7 - How Jenny Sanzo Turned a 13-Year Dream Into Get Lit Boutique

Tucked along the charming streets of historic St. Augustine, Get Lit Boutique is where fashion, literature, and entrepreneurship beautifully collide. Jenny Sanzo shares the story behind her unique bookish boutique and the 13-year dream that lived quietly in the background before finally becoming a reality. From fashion blogging and personal styling to building multiple businesses and curating a one-of-a-kind retail experience, Jenny's journey is a testament to trusting your passions, embracing unexpected opportunities, and having the courage to take the leap when the timing is right.

This conversation explores entrepreneurship, personal growth, resilience, work-life balance, social media, motherhood, and navigating life's unexpected challenges. Jenny opens up about building a business from the ground up, overcoming a breast cancer diagnosis just months after opening her storefront, and learning to prioritize health, family, and authenticity along the way. A heartfelt and inspiring episode for entrepreneurs, dreamers, book lovers, and anyone who has ever carried a vision in their heart waiting for the right season to bring it to life.

Chapters
00:00 From Dream to Reality: The Birth of Get Lit Boutique
03:03 Navigating Life Changes: Moving and Starting Anew
05:57 The Journey of Entrepreneurship: Building a Business
08:52 Overcoming Challenges: Health and Business
11:55 Authenticity in Business: Embracing Realness
14:58 Social Media Struggles: Finding Balance and Authenticity
18:10 Prioritizing Health: Lessons Learned from Adversity
20:45 Empowerment Through Sharing: The Power of Community
23:33 Rejuvenation and Nature's Embrace
25:50 Motivation and the Power of Deadlines
27:29 Work-Life Balance: Seasons of Life
28:47 Community Support and Engagement
30:44 The Impact of Organic Marketing
32:42 Dreams of Design and Entrepreneurship
34:49 Navigating New Platforms and Selling Strategies
36:40 Literary Inspirations and Personal Growth

Connect with Jenny Sanzo on Instagram: @JennySanzo and www.getlitboutique.com

Connect with Host Leandra Sweet: @TheSoulLedSessions

Transcript

SPEAKER_01 0:01

I moved here to St. Augustine, Florida to live my dream life. It didn't take long to realize, other people did too. People who took a leap, followed what they loved, and built something of their own in this magical little town. The Soul-led sessions is about those people, the stories behind the businesses you see, visit, and fall in love with. Not just what they've created, but what it really took to get there. The risks, the pivots, the moments that changed everything, and what it actually looks like to build a life that feels aligned. These conversations are here to connect you to the heart of entrepreneurship and maybe even to what's possible for your own life. Thank you so much for having me in your beautiful shop. I'm so grateful that you invited me here, where I love to come and shop anyways. So thank you. Um, why don't you tell us a little bit about how you got started here or how this became from dream to reality.

SPEAKER_00 1:19

Okay. So this idea lived in my head for about 13 years. Wow. Overtake. So I used to write a fashion blog, which you know because we know each other from New York. So I used to write a blog called Flower City Fashion Eastern when I lived in Rochester.

SPEAKER_01 1:33

Love it.

SPEAKER_00 1:34

Um and I featured actually story arts on my blog. So I featured a Jane Eyre scarf. And I was like, wouldn't it be so cool to curate all these like book-themed items, mix it in with just boutique fashion and have like this bookish concept? But when I wanted to do it, I wasn't in the right season of life and just the resources weren't there to try to like make that look work without having to source everything and stack everything, like doing stuff online. It was a lot harder then. So it kind of just has been on the back burner.

SPEAKER_02 2:12

Yeah.

SPEAKER_00 2:12

And then we moved here in in 2020, and I knew the girl who was in the space before when it was the closet. Oh. I was in here doing an event with her, and she casually mentioned that she was gonna go online and give up the space. So I was like, this is this is it. Because I always wanted to shop in St. Augustine. Wow. And I love that we're next door to second red books because they've been here for like 30 years.

SPEAKER_01 2:37

It's incredible.

SPEAKER_00 2:38

Maybe longer. So it all just kind of came together.

SPEAKER_01 2:41

It's an incredible space, like perfect. It's really perfect. It is. I can walk here for my house. And that's even more perfect. Super convenient. So you were in New York and you moved here, you said 2020? 2019, 2020, which is 2020. I feel like when everybody got the push to do something.

SPEAKER_00 2:58

We had we had purchased our home in 2018.

SPEAKER_01 3:00

Oh, okay.

SPEAKER_00 3:01

Our families are down here, so we were coming a lot. We bought a house, we thought we would Airbnb it when we weren't using it. Yeah. And we were in the process of fixing it up when 2020 happened. And we thought we were coming for the two weeks to close. Oh, yeah. Yeah.

SPEAKER_01 3:14

And then we didn't go home. And then it stayed, and now it's been six years.

unknown 3:18

Yeah.

SPEAKER_01 3:18

I mean, that's a pretty six years and a boutique later. Here we are. That's a pretty beautiful purpose, like how it how it unfolded for you.

SPEAKER_00 3:25

Oh, for sure.

SPEAKER_01 3:25

So when you was it when you found the space, that's what kind of lit the dream into reality.

SPEAKER_00 3:30

All I I had up until Sarah telling me she was giving up this space. I had a Pinterest board and a name. Yes. So I had get lit already living in my head. I had my little secret Pinterest board, but that was it. So it was December 23. I was like, Will you talk to your landlord to see if I can take over? And then I took over the lease in February and I had nothing.

SPEAKER_01 3:54

No kidding.

SPEAKER_00 3:55

And we opened May 26, 2023. So it'll be three years.

SPEAKER_01 4:02

And a matter of months, weeks, really.

SPEAKER_00 4:04

Yes.

SPEAKER_01 4:05

Yeah. And completely renovated the space. And that's kind of your thing though.

SPEAKER_00 4:11

It's kind of my thing. That's your MOR. Yeah. I've done that. I've had multiple businesses over the years and they've all kind of started in in chaos, but it all seems to work in the case.

SPEAKER_01 4:23

Ready, go set. There's no there's no ready set go. No. Mix it up a little.

SPEAKER_00 4:28

We figure it out as we go.

SPEAKER_01 4:29

Yeah, I love it. That seems to be how a lot of people do things, though, believe it or not. Like if you wait, if you plan and plan and plan and wait for it, just never happens. Well, so if you don't just act and start doing that's what it felt like.

SPEAKER_00 4:43

It felt like, okay, here's this opportunity. You can jump right in. It's a great location.

SPEAKER_01 4:49

Now it's a 13-year dream coming to fruition. So is it everything you hoped it would be? Yeah.

SPEAKER_00 4:55

It is so much fun picking everything out. Yeah. And I try to source as much as I can from smaller makers and smaller brands, which that's really important. So admirable. Yeah. So we have stuff from all over the US. And then I do import a few things from the UK because they make some really great stuff. Good quality. Britlit fans. So really great quality and a lot of literature-inspired merchandise. That's neat.

unknown 5:20

Yeah.

SPEAKER_01 5:20

And that that there are some really unique pieces here that you cannot find anywhere else. I've never seen anywhere else. And I love how you mix your sense of fashion, which is impeccable, if I may say so, with that literature kind of theme. It's so unique.

SPEAKER_00 5:37

Well, and when I told people that I was going to open a bookish boutique, they were like, what does that mean? What is that? I'm like, well, I kind of made it up. Right. Essentially. And especially back then when they came up with it, like book talk, bookstagram were not things. They really were just getting going when we opened. Wow. So that's been kind of cool to watch like the resurgence of people reading and how that's become cool again. Goodness. That's been happening alongside us growing our brand. So that's been that's been really fun too. Good timing.

SPEAKER_01 6:08

Yeah. Totally good timing. And perfect for St. Augustine. So tell us a little bit more about why St. Augustine. I know you've spent time here growing up.

SPEAKER_00 6:19

Yes. So St. Augustine really feels like home to me because I've been coming here since 1988. My grandparents moved to Palm Coast in the late 80s. And I remember coming up here with my mom and my grandma and walking up and down St. George Street and wanting to have a shop. Like I've always loved this town. I've always loved fashion. I've always loved shopping. So it was kind of this like dream in the back of my mind to have a store here one day. But I honestly never thought we'd be living here. Like as I grew up and life was lifing, I assumed this would be like a retirement place. I never thought we'd be able to make the transition and move when we did. Wow. So it's a blessing. It has been.

SPEAKER_01 7:03

That's great. And before this, what were you doing? Like, was there something that built up to being able to do this?

unknown 7:10

Yes.

SPEAKER_01 7:10

You had some businesses along the way.

SPEAKER_00 7:12

So I had I've had many businesses along the way. It's funny when you like look at my resume, it's it is a hot mess. I I went to school for English lit, so I have an English degree undergrad. I have an elementary ed master's, so I was a teacher.

SPEAKER_01 7:28

Wow.

SPEAKER_00 7:29

Then I moved to Rochester, New York. I grew up in New Jersey, so I taught in New Jersey. Moved to Rochester, New York, was an adjunct professor at a community college.

SPEAKER_02 7:38

Wow.

SPEAKER_00 7:38

Got pregnant, decided to stay home because I was gonna lose, I forget, it was like $47 a month paying for daycare. I was like, that doesn't that doesn't sound like a so then I was gonna be a stay-at-home mom. That lasted about 10 months, and that's when I started my blog. So my high school best friend who has had a phenomenal career in luxury fashion was like, you've always loved fashion. You you love to shop, you're a great writer. Start a blog. This is like 2010, 2010.

SPEAKER_01 8:08

When blogs were everything.

SPEAKER_00 8:10

And nobody was really doing it in Rochester. So I was like this novelty. I called myself the Flower City Fashionista. That was my blog. And that kind of took off, and then that ended up leading to an opportunity to work for a major brand doing personal shopping. So I was doing that, and then I launched my own wardrobe styling business. And then somewhere in the mix of that, someone sent me hair care samples to review on my blog. It ended up being an MLM, which at the time I was anti-MLM. Then I tried the shampoo, it was really good, posted about it on the blog, signed up to do that, and that completely changed my life and took off. That's the most successful business I've ever had. So talk about unlearning what you thought you knew. So I realized that I could run that business differently, and I did. And that is what gave me the freedom and the finances and the flexibility to be able to do this. Right. So that's a very long answer, but I feel like it kind of paints the whole picture that all these pieces came together over a long period of time. But it was really that network marketing business that allowed, and I'm still with the company. So that still is paying the bills, so to speak, which allows me to source what I want to source and be less worried about the bottom line all the time and more worried about curating an experience and bringing in what I want to bring in.

SPEAKER_01 9:43

How beautiful. So that does matter. Each little section, each little piece of that story matters greatly, I think. And for for you to turn an MLM business into a dream is really why a lot of us moms do that. A lot of women, a lot of men too, try an MLM or start, you know, a business like that because it can lead to other things and allow you to be that entrepreneur that you didn't even realize you could be. Right. Correct. It gives you that like the guts. It sure it sure does. Doesn't it?

SPEAKER_00 10:15

And the experience too. Yeah, personal development, all of it. Totally just been I don't think I would have had the guts to do this if I didn't have the experience of building that business. Yeah, amazing.

SPEAKER_01 10:28

So I'm sure you have a lot of your team supporting you in this venture as well, right? And and shopping with you and supporting you.

SPEAKER_00 10:40

So my team spans, you know, from Hawaii to Europe. So Yeah, how cool is that?

SPEAKER_01 10:45

That's so fun. And you've had some I mean, it hasn't always been all sunshine and rainbows. You've had some struggles along the way too that could have broken you, could have closed the shop. Oh yeah. Could have, you know, had you end it all, but somehow you've persevered and Yeah.

SPEAKER_00 11:04

So and it's it's funny when you look back and s and see like how things fell into place. So when I first opened, it was just me in here all the time. And I was starting to burn out because I was working weekends, holidays, all the things. So I was like, it's time to hire. So I brought in some Flaggler girls. Good. I started training them. Um, thank God, because six months after opening my business, I was diagnosed with breast cancer. Unbelievable. So six months. Six months. Uh and you had just hired new. I had like I wasn't even done training them. Oh my goodness. And I had to be like, so how comfortable do you feel? Because just open when you can open. So these girls would just open in between classes. We did it on regular hours, and I wasn't in here for a few months. I had to have a I had a double nestectomy. That was a long recovery. Um so talk about getting thrown a curveball because I wasn't sick. I it was just my sympathy. Screening. Yeah.

SPEAKER_01 12:08

Wow. Which was probably a good thing. I was so lucky it was really going with this. But I'm good, I'm cancer free, but talk about a delicate huge curveball.

SPEAKER_00 12:19

For sure. Yeah.

SPEAKER_01 12:20

And the fact that you're right here near a college campus, a great college as well. It's wonderful. Like one of the most beautiful campuses on the planet, I think. I agree. Um, and that you have you were able to pivot and allow these students to just take over for you, essentially. It was great. They were lifesavers. Amazing. Amazing. And how you just easily pivoted. I mean, did you do it? I'm sure you did it intentionally. Did you do it like was it difficult to do that? Or did you just know right away, okay, I just have to pivot? And you just seem like a very easygoing person. Yeah, so I just enroll with the punches.

SPEAKER_00 12:55

And I don't like so there were people who were like, Why aren't you all why aren't you open? You don't have regular hours. And that or like, where have you been? I haven't seen you. And I was like, Well, I have cancer. So and then like my goal isn't to make people feel terrible, but I I learned a while ago to not put other people's expectations of what I should or shouldn't be doing on me because that's how you end up miserable. Yes. So I have to do what's best for me, what's best for my family. And even right now, like we're only open Thursday through Sunday because that's when I have help and that's when I can afford to have help. I can't afford to staff the place seven days a week. That's great. And in this season of life, my eighth grader was doing virtual, so he was home this year. And that's my priority. So when people ask, you know, why aren't you open Monday, Tuesday, Wednesday? I say, well, because my priority in this season of my life is my family.

SPEAKER_01 13:46

That's for you.

SPEAKER_00 13:47

Moving on from now, like in a few years, I'm gonna be an empty nester. And I'll probably be be in here 24-7 because I'll be bored out of my mind.

SPEAKER_01 13:55

Right.

SPEAKER_00 13:56

But in this season, like what's important to me is my family and my health. And this shop is absolutely wonderful, but it's in its place.

SPEAKER_01 14:04

Yeah, absolutely. And how incredible that you know that because a lot of people spend their whole lives without without taking ownership over those priorities and over those needs, you know, and saying, okay, I don't care what other people think. Right. That's a huge thing. And I think the older we get, the the easier it is to not care.

SPEAKER_00 14:23

It is. And also having an MLN business to help you grow and say, Because people have lots of opinions about that. Oh goodness, yes. I've I've had a lot of experience of um sharing my my perspective or like an alternative perspective to things because I've had to do that for over a decade. Yeah.

SPEAKER_01 14:43

And online, the online warriors can be brutal. But it's a good, it is a very good lesson, especially as you say, with an MLM. Yeah. Because it does um you get all kinds of opinions. You do. I had no idea myself until I started a team on a on another with another company. And just wow. Wow. I mean, I had an opinion. I did. I had an opinion about it. Um, but my opinion quickly changed when I realized you really can make an income. And you know, that can happen.

SPEAKER_00 15:19

So I feel like there are not many things where you can like generate that kind of income with that amount of flexibility, like on your own terms. I mean, if it still work, you have to be consistent, you have to treat it like a job.

SPEAKER_01 15:30

You do have to treat it like a job.

SPEAKER_00 15:31

So I think that's the part where people just expect, like, oh, I can throw up my link and everyone will shop from my web. And that doesn't work. It doesn't look an MLI. It doesn't work here either.

SPEAKER_01 15:40

Right.

SPEAKER_00 15:40

I can't just lipboutique.com. Right. So I'll just leave it up there on Shopify. Wouldn't that be nice? Just sign it.

SPEAKER_01 15:48

Wouldn't it be nice if that's how social media works? And then you think you've got a handle on social media. Oh, it's always changing. And you're like, what's what now?

SPEAKER_00 15:58

What is it now? And I feel talking about this earlier. Like, I feel like a boomer. Like I feel like, like, how do I not know how to work this technology? It's gonna be way longer than it should. Because my like my employees who are much younger than I am are like, oh, you just I'm like, oh my god.

SPEAKER_01 16:18

But then you do it and you think, okay, I just spent all this time. It's a great, you know, I'm putting the energy out there, and then you're like, crickets.

SPEAKER_00 16:25

Oh, 47 people looked at this. Great. So that I spent two hours on it.

SPEAKER_01 16:30

But I think that the secret there is just to keep going. Yeah. Right? Have you noticed that? I have.

SPEAKER_00 16:35

And that's honestly, that's been part of my issue is that I haven't been able to give social media the attention that I've had to just over the last two years with my health. One of the side effects, not to get all medical. Share away, yeah. But um, so one of the medicines that I am on, like to prevent recurrence, one of the side effects is dizziness, which gets worse when I'm looking at screens. So like editing short form video content is a nightmare. But that is getting better. I'm doing vestibular therapy. Oh wow, this is new. Yes. So that's getting better. But that's why my social media isn't what it was two years ago.

SPEAKER_01 17:14

Right.

SPEAKER_00 17:15

Not that I ever want to be that active again. Again. It can get exhausting. As you grow, you kind of learn like do it on your terms. I'm gonna post two to three times a week, and that's what we're gonna do. That's right. Yeah.

SPEAKER_01 17:28

You can't have to I mean, even if you do post three times a day, every day, you're still not likely to get picked up. You know, it's just I think it's just totally random at this point. Sometimes it is. I really feel like you know, if you're putting more thought, more intention into fewer reels, I think it's better. I mean, I think it it becomes more authentic, it becomes right.

SPEAKER_00 17:53

You just that's so that's what I've been struggling with with social media since short form video took over. Is I feel like it's very trendy, it's very copycotty, it's it's all the same stuff over and over. And just like my personality is so averse to that. Like I like being unique, I like being different. So I it's hard for me to get on there and do some trend that everyone else is doing. Oh, I hear you.

SPEAKER_01 18:19

Yeah. It's cringy.

SPEAKER_00 18:21

So for sure. I really pride myself on being authentic. So if you follow me on social, you'll see like some days I'm cute, some days I'm not that cute. Some days there's makeup on the hairstone, some days. You're real. It's real life. So for my styling business, so I still do wardrobe styling, audio styling in here. So you can make an appointment and get styled in here. People can even bring in their stuff. Like, I have these pants, I have no idea what to wear with them, and then we make it work. And sometimes we can make it work with what's in here, and sometimes we can't, and then I find stuff online at other retailers for people. But I just filmed all this content for um, I sell this guide to edit your own closet. Yeah. DIY closet edit. And I've been putting off filming the content because I'm like, oh well, this I want to do it over a series of days and whatever. And the other day I was like, I don't even care. I was still in my sweatpants physical therapy.

SPEAKER_01 19:20

Love it.

SPEAKER_00 19:21

And I filmed it. I filmed it, and it's done. It now needs to be edited.

SPEAKER_01 19:26

Which, you know, takes me longer than it should. Right. But at least it's done.

SPEAKER_00 19:31

Right. You didn't wait for perfection. Right. And that's that's what you get. You're gonna get real, you're gonna get authentic. So if you want like perfectly curated and perfectly edited content.

SPEAKER_01 19:42

But I feel like I feel like we're going there as a society. Okay. I mean, I at least our generation, maybe not the younger, the filtered generation, but I feel like our generation is like, you know what, I'm getting wrinkles, and here they are. If you want to see them, look at me, here I am, as is. And it's refreshing because we're all going through it together. That's why I don't use filters. Yeah. I used to. I I was dabbling in the filters for a while there, and I'm like, what am I doing? This doesn't feel real.

SPEAKER_00 20:08

It was actually right when I had opened my boutique and and all that was was going on that I picked a filter that I thought get gave me like brand cohesiveness. It always looked the same. And now I look back and I'm like, I got so used to looking at myself with that filter on that I think, like, oh my gosh, I've aged so much in the last few years. I haven't, I just don't have that sort of filter on my face. That's not that's so unhealthy. So you get my wrinkles, you get you get my grades, you get whatever's going on. I love it.

SPEAKER_01 20:38

It's the real thing, and that's the way it should be, I feel like like hiding or masking isn't really serving anybody. Not you, not anybody watching.

SPEAKER_00 20:47

No, and I think when you're brave enough to do that, then it gives other people like the perm not that they need permission, but like inspiration to just show up as themselves. I think we'd all be a lot happier if we I think it empowers more that way.

SPEAKER_01 21:01

It empowers people more to say, okay, you know what? I can go to the store in a ponytail without makeup on. I mean, what's the what are we hiding behind, you know, with everything we put on ourselves every day and the pressure that that includes, especially when we have girls and when we have sons too, and we have children who are watching us and being like, Oh, that's the norm.

SPEAKER_00 21:22

Yeah.

SPEAKER_01 21:22

Okay, that's how I have to show up too, right?

SPEAKER_00 21:25

And that's the thing, having teenagers. Like my my kids follow me online, their friends follow me online. And I that's a responsibility.

SPEAKER_01 21:33

Totally. Yeah, that's great. Don't take it lightly. Yeah, that's I think that's beautiful that um you honor that, just not for yourself, but for others as well. And I think you sharing, I'm I think you shared a lot of your journey as well online, which is powerful for people because there's always even if it I always used to say, even if it just reaches one person, then it's worth it to me to share that, you know, that you they're not alone, to know they're not alone and to know that there's hope. You know, there's there's life on the other side of something that devastating to you know, that traumatic to you. It's so important. And I think social media is beautiful for that reason. I mean it can be really ugly for a lot of reasons too. But if you're using it for that purpose, it can be so beautiful and so empowering and it's beautiful. What do you do when you're not feeling so great and you do have to be here or maybe you don't have to be, maybe you close the shop. Um, on days where you're just like, oh man, I'm struggling today. How do you lift yourself up?

SPEAKER_00 22:36

So pre-diagnosis me would have powered through and been like, I I gotta be there, whatever, um, no matter what.

SPEAKER_01 22:43

Yeah.

SPEAKER_00 22:44

Most times now I will put my health first because I learned the hard way what happens to you when over time you don't put your health first and you're in burnout and you're trying to do too much for too many people and overextend yourself, and then your body tells you it's time to rest. And you have no choice on your schedule, and it's quite inconvenient. Um now that being said, if I have if I have an event or something, I'm not gonna cancel on on people that are traveling, whatever. So I will make sure that I have coverage and and make it happen, or power through if I have to, but that old mindset of like I'm doing it no matter what, I'm posting no matter what, it doesn't matter. Like I'm I don't do that anymore.

SPEAKER_02 23:27

Good for you.

SPEAKER_00 23:28

So like yesterday I wanted to edit video content and I had a bad Disney day yesterday. So it didn't get it didn't get edited. Yeah. And you know what? It doesn't matter. The world is still turning. If I post that real today or if I post it in three days, it doesn't matter. Right. But that was a lot of work to get to that point where I can be like, it's okay, because I think I tend to be more workaholic. And I've had to really scale it back.

SPEAKER_01 23:59

So you just allowed yourself to rest. On those days, you allow yourself to what are some things you do to kind of rejuvenate yourself or to just allow yourself to be, just to be.

SPEAKER_00 24:10

So I love being outside. I love my birds. You know, the granny hot. You are a boomer. Oh my gosh. So for Mother's Day, my people bought me an an AI bird feeder that has a camera and it will identify the bird. It's not up yet, but like this is the level of of gravity.

SPEAKER_01 24:28

That is next level. I am now.

SPEAKER_00 24:30

Okay. So I will go for a walk. It is so beautiful around here. I and like I said, I live downtown, so I I walk along the water. It's amazing. Just a beautiful place to walk around. I sit on my back porch and I read a book and I hang out with my birds. Wonderful. Oh, wonderful. I love it. Um, and then I do love a great like period drama Netflix or my Brit box or my acorn, my PBS masterpiece. There you go. I know.

SPEAKER_01 24:57

I love it. Yeah. These are all good things to replenish your soul. For sure. And being one with nature, getting out. There are so many walks you can take here that it's never the same walk twice. Wow. How cool. I mean, it's the every time I come downtown, I'm like, I just love living here. I love it. As touristy as it is, and as I love seeing the tourists, I love seeing the trolleys. I love I just love the community here.

SPEAKER_00 25:21

The other day I closed up and I was walking down the street, and there was someone dressed like the Bumblebee Transformer walking down, and I was like, you know what? Where else, where else do you get this?

SPEAKER_01 25:30

It's funny what my daughter saw it at public um yesterday, a red coat.

SPEAKER_00 25:34

Oh, yeah, that's what you do. They'll walk past like they'll park in my neighborhood and walk to go work at the forest.

SPEAKER_01 25:40

I'm like, where do you Or a pirate? You never know when you're gonna run into a pirate. But a transformer is a new one.

SPEAKER_00 25:46

That was new for me too. And I was just like, Okay.

SPEAKER_01 25:49

It makes sense though. It makes sense here. With that, all of the recharging and renewing, what would you say to people who are who haven't even started yet? Maybe they don't have the support or the know-how to like get it get it going. Like, how did you get this dream going? I think you didn't have any distractions maybe at that time. Yeah. But even, I mean, life comes up and you have kids, and how did you really get this into motion? What charged you? Was it just the dream itself?

SPEAKER_00 26:21

Motivating is a deadlock. So I was like, okay, we're paying rent now. So it is time to to get it going.

SPEAKER_01 26:28

Yeah.

SPEAKER_00 26:29

And I sourced everything in here without going to a trade show. So I did it all online. Now granted, I had over a decade of personal shopping and wardrobe styling experience. So I knew what brands I wanted to bring in. And as a book nerd myself, I knew some bookish brands I wanted to bring in. Like I said, Story Arts was the first person that I reached out to. Her name's Tori. So her brand's story arts. It's cute. Um, so that was just such a full circle moment since I had featured her on my blog all this time. Yes, right. You're like this. Her brand has really grown. Yeah. So that's that's cool. But I would say nothing as motivating as a deadline. And utilizing online on online. Online resources to stay organized. So Pinterest was huge for me. Oh yeah. Saving stuff on Instagram. I keep stuff in the notes on my phone just to stay focused with lists and all of that stuff. So I just think being organized and locking in and getting it done, but knowing that that you can only work like that short term.

SPEAKER_01 27:37

Right. Like if I keep going if one more month and I owe another X amount of dollars. People talk about it. Going into debt before you've even made a penny, right? Yeah.

SPEAKER_00 27:46

And I'm somebody who talks about work-life balance. You hear that a lot. But I think people get it twisted where they think like every day is supposed to be perfectly balanced, like work-life, like my schedule all day. I have to work, I have to be here for my kids. And I think that's overwhelming to think about it like that. I think you have different seasons where you're grinding for work and that's more of a priority. And then you have seasons of rest. And I think that is more balanced for me.

SPEAKER_01 28:14

Then taking it one day a day and taking down the day. Yeah. Totally feels. And I as an entrepreneur myself, I allow myself those days of like I think my week is going to look like this, and I set that intention every week. Here's what I'm going to do every day. And then Tuesday, I'm like, man, I am burned out. I need to chill. I did too much on Monday. But you know what? I got a lot, I got enough done on Monday that I can afford to take this Tuesday. And that's how I work too. Kind of that like flow.

SPEAKER_00 28:41

Like if I'm in the zone and it's it's going and it's easy and I'm getting things done, I will say the momentum is already carrying you, right?

SPEAKER_01 28:50

Yeah, that's huge. And I think when we don't allow ourselves, burnout is inevitable. Correct. Right? We just can't avoid it. So um, how has the community here supported you?

SPEAKER_00 29:01

Like Oh, it's been great. So one of the things that I knew I wanted to do right away was host like book clubs and authors. So we started doing private events for book clubs where they could come and have like a private shopping experience. They bring snacks, they even just sit on the floor and do our little like book club conversations. Yeah. So that's been really fun. And then I love bringing in local authors for book signings. So we do those usually on First Friday, but we sprinkle them in terrific. Beyond.

SPEAKER_01 29:32

Oh, First Fridays, you're open late.

SPEAKER_00 29:34

Yeah, we're open later on first Fridays because we've got Art Collective right down here. So they're open late for First Friday art walk. So I love that.

SPEAKER_01 29:43

Yeah. I love that. This community. I mean, there's always something to do. If you're in St. Augustine Tuesday morning, you'll find a yoga class on the beach, or you'll find a book club getting together at a church, or in this cool shop. You'll find-I mean, there's always something cool going on. Outdoors, indoors, it doesn't matter. Just open your eyes and look.

SPEAKER_00 30:02

And then what's great is local influencers, authors end up sharing about the store. So we had somebody share a TikTok. The younger demographic shared a TikTok of, oh, me shopping at GetLit Boutique. And it went viral. And I would say for three months, we had people coming in and like, oh, we saw it on TikTok. And it wasn't even us. It was it was someone else who just happened to shop here who had a Bookstagram account. And it just I don't even know what that is. A book talk. BookTalk is when you talk about the books on the TikToks. And Bookstagram is when you talk about it on Instagram. Okay. This is specifically like a TikTok that just took off. Amazing. The foot traffic was crazy just from that one.

SPEAKER_01 30:52

Incredible.

SPEAKER_00 30:52

It didn't cost any money. Yes. And I think that's the best too.

SPEAKER_01 30:57

Is when something is just like authentic grassroots. Natural. Yeah. Organic reach is the best. I think once you get into paid, it gets really complicated. And I always recommend people just stick with organic first. If you're not growing organically on socials, you're not going to grow with paid.

SPEAKER_00 31:15

So I'm not an expert on paid ads at all. I will admit I know nothing actually about paid ads. But you know, sometimes you get those notifications that are like, if you boost this to 10,000 people, and you have to read it and see what it's all about. Every time I've done that, it has not been worth it. I should have just, you know, lit a hundred dollar bill on the get lit.

SPEAKER_01 31:37

Like this hundred dollar bill right here online. Maybe that would get some attention. Although I think you can't burn money.

SPEAKER_00 31:42

And I don't think that's you know.

SPEAKER_01 31:45

I mean, I don't know. It's a I think TikTok is a whole other ball game of beast. But that that speaks a lot for collaboration and you know how powerful collaboration is with local anybody. I mean, you could have an influencer come in here and buy a dress and she puts it in her fit, you know, fit for the day or whatever they do. And you've got your link. And I don't know. That a lot of people do that too, is collaborating with people like that with a discount code or with you know, I know that's a huge thing right now, but they charge a lot of money, these big influencers.

SPEAKER_00 32:17

But the micro influencers are great. And that's what we're we're gonna be launching some collaborations with micro influencers. Unfortunately, we don't have a budget. Yeah. Um, but we can gift. Yeah.

SPEAKER_01 32:30

Gifting is good for for people who are getting started and love to just share. Yeah.

SPEAKER_00 32:36

I designed a bookish bathing suit. It's a one piece. Yeah. That's what we're gonna start with.

SPEAKER_01 32:42

I love it.

SPEAKER_00 32:43

Find some girlies this summer who want to show their book nerd at the beach.

SPEAKER_01 32:47

So that brings me to another question then. Do you have do you ever have dreams of designing your own line? I do, yeah.

SPEAKER_00 32:55

I w I don't know enough about it at this point. Right now, I'm utilizing like print on demand services, which I feel perfectly fine admitting that. And I don't have I'm not in a financial space to be ordering huge amounts of of stuff right now. But it is a great way to learn and see what products are gonna move and which ones aren't. And check out quality. Yeah. And that's getting a lot better too, like the amount of options that you have.

SPEAKER_01 33:28

Oh, that's great.

SPEAKER_00 33:28

Even just in the last three years, like what was available three years ago when we first opened, it was like three t-shirts. And now you have a wide variety of brands. Really? And I really try to do natural fibers when I can. So Comfort Colors is one of the brands that they added, which is 100% cotton.

SPEAKER_01 33:46

Oh, great.

SPEAKER_00 33:47

Thicker quality. Yeah. Better quality. That's cool.

SPEAKER_01 33:50

So you can carry the pieces here and just test them out. And what a perfect place to be.

SPEAKER_00 33:55

And then have them online. When people buy them online, they'll ship directly to the customer.

SPEAKER_01 33:59

I love that. So many options now for entrepreneurship in 2026. Yeah. It's like insane how I listen to a lot of podcasts and watch a lot of podcasts, I should say, because I like to see what they're doing, not just hear it, but the amazingness of TikTok shop.

SPEAKER_00 34:16

Yes.

SPEAKER_01 34:16

Oh my goodness.

SPEAKER_00 34:17

We have a TikTok shop.

SPEAKER_01 34:18

Do you? We do. Okay. I'm still figuring it out. Uh-huh. But the day. Do you live sell there?

SPEAKER_00 34:23

I haven't started live selling it. Everyone tells me I need to look at it. Gary V says that that is where it's and I have a whatnot that I haven't done anything with either.

SPEAKER_01 34:32

That's another live selling thing. I mean that would that could really be life-changing for this shop.

SPEAKER_00 34:38

Yes.

SPEAKER_01 34:39

Really. And having people peeking in. Having having that that that's a whole other I mean I know people that do it and it's it's wild. It's wild what they sell, how much they sell, the quantity of what they sell, and it's not necessarily even well, it's usually not even their product. Yeah. It's from Amazon. And I don't know what it is about TikTok, but it attracts people too.

SPEAKER_00 35:05

So that's part of the problem too, is I don't understand it. And when I it feels like salesy to me. Like when I watch it, I'm like, why are people watching it? But it works. Uh-huh. So I might be able to do that. It's like QVC for time to do it. I feel like I can do it.

SPEAKER_01 35:21

Like I mean, I'm perfect place for it. Like during closed hours. You're not shy. And I mean you you're you're good looking on camera. These are things that matter.

SPEAKER_00 35:34

More than others.

SPEAKER_01 35:35

But hey, even in the ponytail and the sweatpants, I think you could sell some clothes. I could.

SPEAKER_00 35:40

I describe myself as majestically awkward.

SPEAKER_01 35:43

Oh, that's cute.

SPEAKER_00 35:45

I like that. So maybe that maybe that's the next phase of GetLib. The baby giraffe TikTok. Baby giraffe experience.

SPEAKER_01 36:01

I love it. You never know what's coming next. Right? And you seem to be, as I said, easygoing with whatever comes next. You're always open to new things and you're not like, this is it. We're down. This is the stuff.

SPEAKER_00 36:16

Life has taught me that because life just keeps life. And I'm like, okay, so we're gonna pivot and we're gonna try this now.

SPEAKER_01 36:21

This is something new. Let's do it. Like care that sends you to your dream life.

SPEAKER_00 36:25

I mean, so we have a braid bar back here. Yeah, that's right. So that's what gave me the idea for that. Because we used to do braid bars at Mon Aid events. And then I was like, well, that'll be a great way to have samples of products out. Chloe that works here does braids. So good. And Shirley from Anne Green Cables or whatever. So of course it's braiding.

SPEAKER_01 36:46

Of course. Of course it is. Genius. We've had some braids done. My younger two have had their hair braided during your, I think it was an event that you had, which are always nervous stylists for specific events.

SPEAKER_00 36:59

Yes.

SPEAKER_01 37:00

How cool. Let's talk about your literary your love for literature. Okay. What quote lights you up? Is there a quote from a a book or the literature?

SPEAKER_00 37:10

My favorite quotes is really short. It's C.S. Lewis. Courage, dear heart.

SPEAKER_01 37:16

It's my favorite.

SPEAKER_00 37:18

I have it on a paperweight on my desk.

SPEAKER_01 37:20

I love it. It's a little reminder for you.

SPEAKER_00 37:22

I wish I actually bought that paperweight in St. Augustine probably when I was in high school.

SPEAKER_01 37:26

Come on.

SPEAKER_00 37:26

Really?

SPEAKER_01 37:29

Whoo, I got chills. That's magical.

SPEAKER_00 37:32

I bought that here. I can't remember where, but I bought it at a shop on St. George Street, probably when I was in high school.

SPEAKER_01 37:37

So you loved literature even then?

SPEAKER_00 37:39

Oh yeah. I'm an only child.

SPEAKER_01 37:42

You got lost in books.

SPEAKER_00 37:44

I did. I didn't have any siblings. I didn't even have a lot of friends really when I was younger. Um I went to a real small private school. So my books were my thing. I used my mom says I used to pretend to read before I could read. Oh yeah. I've just always been.

SPEAKER_01 38:00

I've just been fascinated. I love it. Um what words, these are kind of my closing questions, what words do you have for someone like your 18-year-old self who's just getting started or who has no idea what the world holds for them? If you could say something back to you even.

SPEAKER_00 38:22

I would say just go with it. Lean into it. Life's gonna throw some stuff at you, but you're gonna be okay. And every experience is just gonna make you wiser and stronger and ready to tackle the next thing. Like it's gonna be okay. Every experience.

SPEAKER_01 38:39

When it doesn't feel okay. The ones that are good and the ones that don't feel so good. I love it. I love it. I love it. That's powerful. Well, this is my final question. Do you feel as though you're living your dream life?

SPEAKER_00 38:50

I do. I do. You do. I I I love it here. Like I said, sometimes it feels like a Hallmark movie, especially at Christmas time. Oh, goodness. And the trolley's going by. I I leave my door open and the trolley goes right by here. And everybody and then I walk home under the fake snow that certainly can have. Yes. And I'm just like, I can't believe that I get to do this. Is this real? I get to meet so many people. And as you can see, I'm a chatter, so I love talking to people about our visiting and where are you from and what are you doing? And to meet people from all over the world.

SPEAKER_01 39:28

All over. All over.

SPEAKER_00 39:29

It's so cool being in a tourist town because you do get to meet so many people. It really is cool.

SPEAKER_01 39:33

And it's different every day. The vibe is different every day. I love that I love St. Augustine for that. It's so eclectic. Yes. Every neighborhood is different, every area is different. You're just getting something different from everywhere. And different people, different vibes every day. That's a fun place to be. So tell our listeners where they can find you on socials. Yes. What's the best place?

SPEAKER_00 39:55

We're on all the social medias at GetLitBoutique. That's for Instagram, TikTok, Facebook, our websites, get lipboutique.com. And then if you stumble upon any of our platforms, there's a link tree or a stand store that links you to everything else. So you'll be able to find it. Yes, that is right.

SPEAKER_01 40:15

Wonderful. Well, thank you very much for having us here, not just me, but all of us for allowing us to come peek into your wonderful little dream shop here and for sharing so much of your heart. We appreciate it.

SPEAKER_00 40:29

Anytime, anytime it's fun. Yeah.

SPEAKER_01 40:34

I trust that whatever was meant for you in this conversation will remind you there's a way to build a life you love. Follow where it leads, and I'll see you in the next session. Be sure to like and subscribe to never miss an episode.