(This interview took place for the Young Business Owners in the Broadway Industry magazine issue! If you didn't get a chance to read it there, here it is!)
With hundreds of Etsy sales and thousands of Instagram followers, Aubrey, or better known as Broadway Bowtique is making the best Broadway themed bows! An idea that just started as a hobby became a successful small business in only a few years. As of April 2021, Broadway Bowtique has sold over 800 bows and touched the hearts of thousands of theatre lovers around the globe.
You were one of the first Broadway themed businesses that I saw, I remember seeing your posts for a few years now. It’s an extremely unique idea, how did you get the idea to create your business?
Growing up I always loved bows, and was super into anything that was custom made just for me. I've always been all about making what I could for myself, so I started learning to make bows around age 10. I began adding the Broadway twist and it became pretty popular amongst my theatre friends, so I randomly decided to put it up on Instagram in February of 2017. I was 13 years old, and didn't originally intend to sell them until people started asking to buy them. It kind of happened by accident and I just followed the journey where it led me.
You are an actor as well as a business owner, how do you balance your time (pre-quarantine)? What did a typical day look like for you?
My schedule was always super crazy. It varied from day to day. I attend a performing arts high school, so I would leave in the morning around 6:45 and get home around 3:00. I always have to be very independent in class so I actually get my work done, I'm quite the chatterbox, but my time at home is super limited so I know that work needs to get done. I was in rehearsal for Seussical so I would be there each afternoon-evening, pretty much all night. On my rare mornings off I squeeze in dance classes, voice lessons, and auditions. Now, where does running the business come in? I honestly don't know looking back on it. I answered emails on my walks to each class, edited photos during lunch, and the time to actually make the products came in super late at night or when I happened to get a day off. When actually doing the run of a show, I traditionally will close my shop as staying healthy becomes my top priority. It's a crazy life but I love it!
How long ago did you start your business? What advice would you give to your younger self back then?
I started my business nearly 3 and a half years ago, I made so, so many mistakes along the way. I like to think I would tell myself to not do those things, but honestly the mistakes are how you learn. I would want her to know that those mistakes seem like the end of the world at the time, but a few years down the line they don't matter. Just keep going, keep learning, and don't be too hard on yourself.
You have over 600 Etsy sales, which is extremely, extremely impressive, but how do you personally define success?
I think most people's idea of success is the actual end result, but if you focus on what you get from that, whether it be money, status, amount of sales, etc, you will never truly reach the point you want because there will always be someone higher up than you, and you can always have more. For me, when I feel most successful is when I've proven to myself that I could do more than I thought. When I've reached people in a way I never thought my business would, or when I get something out of it I didn't originally know I wanted. I'm not sure if that actually matches the literal definition of success, but when I think about my experiences, that is when I have felt most successful.
Where do you see yourself in 5 years? Do you see your business still being a big part of your life?
In 5 years I'll be almost 22. I have really no clue where I want to be at that point, and if you had asked me 5 years ago, running a business wasn't even a thought to me. I want to live in New York and never ever want to stop performing, I know that much. I absolutely love the community the business has brought me, and I always want to keep them in my life. I think I always keep it part of my life in some way, but I think it will be very different than the way it is now. I like to just follow it along and see where it takes me! I have crazy big dreams and if running this business remains part of that, then I'm excited to see where it goes!
Follow her on Instagram @Broadway.Bowtique