Today we’d like to introduce you to Samantha Tyree.
Hi Samantha, it’s an honor to have you on the platform. Thanks for taking the time to share your story with us – to start, maybe you can share some of your backstory with our readers.
I am originally from Charlottesville, Virginia but grew up in Roanoke/Salem, Virginia. After completing high school in 2020, I relocated to Richmond, Virginia for college; where I attended Virginia State University.
In 2021, I moved to North Carolina to continue my college career at Winston-Salem State University. I feel into some hardship with finding a job in. a new location, so I took a leap of faith a started my online boutique.
To support my online business, I Door dashed for three months; however, the car I had at the time was not reliable, so I had to transition into another job field. I worked as a part-time caregiver, built a church app for my church to generate monthly revenue as well as took over the social media marketing department for my uncle’s State Farm agency while being a full-time student; just to fund my business. I was determined to keep my business, but I knew the funding would take more than my caregiving job since that was paying my household bills.
Here I am today, graduated with a major in Psychology and Global Justice Studies and Law from the illustrious Winston-Salem State University, I opened my first store here in Greensboro, North Carolina at the Four Seasons Mall. Along with managing my business and studying to go to grad school in August 2024. All I can say is that I am blessed and highly favored,
I’m sure it wasn’t obstacle-free, but would you say the journey has been fairly smooth so far?
I definitely faced hardship. I began my business when I first moved to North Carolina in 2021. I faced the hardship of loneliness, covid, financial struggles, and remaining discipline.
The main focus of The Girlies Brand is mental health; our slogan is wanting to make the girlies feel and look beautiful. That is our goal; we want everyone to be able to come in a feel welcome, loved, and beautiful.
Being away from my family was very hard for me but working on The Girlies Brand gave me an escape.
My brand was also produced towards the end of Covid, so I wasn’t sure how the support would go, I knew everyone was going through financial hardships just as I was.
I face the struggle of finding a job; it was so hard finding a job that paid enough to cover my bills on top of working with my school schedule.
As well as the struggle of remaining disciplined and focused on school while making sure I maintained my business upkeep as it was expanding.
Appreciate you sharing that. What should we know about The Girlies Brand?
The Girlies Brand specializes in size inclusivity, affordability, comfort, trendiness, and customer engagement brand. Our main focus is our customers; as we always say, we want you to look and feel beautiful. The Girlies Brand sizing starts at XXS-5XL for our women. For our children and youth, we go from sizes preemie to 14-16 in youth. Our shoe sizes go 5-12 for women, and select shoes go up to 13 for men. We have all the accessories you can think of makeup, makeup applicators, phone cases, both Android and iPhone. We have bracelets, necklaces, earrings, hats, hair clips and bows, keychains, bath sets, purses and much more.
We have heard that we are one of the most size-inclusive trendy stores in the Triad. We pride ourselves on being size-inclusive; it’s our main goal that anyone who comes into The Girlies Brand should be able to find something they like/enjoy.
We change our inventory weekly, as well as seasonal changes to our whole element within the store and online. We give you the feel of shopping on our website while in-store.
We’re always looking for the lessons that can be learned in any situation, including tragic ones like the Covid-19 crisis. Are there any lessons you’ve learned that you can share?
Only thing I can say is trust in God and don’t give up. Life was hard, especially financially and mentally, for me in that time; although it was during the ending period of Covid, I feel everything started to become more expensive as well as scarce. The job search was going terribly, so I door-dashed for three months before becoming a caregiver. I found DoorDash beneficial because people were still quarantining, so nobody wanted to go out much. However, the car I had became unreliable, so I had to get a job that didn’t involve driving so much. That’s when I reached out to Home Instead, did their caregiver training, and became a caregiver. I am forever grateful for the chance Home Instead gave me. I had no caregiver experience, but they trained me and allowed me to start work immediately.
Pricing:
- Everything in The Girlies Brand is under $30
Contact Info:
- Website: https://thegirliesbrand.com/
- Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/thegirliesbrand/
- Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/thegirliesbrand/
- Linkedin: https://www.linkedin.com/in/samantha-tyree-719871244/
- Youtube: https://www.youtube.com/@Samantha.Tyree1/videos
- Yelp: https://www.yelp.com/biz/the-girlies-brand-greensboro?osq=The+Girlies+Brand
- Other: https://www.tiktok.com/@thegirliesbrand?_t=8fHGMevsMAA&_r=1
Image Credits
Shiree Carr
Dylan Tyree
Precious Tyree
