Meet Vicki Robinson of One Hip Mom

Today we’d like to introduce you to Vicki Robinson.

Vicki, can you briefly walk us through your story – how you started and how you got to where you are today.
Soon after I got married in 1991 my mom and I started a small business selling affordable jewelry at neighborhood shows, today’s version of a pop-up. I started my family in 1995 and wanted to be at home as much as possible so we were a seasonal business for many years, my mom carried the load in those early years. We started traveling to larger markets and in 2000 we were excepted into The Houston Nutcracker Market which took our business to the next level. My mom retired years ago, then when my son headed off to college it was time to open a store front. We grew from a seasonal business to now having a small but thriving boutique in Spring Texas and yes, we continue to participate in the annual Houston Nutcracker Market and are proud of our 55′ grand center aisle corner booth (location, location, location!!)

We’re always bombarded by how great it is to pursue your passion, etc – but we’ve spoken with enough people to know that it’s not always easy. Overall, would you say things have been easy for you?
My biggest challenges have been the classic struggles of juggling raising a family and running a business. Traveling out of town to holiday markets for weeks at a time, balancing work and family would get very tricky. Many times, I have flown to the west coast in the morning on a buying trip and fly back the same day as to not miss a game or special event. My son has played football and baseball since elementary school and is currently on the Hardin Simmons University football team in Abilene. Of course, in retail 4th quarter is the make-it or break-it season which coincides with football season. Every year it continues to be a scheduling nightmare but it always works out. So, the same struggles all moms have but I wouldn’t change any of it!

We’d love to hear more about your business.
One Hip Mom has evolved into a casual clothing boutique for busy women. Our typical customer is on the go, raising kids and has many irons in the fire. They don’t have a lot of time to shop but when they are able to break away and spend some time with us they will sip a glass of wine while checking out our new arrivals. We specialize in home drop-offs for those in our area that can’t find the time to come to our boutique. We will gladly drop off a box of specially selected options to try on in their home. Although we have built face to face relationships with countless clients over the years having the option to shop 24/7 from their computers whether local or the other side of the country via our website has opened many doors.

We are known for our Fundraising Shopping Party’s. If a family in our area is in need we will promote an event, supply sips and treats and give a portion of the sales to the cause. We are currently raising funds for Jacobs Fight, a local Spring Texas boy that is fighting a rare and aggressive form of cancer. https://www.facebook.com/jacobsfight/?fref=ts

What is “success” or “successful” for you?
I define success by customer satisfaction. It makes my day when someone takes the times to tell me how one of our staff took care of them, taught them how to wear a new piece or offered to stay late, made a home delivery or just went over and above with their shopping experience. Our goal is to teach our customers, tell them something they didn’t know about the product they are interested in, or what’s new in fashion, hem lengths, new colors for the current season, if they are taking the time to visit our shop we want it to be an experience. We hope they leave knowing more than they did when they came in, when that happens we feel successful.

If you had to go back in time and start over, would you have done anything differently?
I don’t so much think about what we would have done differently as much as I think about where we would be today if so many years ago we had the technology that we have now. A college graduate today, that is a good buyer armed with the right tools could set the world on fire.

Pricing:

• Our prices range from $14 to $99 with the exception of some of our shoes and boots. Most of our shoes are high quality, good leather. Life’s to short to wear bad shoes. Brands we carry in footwear are OTBT, Sbicca, Volatile, Yellow Box, GlitterFlops and Oofos.
• Our clothing is casual yet trendy, fun and simple, easy to wear. Often times we are a three generational shop having mothers, daughters and grandmothers shopping together. We carry several brands of jeans that sell in the $50 range. Tees, dresses, tops, kimonos – third pieces, shawls and wraps. Jewelry, some handmade that sell from $28 to $59 as well as costume jewelry from $14 to $49. We recently picked up a line of lipsticks by Kismet Cosmetics after seeing Tillman Fertitta’s TV show Billion Dollar Buyer.

Contact Info:

• Address: 9337 Spring Cypress suite F Spring, Texas 77379
• Website: Www.OneHipMom.com
• Phone: 7133023208
• Email: oehipmomdotcom@gmail.com
• Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/1_hip_mom/
• Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/groups/763614830390126/ https://www.facebook.com/onehipmom1/?ref=bookmarks
• Twitter: https://twitter.com/onehipmom
• Yelp: https://www.yelp.com/biz/one-hip-mom-spring

Getting in touch: VoyageHouston is built on recommendations from the community; it’s how we uncover hidden gems, so if you know someone who deserves recognition please let us know here.