Meet Donyetta Washington | Mompreneur and Founder of Koko’s Closet, a children’s clothing boutique

We had the good fortune of connecting with Donyetta Washington and we’ve shared our conversation below.

Hi Donyetta, what role has risk played in your life or career?
Risk is the roadmap for me, I’ve been able to expand the Koko’s Closet brand by taking huge, scary leaps of faith. I think any entrepreneur will agree that’s the key to growth. If you let fear stand in the way, if you feel like you can’t make a move until you know every detail of the results, your business becomes stagnant. I remember how scary it was to travel for last minute celebrity pop-up shops, but making those moves has helped me create so many priceless relationships that never would’ve happened otherwise.

Can you give our readers an introduction to your business? Maybe you can share a bit about what you do and what sets you apart from others?
Koko’s Closet is different because we focus letting little girls be little girls. As a mom, I understand how difficult it is to keep your daughters trendy, without having to deal with clothes that make them look older. I saw a gap in the market where there’s always a focus on babies and teens, but many major brands forget about the toddlers and tweens. Koko’s Closet fills that gap. I got to where I am today by being scared, and making moves anyway. If I’m at a pop-up shop, I’m talking to every customer that comes through the door, I jump on Facebook Live to cater to customers who can’t make it to the pop-ups, if there’s a major pop-up in a different state, Koko’s Closet is there. It definitely hasn’t been easy, but putting myself out there has made a huge positive impact on my brand. Some days are more challenging than others, like when all my merchandise got wet during a storm at a pop up, but I pray and I keep going; I don’t give myself the option to stop. I want the world to know that your dreams and goal make room for you. I dealt with people saying too many other people were selling clothes, but I kept going, and it’s paid off in major ways. If you have a goal, take the leap; fear is normal, but don’t let it stop you.

Any places to eat or things to do that you can share with our readers? If they have a friend visiting town, what are some spots they could take them to?
If my best friend and I met up in Atlanta for a weekend, we’re going to brunch every day. You can not come to Atlanta and miss brunch at Flying Biscuit! We would definitely do dinner at Spondivit’s one night, and OLG on the second night, maybe Juicy Crab for lunch. I love seafood! We would spend the rest of our time at Lenox Mall, we both love shopping almost as much as we love seafood.

The Shoutout series is all about recognizing that our success and where we are in life is at least somewhat thanks to the efforts, support, mentorship, love and encouragement of others. So is there someone that you want to dedicate your shoutout to?
I have to give a shout out to my co-founder, Dakota KoKo Washington . Without KoKo, I wouldn’t even have this business. I created it to support her passion for fashion, but I had no idea it would grow into a full boutique. Koko is my motivation, my biggest supporter, and she makes business fun.

Website: Www.dakotascloset.shop

Instagram: Dakota_winter2018

Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/DakotaWinter18/