
We started the storefront slowly. The business began online, then we moved into our storefront which we made into a ‘pop-up’ to test the location for the summer. Then we finally signed a longer term lease. From there we closed the shop for two weeks and redid the entire thing ourselves (and since then, have given it another makeover to make it bigger too!). Each step brought us closer to where we wanted to be as a business. And a lot changed within those steps to create what we have today. As with anything in life, it’s all about the journey.
What are the biggest lessons you took from PR that have helped with your store/brand?
First and foremost, though it seems obvious, working in PR taught me just how important PR is for a company. Relationships are truly everything and in a social world, people can share how they feel about a business in an instant – good or bad. So it taught me that while we might have one really amazing day of successes, we have to wake up the next day and work just as hard to give another customer that same great experience the next day.
PR, and specifically agency life, also taught me about what type of boss and leader I strive to be.
I had some really amazing women in my career that helped develop my skill set, took time to challenge me, and hey, downright scared me. (We’ve all had that boss who we were just terrified of, right?) That boss gave me a thicker skin, forced me to push harder, and made me realize that I could actually meet the expectations she knew I could all along.
On the flip side, I’ve also had opposite experiences with leaders who were not invested in my growth or career and it really showed me how much better a workplace can be when there are simply people who just care and champion your growth. I won’t by any means claim to be a perfect leader. But it was those negative experiences that motivate me to be a better boss for my team. It’s cliche but so true, you’re only as good as the team you build. I want Alice & Wonder to be a place where people are proud to come into work every day (aka no “Sunday Scaries” welcome).
What have you learned most from being an entrepreneur? What advice would you tell yourself that you didn’t know when starting?
Entrepreneurship has given me a lot of self-confidence that I never knew I possessed before. Unlike the agency life, where there are 20 chains of command who need to approve every-single-thing, being an entrepreneur requires a ton of self-reliance. Which can be exciting and scary, all at the same time. That being said, advice I’d give to myself is to jump in and start now. Don’t wait until you think you have every little thing figured out, because newsflash, you never will. But with every decision you make, with every success you see, with every failure that comes your way, you’ll learn. And slowly but surely, you’ll get there.
What’s your “Secret Sauce?” Is there one thing that you find helps to drive success?
I love this question and the answer is one that I didn’t learn until recently – the secret sauce to my business is ME (and if you’re reading this, spoiler alert: the secret sauce to your business is YOU).
I used to get easily consumed by the fact that competition is everywhere. And I would constantly ask myself, ‘What can we offer that others aren’t?’ but the answer is really simple – it’s me. No one is going to run my company the way I do. It sounds a little strong and boastful, but it’s really true. Fashion is a tough industry to be a part of. And yes, there will be people or brands down the road that have similarities, such is life. But what drives me to keep creating and keep innovating for my business is the fact that as long as I have enough passion for this business, I know I’ll find a way to not only make it work, but to make us stand out. No one else can do that the way I will.
And just a side note I learned about worrying too much about competition – the more time I spent worrying about what others were doing, the less time I spent working on my own company. I can’t control what others are doing. And in honesty, there’s a lot of amazing companies out there that are doing a lot of cool things. Good for them! I always encourage learning from innovative ideas. That will only make you stronger. But just remind yourself to spend time and energy in the place it matters most – on YOUR business – and everything else will fall into place.
Social media has been huge for us and we’ve been lucky enough to work with really wonderful people (like Emily!) who have been our cheerleaders on social along the way. Social not only allows us to tell our story on the daily, but it also gives us instant access to our customer base and a real-time engagement platform to get to know the people on the other side of the computer, those actually making purchases.
As much as I could go on about the benefits, I also know just how much work it takes to stay relevant on social. What’s going to resonate is constantly changing. My advice to any small business owner trying to figure out where to start is to pick out some brands on social that you look up to and identify what it is you like about their brand from a social perspective. Is it they way they speak to their audience? Is it the imagery they share on their feed? Or is it that they post their stories in real-time so you’re constantly feeling engaged with them? Pick out what things stick out to you and start there with your own brand.
What are your biggest tips for building a following and customer base as a brand?
Since there are so many aspects to social now, it can feel overwhelming to try and become an expert on it all. So start small and see what resonates with your audience. Don’t be afraid to try it all, but make educated decisions along the way. If something works, do more of that. If something didn’t work, first take the time to understand why, and then do less of that.
Connections are also just as important on social as they are in real-life. So try to connect with people or brands that are on or around the same point as you and think about how you can collaborate to build each other up. Some of our best engagements have been with brands who we genuinely ‘like’ and want to share with our followers. The one thing I try to remain careful about on our social is coming across as organically as possible. I want our followers to come to our feed to really connect with us, not just a place where we’re constantly pushing sales at people. Who wants that? So I make sure that whatever collaborations we pursue feel just as organic.
In thinking of your background and upbringing, what are the key elements that helped to shape you and your vision of the world?
I’m incredibly lucky to have a really hard working family to look up to in regards to business. My grandfather started his own petroleum company with his brothers, which is now run by my own brother, so I’ve always been able to see the value of building something yourself and the importance of building a brand with longevity. My Dad also built his own business as a commodities trader here in Chicago at the Board of Trade and he’s truly taught me the most important lesson in business (and hey, in life): Be good to people and people will be good to you.
Who or what are your biggest inspirations?
A huge motivator in my life is actually my husband. I gotta say, he’s just the best. He’s extremely self-motivated and he’s taught me a lot about business. There’s been times when I feel the burnout or I let disappointment get me down yet he’s constantly the number #1 cheerleader encouraging me to keep going. As an entrepreneur, it’s a huge asset to have someone like that in your corner. We’ve built this company together and I’m really proud to get to do life and business with him.
Favorite “Pretty fun things” of all time. Go!
Hands down, it’s our Chicago & Windy City collection of sweatshirts and tees. We designed them ourselves and I not only love being able to give our customers something they can’t find anywhere else, but dang it, I’m just proud because I love the design of them so much.
What does being creative mean to you? How do you harness it in different aspects of your life, even beyond your job/brand?
Being creative is constantly pushing the boundaries of the box you’ve drawn for yourself. So many people associate creativity with art – and YES, any amazing artist is creative beyond belief – but creativity can be found in all forms. Maybe you’re not great at putting together a visual display, but you are great at problem solving or putting together a brand strategy or motivating people in your company. All of that requires an extreme amount of creativity.
Some forms of creativity are a little more fun than others. So I really try to identify which creative practices I love most and make sure to exercise those as much as I can. Recognizing what brings me joy, even outside of the business, has always encouraged me to bring those skills back to the business when the time calls for it.
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There’s no better time than now to support small businesses! Here are some great picks from the Alice & Wonder website – nearly everything is under $100!
…Be sure to also swing by the Alice & Wonder website to shop more amazing picks!
Huge thanks to Ali for offering her insight and being a part of the “The Charming Woman” series! Be sure to keep following along with Ali and all things Alice & Wonder over on Instagram and the Alice & Wonder website.
