Name: Alyssa Thiel / Job Title: Owner + Creator / Business: Parris Chic Boutique / City/State: Allentown, NJ
Can you tell us a little bit about your business and what you do? Parris Chic Boutique is our take on on beautiful, meaningful handmade home décor. Pretty throw pillows, classic neutrals, and all things calligraphy are our specialties. At PCB we strive to celebrate love daily and our hope is that with our products, our customers can do just that.
We create and make everything here in our east coast studio from start to finish. Hand lettering + calligraphy have always been a love of mine, so even the designs are one-of-a-kind to Parris Chic Boutique. We have a handful of seamstress who make our items, and we are printing all of our products in-house as well. We primarily sell online (parrischic.com), but last year we opened up our first Brick + Mortar location as well and we couldn’t be more thrilled!
How did you develop your specific craft? I started Parris Chic Boutique on a whim back in 2012 right after marrying the man of my dreams and moving into our first little apartment together. It was here that I fell in love with any and every type of handmade décor. After much encouragement from my hubby, I decided to open a shop and pursue what quickly became a dream of creating what we know today as PCB.
When I first opened up shop, I had fun designing all our items on the computer with standard fonts and typical computer graphics. It was about 6 months into it that I wanted something more. I wanted something that reflected me and the brand we were building with Parris Chic Boutique, something that was a bit more unique, and something that was tangible and editable right from the very beginning. And that’s when I learned and fell in love with calligraphy. From there it was history and classic PCB represents everything lovely, script, rustic, and chic.
What is your favorite part of your craft and/or business? I’m passionate about the meaning and the love behind our products. Our tagline has become “celebrating love” and I want our customers to be able embrace that and really celebrate what they are purchasing. We want them to have a keep sake to remember the best days of their life and what really matters most. We want a simple product in our shop to mean so much more to an individual. That our customer might not just purchase a mug set because it looks pretty, but that our mugs might encourage them to slow down and to sip on a cup of coffee while catching up with the people that mean the most to them in their life. It is our goal that these products can bring meaning, love, and relationships back into the everyday mundane and back into home decor. And I love to see that play out. It’s hands down my favorite part and my vision for Parris Chic Boutique.
Tell us a little bit about what you will be offering through The School of Styling this year? I’m so excited to not only teach and advanced calligraphy class through the Instructor Program this year, but mostly to share my heart behind our business. I will be teaching a course on the Creative Salesperson, on Brand Presence, and a class on Advanced Modern Calligraphy. I will be sharing my experience opening up our shop, what I’ve learned along the way, and how we’ve grown our brand to be what it is today. There are also a few videos where I go into more specifics on Brick + Mortar vs. Online Sales and How to Digitize Your Calligraphy. I can’t wait to share with you!
Why did you decide to do the Instructor Program? Not only do I love everything The School of Styling does, but I also believe it is so essential to learn from and be encouraged by others in the creative field. I went through so many months and years of trial and error to find out what was important in the creative business world and what exactly was causing my business to thrive. I wish I had mentors who had gone through it all to tell me what to do and what not to do. I believe we can be stronger and better together. It’s important to learn from each other and strengthen one another up so that we can thrive together creating brands and businesses that each one of us are passionate about.
Photography by: Love, The Nelsons
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