Meet Tamara L. | Entrepreneur & Flight Attendant

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

Hi Tamara, what was your thought process behind starting your own business?
What made me start Nicole Collection was that I LOVE fashion. I love clothes. I would spend hours in the mall trying to find something to wear, and pairing shoes and accessories together. Retail therapy is my safe space. I would always get compliments and other women asking me where I purchased my looks from. It made me feel good. its one thing when you like your appearance but its another when another woman compliments you. Ive always liked the Deion Sanders saying “When you look good, you feel good, when you feel good you do good” and for me I always like looking my best. You get one time to make a first impression and I want mine to HIT! So I knew I had an eye for fashionable pieces and I know women like to get attention without doing too much. I wanted to provide that with my brand. COVID had just happened and I was furloughed from my job and I just remember sitting at home like what now? I took about $1,000 from my savings account and me and my girl Cece flew to LA’s fashion district. I didn’t have a plan or clue what I was doing or looking for to be honest. If you never been to the fashion district its huge! Blocks and blocks of clothing. It was a bit overwhelming but fun. I believe I walked away with 6-7 different looks, came back to Atlanta after that week and shot the looks and had my website created. Weeks into having my e-commerce store I had my first viral moment and made my first $6k from the “Split decision skirt” and “Kendall top” combo. It was insane.

What should our readers know about your business?
Clothes are essential. When I purchase inventory literally buy what I would wear. I always ask myself are the clothes something that represents me and my style? Would I wear this? If the answer is no 9/10 I won’t buy it. Because besides being the Owner of Nicole Collection I am also my own brand ambassador. So girls will purchase when they see it on my body. I have built trust and loyalty with first time and repeat customers so that is exciting because I’m not Fashion Nova or Pretty Little Thing YET but these ladies decided to spend their coins with me. I love it. Im very excited about what the future holds for NC. I want it to be a household name and in department stores and have a storefront when God sees it appropriate. This started as a hustle for me because your girl just got laid off and I had bills. Sometimes people have large followings and can’t convert them into consumers. I was able to monetize from my followers and the business took off rather quickly for me. It wasn’t always easy and I wanted to throw the towel in plenty of times. I felt like I was down on my luck, sometimes sales were very slow or nonexistent. I know every business goes through this but most don’t tell you that. I would reach out to my “influencer friends” for a shout out or send inventory in return for posts. Some would do it, and some would just take the clothing and pictures never made it to the gram………..anyways it just gave me that push to get shit done on my own and not wait on someone else. Nobody going to go harder for you than you, and most won’t see the vision until its already too late . I had a lot of nights where I would cry and vent to my friends and they kept me going. And prayer! Sometimes only person you can talk to is God and situations changes! I knew I liked my time and not working for someone else, so I had to choose my hard! So my favorite saying to myself is “Im locked in” meaning im focused, I have tunnel vision. Im staying consistent, and I was changing marketing tactics that wasn’t working for me and I pray over my inventory. And Im not a gatekeeper. If I have information that can help the next person and get them further in life I will share. I want everyone to succeed and win in life because its room at the table for all. I created an e-book called Money Makin Niche’ detailing what I did to organically grow my following and make money by simply being me and following my dreams of what I’m passionate about and how the reader can do the same. But what I want the world to know and the biggest take away is Wait your turn, enjoy the process good and bad because it’s your testimony, and what’s for you will always be for you and can’t nobody take that away from 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?
Im a homebody I don’t really go out too much!! so I don’t know all of the places. I been low key and working on some major things. But I like chill spots/lounges. One of my favorite hangout spots is definitely Soigne Garden. Shoutout my guy Doc! I love the vibe ambiance and music in there. Food is amazing and they have hookah. Im a hookah-holic so I any place with good hookahs! Sunday, its a must we hit Toast on Lenox to see my guy Virgil and Tamara. This place is always packed but food is 10/10. But we would just figure it out! I can make a few calls and set up a move quick! lol

Shoutout is all about shouting out others who you feel deserve additional recognition and exposure. Who would you like to shoutout?
Shoutout to my tight knit circle of friends who have been there for me; Zahir, Alex, Cece, Shanea, Bre, Mars, Paige & Alecia

Website: https://nicole-collection.com/

Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/tamaranikkz_/

Other: https://nicole-collection.com/products/money-making-niche-e-book?_pos=1&_sid=017241331&_ss=r Direct Link to purchase my e-book Feel free to leave a review after reading it!

Image Credits
Sharod