Today we’d like to introduce you to Jessica Burns.
Thanks for sharing your story with us Jessica. So, let’s start at the beginning and we can move on from there.
Pink Coral Miami started as just an idea a few years ago. I was working with another startup I had founded in Wynnwood, Miami. After teaching a workshop on coding one afternoon, I went for a walk and found myself lost in the Miami wholesale district. It had beautiful clothing on display but wasn’t open to the public. As a shopping fanatic- I needed more information.
I went home and did some more research and from there the idea of ‘Pink Coral Miami’ was born. I discovered a lot of the fashion being purchased in the wholesale district was leaving Miami and since shopping here isn’t the most convenient (or is just too expensive), I decided to do something about it.
On Oct 2016, Pink Coral Miami offically opened for business online.
Since then we have done many pop-up shops and events around Miami, been involved with many collaboration projects with local brands, launched our blog (www.taggedinmiami.com) and recently, started to focus on our next expansion.
There is a lot more to come with our brand so be ready Miami!
Has it been a smooth road?
There were many ups and downs in starting my business (nothing ever goes to plan). For starters, we launched almost 6 months after the predicted launch date (we had a number of issues with building our website). Due to other unexpected issues, I was forced to quit my day job a lot earlier than expected which put me in a financial position I was not prepared for. I experienced fallouts with ‘friends’ and ex’s who acted like they were supporting me, yet were rooting for me to fail. I began partnerships with people I never imagined I would work with and I had to learn the hard way to be careful who you trust and be even more careful with the people who discuss your plans with. Many people don’t want you to do better than they have and you experience this when you start to take risks.
It is ALWAYS a struggle to be your own boss. Things change on a day to day basis, many people in your life will never understand why you are doing what you are doing, you miss out on important events (weddings, birthdays, nights out), you have to motivate yourself EVERY DAY (what’s a weekend?) and there is no one to blame but yourself when things are bad (or good!).
My advice for anyone starting their journey is: DO IT.
There will never be a perfect time to take a big risk in life, but if you have enough faith in yourself and your ideas things will work out. Sometimes, that means having to change your ideas altogether, sometimes that means failing a few times to find what works better. Whatever it means for you, the circumstances will never be picture perfect but the sooner you start the sooner you will learn and the sooner you can succeed.
(I speak a lot about the ups and downs of having your own business on my Miami blog: www.taggedinmiami.com).
We’d love to hear more about Pink Coral Miami.
Pink Coral Miami is a Miami based women’s clothing brand. We are Miami based, Miami bought and Miami inspired. We live where everyone else vacations, so our goal is the bring a slice of the beach to you wherever you are and wherever you go!
We handpick each piece with different women in mind. Miami is a cultural hub and women come in all shapes and sizes here. We try to offer something for everyone. A lot of people don’t know this, but we offer local deliveries, personal shopping opportunities, private sip and shop parties and love being popup vendors at local events. There is nothing we won’t do and no event we don’t want to be apart of – we love Miami!
Do you feel like there was something about the experiences you had growing up that played an outsized role in setting you up for success later in life?
Both of my parents were big enthusiasts of ‘you can do whatever you want to do’ growing up. They told me that every day, even when I really didn’t want to hear it. My mother was Canadian and my father was American so growing up, I had parents with very different opinions and expectations of me, but I think it helped me look at things from all points of view.
My mother was a huge inspiration of mine. She passed away when I young yet accomplished every single one of her dreams before she died. My first year of college she emailed me her report card and said, ‘You’re smarter than me – I want you to get better grades than I did.’ I didn’t think I could, but I did.
My father and stepmother both had successful business’s while I was growing and those two could HUSTLE. They loved what they did, loved going to work every day and were proud of their accomplishments. As I eventually got into sales and e-commerce when launching Pink Coral, my father has had nothing but valuable advice and helped me get through the hard realities of owning your own business.
Pricing:
- $50-$100
Contact Info:
- Website: www.pinkcoralmia.com
- Phone: (305) 804 1964
- Email: askus@pinkcoralmia.com
- Instagram: @pinkcoralmiaimi
- Facebook: @pinkcoralmiami
- Twitter: @pinkcoralmiami
- Other: www.taggedinmiami.com
Image Credit:
Ralph Raphael Photography, Beyond South Beach
Getting in touch: VoyageMIA is built on recommendations from the community; it’s how we uncover hidden gems, so if you know someone who deserves recognition please let us know here.
