Tailored Pieces

Malliron talks with LaParis Hawkins, Founder of Tailored Pieces, about her journey to becoming an entrepreneur.

Get 15% off with code BWB at checkout at  https://tailoredpieces.com

Connect with featured BADDIE:

• IG: @tailoredpieces
• Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/tailoredpieces
• Website: https://tailoredpieces.com
• Twitter: @laparishawkins | 

Connect with Baddies with Business:

• IG: @Baddieswithbusiness
• Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/Baddieswithbusiness
• Email: Baddieswithbusiness@gmail.com

Music By: TuKool Tiff

• Instagram: @tukooltiff
• iTunes, Spotify: TuKool Tiff

Be Bad. Be Bold. Be A Baddie! 

Transcript

BaddieswithBusiness: 0:02

Welcome to Baddies for Business. I'm your host, Malaron Hodge. Come with me on this journey through Season 6 as we talk to 10 incredible Baddies from across the country. Learn and grow as we talk about how being a baddie and business go hand in hand. Enjoyed the show. Hey, Baddies, we are back with season six and you're probably like Marilyn, what is on your head? We're gonna talk all about this beautiful bonnet and this headband that I have and the batty behind them. So batty. Tell us a little bit about yourself.

LaParis: 0:50

Hi, everyone. My name is LaParis Hawkins. I am the founder and CEO of Taylor Pieces. We are a lifestyle brand. Right now, we specialize in accessories and home. Yes. Okay. LaParis, can you tell us about yourself? Before you founded Taylor Pieces If someone's tell me a little bit about yourself, not that it's an interview, but if the people really want to get to know you more. What are the things that people should know? You want to tell us your zodiac sign, where you're from, what you rep, all that. Yeah I am from St. Louis. I am an Aries. I rep Delta DST, J13 coming up. aNd yeah, I'm newly back to St. Louis. I guess somewhat new, like two and a half years. I lived 10 years prior in New York. I worked in fashion. I've loved fashion since I can remember. And when I graduated college, I moved to New York at first, I was a beauty editor for a few magazines, like Ebony Essence and Style did some writing for ESPN, so I was just a freelance writer but I would always still love fashion. When I was working in magazines, they would coincide. And then when magazines, when the publishing world slowed down altogether, I would pick up jobs in between. So I would work in retail and then it got to luxury retail. And yeah, that's pretty much me in a nutshell and then I moved home and I guess we'll get to how we, how I started the business a little later, but yeah, those are some cute fun facts about me.

BaddieswithBusiness: 2:25

Yes. Come on, Aries. I love it, Aries. Also a Delta. Hey, Sarah. Okay. Shout out to all the Deltas out there listening in. Founders Day is coming up. It is. It's about everybody else because it's our time. January is about us. So you had this wonderful journey in New York, always had this eye for fashion and this love for fashion. And then you came back to St. Louis. So was Taylor pieces something that was already like on your mind in New York? Was it something that kind of sparked once you got back to St. Louis?

LaParis: 2:58

Yeah. So tether pieces started in April April 3rd of 2020. So what happened was I was working in luxury retail during that time. And of course COVID happened, right? And the world was shut down. And so I didn't necessarily lose my job. We just got furloughed for a bit while they restructured and trying to figure out what was next. At the time I was working in a luxury, for a luxury retail brand. On Madison Avenue. It's a little different now, but it used to be like the fashion capital where all high fashion lived. And the brand that I was working for is American fashion. When you think about American fashion, black people aren't always necessarily included in what that looks like. But it's a very popular brand. And I was like, man, I really wish we had something like this to represent like black culture that where we have our own staple and you can look back and be like a time capsule of how we're feeling, how we're moving at the time. And so Taylor pieces wasn't intentional. What happened was I was bored. I had some head wrap material. I was redecorating my house. New York was like the apocalypse during this time. So no one could really go outside. And I took the I took the fabric. I borrowed my roommate's sewing machine. I made some pillows, took a picture of them, put them on my Instagram stories and finished decorating. And then when I got back on, on my phone, I looked and I had so many messages like, can I order one? Can you make me something? Can you make me something? I was like, huh, is this a thing? At that time material was hard to get, but I was able to get some. I was like, look, I'm going to do a short run of pillows and we're going to see what's what. And so I put it up the next day and they sold out in no lie, like 10 minutes. And I was like, no, it was like six set of pillows. And I was like, Oh, and then after that, it just kept evolving. I went back to work but I was still doing Taylor pieces on the side. And so when I moved here, I just kept growing. And then as of last year, May of last year I became, no. May of 2021, I became full time with my brand. 2022. May of 2022. Yeah. And we've been at it ever since. It's evolving. I'm very proud of it.

BaddieswithBusiness: 5:13

Yes. I don't think I knew that. Your journey started in 2020, or maybe I knew and just forgot, but you're about to celebrate four years this year for four years. What are some of those things that you have learned along your journey?

LaParis: 5:34

So much. It's different when it's something like that's for fun. And then something that becomes how you pay your bills every month. Strategy. I'm still in the process of learning that. I feel like I was laughing, talking to my friends and say that I feel like I'm in a masterclass for business right now because I even though I feel like I've worked for someone, it's different when it's like your baby, your brand. So learning all the things, getting in the rooms where people will have the information having a clear goal of what you want out of your business and then work towards that. I feel like I didn't know I feel like I had exhausted everything that I knew. I literally prayed about it and I was like, God, please send me the people, the friends that I need to be around. that will help get me, point me in the right direction. I'll do the work. I just don't know what's next. And so I think God really started like putting me in the rooms or putting me on people's minds who introduced me to other people. And like this year, I'm really trying to really focus on grants. So I had to get business license and all of the other things, it's five steps to get to one step and just being patient with myself. And knowing that it's a journey, I have to often tell myself, there's no rush. There's no rush. Slow down. It's all gonna work out. You're not, there's no imaginary clock that you're racing against. Slow down. So that's definitely, excuse me. That's definitely one of the the lessons that I've had to learn. And have fun. I feel like sometimes you're like, oh, let me just get through this so I can get through the next thing. And it's just no take in the moment. Breathe, laugh, enjoy the journey because you never know what's going to happen next. Oh, these are all

BaddieswithBusiness: 7:12

really good. Okay. So the first thing you mentioned is feeling like this is a masterclass for business and entrepreneurship and really learning. I have to do these three things to get this one thing to set me up for that. And that's also a special note for anyone out there that is pursuing entrepreneurship, have, has a business and you haven't got the things legal. This is your sign. If you've been thinking about it, this is your sign. You may think, Oh, it's too expensive, all those things, but it will pay off in the end because you don't, you want to do things legal while you can, because you don't want something to come back and it be illegal or you get a cease and desist and you get all these things. So get legal boo. The second one is you pray for community. Not prayed. You may have prayed for success, but you prayed for intentional people in your community or to beat to come into your community to support you. I think that is really powerful and intentionally thinking about not just Okay, I want to be positioned for success and tailored pieces, but also I want to be, I want to feel whole and I want people to be part of that puzzle. Patience, baby, patience. That's the capital P, all caps, bold. And we forget that sometimes and have fun. Above

LaParis: 8:28

all, have fun. Yeah. And I wanted to touch back really quickly on getting legal because sometimes I feel like the information can be all over the place. Yeah. Even if you're not in Missouri or wherever you are, I would say get right with us. fEderal, which is going to be your EIN number, your LLC, then you want to get right with your state. What does that look like? Get your tax together. And then if you live in a city, you also want to get right with your city. Some cities require, even if you're an e commerce brand to have a business license and so those three different things, if you're right with two, but you're not right with one, it still doesn't matter. You need to get right with all three. Yes.

BaddieswithBusiness: 9:08

And if you're like, how do I do that? Where do I start? You can feel free to reach out to Badger Business. I would definitely support you on that, but do it. That's a great first step to get started. Another thing that people often wait on and LaParis, maybe you can talk about this is a business account. So I always talk about how people need to stop co mingling that money. Now you may start out and be like I haven't opened an account or I'm waiting for this thing. For some, it takes as little as 50 to open that business account. So can you share a little bit more about if you open a business account, like what that journey was like for you?

LaParis: 9:41

Yeah. I feel like when I started Taylor pieces started making like real money, like I have to. Cause it's I look at, I call her, right? She has her own bank account. She has her own like bills. She has everything. And I never want to co mingle that with what I what I'm doing with my personal life. So if I want to go shop somewhere, I'm not pulling from Taylor pieces money. Like I pay myself from Taylor pieces. And what I always think about is like trying to set my business up for a great foundation. And one day, hopefully in the next year or so, you can start hiring employees. And I don't want to have to reconfigure everything because then I didn't already set a solid foundation. So yeah, I do not commingle my money, like stuff that comes Shopify goes straight into my business account. I also have an accountant for tax time. QuickBooks is easy because when you're an entrepreneur, especially when you're doing everything yourself, it's hard to keep track of everything. So QuickBooks is like my cheat code. I just go in it's linked to my business account and say what it's for, if it's an expense, what like, Independent contractor, whatever it is for, it's in my QuickBooks, but I definitely don't commingle my money because I feel like it's harder to manage that way.

BaddieswithBusiness: 10:54

Yeah. So move, separate them accounts y'all. If you're also looking for a sign, this is your sign to step onto the bank tomorrow. And get open up that business account. Okay. So for those who can see us and we may, we'll post a clip on social media. But for those who can see us, we have these wonderful pieces on our head. For me, I got two pieces on my head. So LaParis, can you just talk through the Taylor pieces? You can talk through the pieces we have on our head or some of your. Crowd customer favorite, some of your favorites of the pieces that you have.

LaParis: 11:29

Yeah. So the I would say like our most popular items right now are our bonnet. The bonnet that I have on is satin. It has actually another color on the inside. It's reversible. It's handmade. I make them myself along with a small team that I have here. It took me a while to get it, but I have perfected them. They stay on all night. They're not slip, but they're also not tight on your head, right? Because it was like, why am I waking up and my mind is on the floor? It's absolutely wild. It took me some months, but I perfected it. And I really feel like that's like the go to. It's a luxury satin. So most likely the ones that you get from your beauty supplier are going to be like a nylon. And that's still gonna not gonna be good for the fibers in your hair It's gonna take out all the nutrients in your hair so yes, so the satin bonnet is handmade here in st Louis with me and a small team the reversible we have other colors. We have more colors coming next week so if you're gonna look out and then the one you're wearing it's actually hand So we have printed bonnets as well. They're handmade in ghana I work with a small woman owned manufacturer there. She sends me the color palettes and different fabrics. I select the fabric. I've actually taught her how to make them for me. And then she makes them and ship them over. I'm trying to like, grow other businesses as I grow. I'm very intentional about where I spend my money and who helps me. Yeah she's amazing. And so those are handmade in Ghana. The printed ones and then the solid ones are handmade here and same, but we do have other items. Our other popular items is we have Handmade fans. We have headbands that are also sat in line so you can look cute, but also protect your hair we also have scrunchies We have satin line beanies and we have our bucket hats which were a huge hit last summer and should be making another round this coming So yeah, we have an array of things going on right now and we have some very promising things coming this year.

BaddieswithBusiness: 13:32

Yes! Oh, you

LaParis: 13:33

want to talk about this piece I have under here? Oh yeah! She was ready, baby! I was ready, okay? Yeah! Those are also that was the first round of headbands that we did. Those are handmade in Ghana as well. We do have some newer ones that are that has the satin in the inside because we noticed that it was, that cotton was constantly rubbing, but both are fashionable. Both are cute. The one that you have is perfect for braids. And so yeah, so we have some available right now on taylorpieces. com and be sure to check it out.

BaddieswithBusiness: 14:09

Yes. I love that. So some things you shared around, like one, I love the idea of every, you have you and a small team in St. Louis that are handmaking everything with love. Okay. Taylor. And then you're also supporting entrepreneurs in Ghana. So can you share more about just like The learnings around pivoting and iterating on different products. And just what's that as an entrepreneur and any advice you have for people who may be at the intersection of, should I pivot? How do I use the feedback that I'm getting for customers to improve the product or services I'm offering?

LaParis: 14:48

Yeah. When I tell you literally like God is the driving force for my business, I was literally I found her on Instagram. I was literally on Instagram just scrolling one night and I heard God say, click over on your business account. And I'm like, why? So whatever. I did it. And I found her. On a for you page and I messaged her, I got a sample and we just constantly been building a relationship for the last two years. A thing I would say though, is to always listen to your customers. Like people will tell me especially when I have like online is a little difficult if you don't have any in person interviews, sorry, any in person events, the last couple of years I've been doing like the festival circuit around St. Louis and just different pop ups and women be like, you know what? I need, I'm looking for this or I bought this. It was cool, but it would be better if you had this. And so I'm constantly making notes, writing it down, researching what does that look like for Taylor pieces? Does the suggestions fit my brand? Because I'm literally like talking to the target audience and they're telling me what they want. And so I would say as it grows, I'm being even more open to that. Although I have an overall vision, I'm not close minded to what the women are telling me. And even the men, because we do have some a couple months ago we released an amazing bow tie collection with the bow tie and the pocket square that are unisex. And so we've been more welcoming men into the brand and people being very vocal about the items that they love. And also other items that they want to see from us. It's being very like open into what your target audience is looking for.

BaddieswithBusiness: 16:25

Y'all gems are being dropped. Okay. I hope you got your notepad out. If not, rewind, start again. Like it's a tape. Turn over to the A side.

LaParis: 16:35

Okay. You,

BaddieswithBusiness: 16:37

I'm hearing a theme of community when you prayed about community. One, you situated yourself when God bless you with this community to you created a community with reaching out to someone on social media. I know we often talk about like the dark side of social media. But for a lot of entrepreneurs and I don't know if you've had this experience where you have made connections and relationships with people. I think we first connected, I saw you at a market, but we connected on on Instagram. And so I think really leaning into like how you can be comfortable with the uncomfortable side of really networking. If people say no, then that's not the person for you. You move on to the next person. Yeah. And then another thing around listening to feedback. So again, you listening to your community in order to better serve them, but to make profit products that they really care and

LaParis: 17:27

love. Yes. Like it's a little bit of a balance. Cause you don't want to be too much of a creative. It was like, no, I'm not listening. I don't even want to create what I want to create. It's but baby, at the end of the day, it's a business we got to make money. If the people are telling you what they want, give it to them. As long as it aligns with your brand goals, your brand values, and something that you like, you don't mind your brand representing, it's like, why not get, they're literally telling you, especially if you're here for more than one or two people, it's like people are waiting for something that you can provide. I

BaddieswithBusiness: 18:01

love that. Ooh wee. Okay, we're going to shift gears a little bit because you talked about again, this isn't that theme of community,

LaParis: 18:09

but I want to

BaddieswithBusiness: 18:11

pause or not pause or really take some time to reflect on those Baddies who have inspired. encourage and supported you along your journey. So as entrepreneurs and especially black women, we often are in go go mode. And we give flowers, but sometimes we don't take time to give flowers to ourselves or to those babies who have supported us. So who are the babies that you want to give flowers to that have supported you along your journey?

LaParis: 18:38

I Definitely want to give flowers to Leslie and Val. So they're over a festival here. It's a natural hair festival called Frizz Fest. And they have been Uber supportive to my business. I cannot thank them enough. It's a community here where a natural hair festival where it's teaching black women or supporting black women in loving ourselves and our natural beauty. And it's held every year here in St. Louis in August. And people come from all over the country to celebrate and it's such a big deal. And I can't thank them enough the way they like embrace me with just like a genuine love and support and wanting to see me grow and me vice versa. Like anytime I can step in and help them, like I'm there. Also Ohan with for the culture she's doing some really amazing things around the city, help promoting local black businesses. It's a great resource. They have a catalog of black businesses that you could support from on for the culture. com. So I definitely want to give those two local, like those three local women, like a salute because they have been a part of a major part of my growth over the last two years. Having been here in St. Louis. The number one supporter is my mom. I lost her last May, she was always pushing me to be my best self and she believed in my business so much. And she taught me like, I feel like sometimes. Being an entrepreneur we can get caught up on the social media side of things where they make it look so easy and it's so glamour and I do this. No ma'am, being an entrepreneur, especially a full time entrepreneur, is very hard and I feel like you have to have a strong foundation when it comes to one year of faith, whatever that faith is. aNd then to believe in yourself because some days you feel it. Some days you don't, some days you doubt yourself. Am I doing the right thing? And there's always some little gym or something that guys drives to make me, but okay. I'm going in the right direction. Let me just recalibrate. And I feel like my mom definitely taught me that if you're going to do something, believe in yourself, 110%, why are you doubting it? If God didn't give it to you for you to doubt it. That she is definitely my number one supporter. Oh yeah. Yes,

BaddieswithBusiness: 20:50

so shout out to all of the Bettys who are on this earth and also looking down at us and constantly there supporting you. I know you are making her proud and she is still, adding those tidbits of wisdom to you as you. Go on your journey. Yeah. And also I want to give a flower to you. Because I feel like from the moment, even though I told you, you get fired, but I'm gonna give you a flower. Okay.

LaParis: 21:14

I feel like I'm gonna do better at that. I'm gonna accept it. Here's your flower.

BaddieswithBusiness: 21:21

Because I feel like from the moment we met, there was this like instant connection and it was real. And I moved to the city. Yeah. About two and a half years ago. And for me, it's okay, I'm navigating trying to figure out, okay, we have, frizz fest and we have all these different like opportunities in the city, but just like me now navigating through what does that look like? And I feel like from the first time I met you from the first time we talked on. Instagram. And also the first time we had coffee, you have been a genuine spirit and one of the like pillars here for me. So I'm giving you your flowers and thank you for everything you continue to

LaParis: 22:00

do. And likewise, you're doing, you're an amazing resource for black baron in business, women in business in general, but specifically black women. So I appreciate that. Thank you. Look

BaddieswithBusiness: 22:09

at these flowers. We got a little bug here. We're all okay. You have dropped some of these gems, but wanted to just. Bring it back to what words of advice would you give to other Baddies who may be the Paris of 2020 that's thinking about, Oh, I want to start a venture. Maybe it's someone that has started a venture and as positive and wants to get back to it. Maybe they're a couple of years in and just need a little inspiration. What advice would you

LaParis: 22:39

give them? Just do it. I know it sounds like a cliche, but sometimes we figure out, Oh, I'm gonna do it when I have, when I get, once I figure out I'm gonna do it, what I've learned is that's not the journey, right? The journey is to do the next best thing. What is the, what can I do in this moment? What's the next best thing? And usually what I'm learning, when you do the next best thing, it's like there's a light into your path, and then the next thing highlights, and then you do that. And then the next thing, and before you know it, you're further along than what you thought. It's you don't have to have everything figured out. Let me bring it down to Black women. We are not super women. We don't have to have do everything, all the things, know the things do. No, it's okay to like, and I'm talking, I was talking to myself. It's also okay to reach out to your tribe, your community yo, I don't know. Do you know somebody that knows, or let me research to know, or let me get in the room that knows, Oh, it's this conference here. Let me get on and be in Ben bright. You don't have to know everything. And the more transparent you are now use the sermon. Okay, but the more transparent you are, you'll be surprised who be willing to help or lead you to the next. Oh girl, it's this resource. Oh, if you need that, I have a friend that, you know, and I feel like I was in a point in my journey where I was embarrassed not to know because I had this quote unquote elaborate career in New York. And I'm The perception I even had of myself, it was like, girl, relax, and so I feel like even just having that amount of humility to be like, I'm okay with not knowing all the things. I'm okay. I need help. Like just last week, my friends came up, came over, organized my inventory so that I can see. It's it's okay to need help. You don't have to do everything yourself. And I think we go, what is it? If you want to go far, go together. And I think. We sometimes lose that with entrepreneurship because we do in the beginning, we are working alone a lot. It's sis, calm down, relax, slow down and build a community. You don't have to do everything by yourself.

BaddieswithBusiness: 24:41

I love it because you started with just do it, but also don't do it a lot. Or you don't have to do it alone. No, then. This is your permission to step into or to accept the help that's coming your way from those people that you love and trust. I love that. Ooh. Okay. So where do you aspire for tailored pieces to be in the next two to three years? And how can this community of listeners

LaParis: 25:09

I do, I have very lofty goals right? And that's also part of me being like, the slow down sis, you moving too fast. If you know that, that reference, let me know. But I would like to see Taylor pieces have a brick and mortar. Now hear me out. It's not just the brick and mortar full of my products. I Love to also bring in other entrepreneurs who may have nine to fives or have really good products, but they don't want to brick and mortar for themselves and have a collective think about if you can come to just like a marketplace and get all your favorite black owned businesses. that are primarily local. But they don't, maybe you're your favorite Shea butter girl got a job and two kids. And so you have to catch her when you catch her. But if you can pull up to take the pieces And she's there and the people there are well knowledgeable about the products. Then, it's the one stop shop. So I don't even just don't want it to be about my products and what I'm doing. I also want it to be a collective for other black black entrepreneurs around the city who have amazing products and take time and pride into their brands that they also have a space that they can come celebrate. And I, there's some other things in the backend. That'll also benefit them that I'm working on, but that's where I want to see is a brick and mortar for us. And then the way that you can support it is to buy, right? I'm trying to get my sales up for certain things so that I can apply for grants. So that this is not just a theory in my head that the banks and other people see that no black people support black businesses there. They bought into my brain and what we're doing. And we're also looking to help expand like that. My support is also. That we can bring other beautiful, amazing businesses to their forefront of their attention as well. So yeah, ShopTaylorPieces. com. Know that everything that you have, most of all of our products are handmade. The satin beans are the only things that we have that are not handmade, but they're still made with love. Thought about representing black culture, what black women need to feel cute. But also, keep our hair intact, keep our edges intact. Making sure that our hair keeps its nutrients and not rubbing against cotton pillows all night. The, everything I'm doing is very intentional and well thought out, especially with us in the forefront. So shop tether pieces. com. You can also follow us on social. On Instagram is at tailored pieces. That's T A I L O R E D P I E C E S. We're on Facebook as well. I'm on TikTok. I'm not as active there. I'm trying one thing at a time. But yeah, those are the places that you can find us. And also sign up for our newsletter. Pretty please. Okay. So we are

BaddieswithBusiness: 27:50

speaking life to this brick and mortar. And I'm really excited about this. So we should continue talking about it. Yeah. aLl of the information around following and supporting Taylor pieces will be in the show notes. So just head to those and you can find all that information to support. And stop what you're doing right now and go follow Table of Pieces on Instagram and Facebook. You can follow on TikTok. But again, like Paris said,

LaParis: 28:17

we working on it. Okay. We working. Period.

BaddieswithBusiness: 28:21

So in closing, I like to do a baddie benediction. So you don't necessarily have to do a prayer, but as a benediction is a blessing and a closing. So how would you like to close your episode? I want

LaParis: 28:36

to do a prayer, but I also respect everyone's beliefs and not everyone is into prayer. So I'm going to do more of an affirmation thing where I'd like to speak life over all these women entrepreneurs that that you believe in yourself, that the vision that you have is not too big for you, that you break it down into baby steps. To make it tangible that you celebrate the small wins that lead to bigger wins, that you create a community that not only supports your vision, but your mental health and your physical health and your wellbeing, that you stay grounded. Put your toes in the sand, embrace the moments and not try to live through them to get to the next one that you don't compare yourself. Cause everyone's journey is different and we're only getting glimpses into other people's lives. You never know what someone is going through behind the scenes. And that you live every moment, leave it all on the floor. I always say, whenever it's time for me to go, I want to die on E. Like I want to have exhausted all of my gifts, all of my ideas, everything into the world. So I speak that for you, over you, blessings, more sales, more clients and that you have the resources to get what you, your vision out into the world. A little note up to God with an amen on that, yes. Okay.

BaddieswithBusiness: 29:56

All right. And with that, thank you for joining on this episode, kicking off season six. Y'all go follow

LaParis: 30:02

La Paris and get you some Taylor pieces. Yes. Tylerpieces. com. Thanks for listening.

BaddieswithBusiness: 30:10

Thank you for listening to another episode of Baddies with Business. It's been great to have you. I hope you've learned something and gained some new insight. Check out the show notes to find out more information about the feature Baddie. Go give them a follow and continue to support Baddies with Business by visiting www. Baddieswithbusiness. com. Also, you can follow Baddies with Business on social media. on Instagram, Facebook, and LinkedIn at Baddies with Business. We look forward to hearing from you soon. If you want some behind the scenes and to check out the clips, consider being a Patreon. Information in the show notes. Thank you and continue to be bad, be bold, and be a baddie.