Meet Chelsea Adler of Willows Bazaar Boutique in Tucson

Today we’d like to introduce you to Chelsea Adler.

Chelsea, can you briefly walk us through your story – how you started and how you got to where you are today.
My mom taught me how to sew as a kid, and even with the simple little things she taught me how to make, I found so much joy and energy in creating something from scratch. As I grew up, I became more and more obsessed with clothing and style – I would plan out my outfits a week in advance, I would create entire looks matching everything down to the color of my shoelaces. I loved shopping with my friends or my mom, helping them pick out the things that would fill their closets and make them feel good. I subscribed to every fashion magazine, tearing out my favorite looks, collaging trend boards and filling my notebooks and binders with doodles and sketches of my dream looks. At this point in my life, fashion was just a hobby for me, I never thought it was something I would or could pursue outside of my little world. I had originally planned on chasing a writing career, possibly teaching creative writing and English, until one day I got a brochure in the mail for FIDM in Los Angeles. Holding that colorful little flyer in my hand, I realized for the first time that my love for all things fashion related was something I could legitimize. The next day when I walked into school, I noticed the same colorful flyer posted on the counselor’s office window, and it said that a rep was coming to visit the next week. I signed up immediately and kick started my journey into the craziness of this industry.

I went to FIDM the following year and spent the next six years in school learning everything I could about design and merchandising. I bounced around a bit; I completed the program at FIDM, moved to Phoenix to continue my education, and ultimately ended up back in my hometown of Tucson where I finished school and began working. I had an internship with a local designer that turned into a paid job as her design assistant. I loved everything about working with Liz and CandyStrike. She taught me so much and there is genuinely not a single day that goes by now that I don’t think at least once, “What would Lizzie do?”. After about two years with Liz, she decided to close up shop and follow a new path, so I entered the retail side of the industry. I worked my way up into management to get a position in merchandising for the company. I continued sewing in my free time by taking freelance design jobs. However, after a few years, I realized that I was not as happy as I could be, I missed sewing every day, and more than anything, I truly missed creating. I had been talking about starting my clothing line for a while by this point, and I had gotten to the point that I was ready to stop talking about it and just do it.

My husband was so supportive as I stepped down out of management and full time work to start my line. I was planning on doing it all myself – designing, sewing, marketing, website management… I had no idea how I would do it all but I was eager and ready to figure it out. Serendipitously, when I was at the point in my process of creating my first samples, I was connected with the original owner of Willows Bazaar Boutique. Cassidy was looking for a designer to make customizable items, ethically sourced, with a beachy aesthetic. That was exactly what I was intending for my line. We hit it off right away, her style matched my style, her energy matched my energy, and our goals aligned perfectly. The opportunity was perfect. I could launch my clothing line and work with a boutique owner who knew what she was doing and that I could continue to learn from. I couldn’t believe how well things took off so quickly. Orders were coming in, we were attending markets, the boutique was growing and my clothing line was spreading. We worked together for nearly a year when Cassidy approached me with some new opportunities for herself, which meant she would be selling the boutique. She offered it to me first, and I jumped at the chance, no hesitation. A few months later, I made the purchase and became the new owner of Willows Bazaar Boutique. Now, I do it all. I run the website, buy inventory and I’ve continued to carry my clothing line as the boutique’s “in house label”.

Great, so let’s dig a little deeper into the story – has it been an easy path overall and if not, what were the challenges you’ve had to overcome?
I feel very lucky to be able to say that I have not experienced a whole lot of major or dramatic setbacks in my journey. I love a challenge so even when things got harder or something stood in my way, I made my own, and I’ve always had the outlook that it will work out the way it is supposed to in the end. It took me a lot longer to get through school than I would have liked. After FIDM, I quickly realized that to get any sort of job that paid anything I needed a Bachelor’s, which the school didn’t offer at the time. I looked at multiple others in LA, not wanting to leave, but none would accept my degree and I would have had to start over. I found the school in Phoenix and moved as soon as my credits transferred, but then that school closed, and I had to find another. As discouraging as that was, the timing worked out in the end because my mom was having surgery in Tucson, and the Art Institute had opened a fashion design program, which they didn’t have before, so I was able to transfer and continue school while being home to help my mom. In the end, being back in Tucson has been the best thing for me, it’s been here that I have found the most opportunity to pursue my goals. So, again, things always work out in the best way, regardless of the ups and downs.

I am extremely motivated by challenges, I can’t stand feeling like something can’t be done, so when things seem like they can’t, I am even more determined to find a way, whatever it takes. There was a time about a year ago, Cassidy still owned Willow’s and we had gotten accepted into a market fair in Hawaii. My clothing line is made to order, so I don’t keep on hand inventory of those items. I had some work to do if I was going to get enough pieces made to send out to the Islands in time for the market. Murphy’s Law kicked in and I got sick. It was just a cold, so I worked through it, but then it turned into a respiratory infection. Then I came down with the flu for the first time since I was a kid. I was so frustrated by losing so much time, but I was still determined to get it all done. I recruited my mom to help me sew, and then my main machine broke. I had to buy a new serger while my original machine got fixed and lost two more days of production time while I waited for the new machine to arrive. A ton of other little things went wrong along the way, but in the end, I shipped out nearly 70 pieces of handmade, hand dyed clothing to the island in time for the market. The market was a great turnout and I was honestly so proud of myself for accomplishing what I had despite it all. It’s these types of situations that I can look back on when things get hard or frustrating and remind myself that I can do it – there is a way to get it done and I can find it. The hard stuff is only momentary and as long as we stay focused, we come out better and stronger on the other side.

I think one of my biggest challenges now as the sole owner of Willows Bazaar, is getting out of my way. There is something about putting everything you have into something and throwing it up onto the internet for the world to accept or reject which is an extremely vulnerable experience. It’s terrifying, and it is easy for me to second guess myself. It is a conscious effort to remind myself to take things one step at a time and roll with what works and evaluate what doesn’t without taking things too personally. I am a behind the scenes type of person and I have recently been putting myself out there a lot more than I ever have before which is pretty scary and uncomfortable. I have a lot of hard work ahead of me to grow and reach the goals I have for the boutique. Things have moved slowly since I took over, but I am learning as I go. In addition to learning how to run an entire online business myself on the fly, literally days after I purchased the boutique, I found out my husband and I are expecting our first baby after trying for some time. We couldn’t be more excited about it, but it will be interesting to figure out how to balance everything as a new mom.

Please tell us about your business.
Willows Bazaar Boutique is an online clothing store that provides ready to wear and made to order items. It’s beachy, free spirited, and a little boho in aesthetic and style. I sell my own clothing line in the store, ChelSea Life and Style, which is a made to order and customizable clothing line including tops, bottoms, dresses and reversible swimwear. I use standard sizing, but I know we are not all made the same so custom sizing is available. I dye and print the fabrics myself, and I use only natural fabrics in the collection. I am a huge fan of bamboo fibers over cotton fibers. It’s better quality, softer, more breathable, and most importantly, less impactful on the environment to produce than cotton, all within the same price range.

As a clothing designer and the owner of Willows Bazaar Boutique, it is my mission to create a space full of things that can make women feel as confident as ever while creating awareness about the global impact of the fashion industry. Fast fashion has such a harsh impact on the environment and the people involved, and even though I am just one person, I hope that by sharing my desire for an ethical fashion industry CAN make a difference. Sharing my hand made designs is one thing, but also by sharing the process behind the scenes through Willows’ blog (and soon, the Willows Vlog), my goal is to create awareness around the work that goes into the clothes we buy and wear every day. Clothes have the power to make us feel beautiful, but feeling beautiful does not have to make the world ugly.

Some of my future goals for the boutique include expanding into children’s wear, home goods, and a new line of items that will bring awareness to different causes around the world as well as donate profits to those causes. I will also be launching a YouTube channel this year that focuses on repurposing clothing and other items, DIY projects, and educating viewers on the environmental impacts of fast fashion.

Is there a characteristic or quality that you feel is essential to success?
I have a pretty blatant refusal to accept that things can’t be done. I am stubborn in that way, but I am also very patient. I will work as hard as I have to and for as long as it takes to reach the goals I set out to accomplish. I recognize how lucky I am that things have gone as smoothly for me as they have since quitting my job and pursuing my own business, and that is not something I take for granted. Understanding that things don’t just happen is so important, and the willingness to put in the work is what moves things forward. I know things don’t happen overnight, it takes time, so staying realistic and setting reasonable expectations upon myself is key. I am also learning how to ask for help, which has always been hard for me to do. However, being a new business owner and a one woman show (at least for now), having a support system in place that I can trust is vital to my success and something that I am so grateful for.

Contact Info:

• Website: www.willowsbazaarboutique.com
• Email: chelsealifeandstyle@gmail.com
• Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/willows.bazaar.boutique/
• Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/willowsboutiqueoffical/

Image Credit:
Jason Johnson
AJ Kirksey
Sarah Adler

Suggest a story: VoyagePhoenix is built on recommendations from the community; it’s how we uncover hidden gems, so if you or someone you know deserves recognition please let us know here.