Today we’d like to introduce you to Allee Bales
Hi Allee, so excited to have you with us today. What can you tell us about your story?
Hello! My name is Allee, born and raised in Houston, Texas State Alumni, and I am the owner and creator of Authenticity! I graduated from TXST in 2020 (I know, what a year to enter the world) and got my Bachelor’s in Fashion Merchandising with a minor in Business Administration.
Ever since high school I knew that being a boutique owner was my dream. I would tell my parents & friends that I would go to college for education or psychology, but if I won the lottery and could live out my dreams, I would open a boutique without a doubt.
Finally, one day during my sophomore year in college, while I was finishing my basics, I had decided that I wasn’t going to wait for the lottery to make my dreams come true, I was going to make my own dreams come true.
Immediately after that I changed my major to Fashion Merchandising and got to work creating Authenticity.
Finding the perfect name for my boutique was tricky, because I had such a specific vision built up in my head for what I wanted the store to represent. Everything that I had come up with never really embodied the dream I had for the IMPACT I wanted my store to make. After literally reading the dictionary, and searching through endless words to feel that spark, Authenticity was THE word I had been searching for all along.
Authenticity is the courage to be yourself. Authenticity is letting go of who you think you are supposed to be and embracing who you really are. Authenticity is knowing who you are and being brave enough to live it. Authenticity is powerful, magnetic, beautiful, and it’s in all of us, we just have to listen to it.
My passion behind starting my boutique is not just to have cute clothes or to say I’m a business owner. I want to make an impact. I want to help people find their authentic selves and not be afraid to express it! Clothing is one of the easiest ways for you to express who you are. It can help you build confidence and feel like a shield or a suit of armor. I want to provide a place for people to gain self-confidence and feel like they can conquer the world in the clothes they find in my store!
Whew! So, Authenticity attended its first pop-up market event on January 26th 2019 (which also just so happens to be my birthday). From then on I attended other markets on the weekends when I wasn’t in school all around in Houston, San Marcos, Austin, New Braunfels, and San Antonio.
However, once COVID-19 hit in February/March of 2020, as you know, everything shut down. I was no longer able to attend markets, which was my main source of income, and had to fully rely on selling online.
After graduating college in May 2020 and moving back home to Houston, I created my website and worked in as many different retail jobs to gain experience that I could. I knew going into this journey that boutique owners wear ALL of the hats, so I needed to feel comfortable in as many positions as possible before taking the leap!
The last company I was working for before opening my store suddenly went bankrupt and was I left without a job. When my mom found out, she insisted that it was a sign from the universe to finally create my OWN job and get Authenticity opened!
So I just….went for it! Feeling so clueless and in over my head the entire time, I had to kind of take a blind leap of faith and trust in myself after all of my dreaming and working lead up to this. After months of negotiating we finally got the perfect space and in November of 2023, I got the keys!
After months of working on getting the store ready, I was finally able to open the doors to my first ever boutique on February 3rd, 2024 in Kingwood, Texas! A dream come true! This is just the first big step of many, as I have so many hopes and dreams for the impact I want to Authenticity to have everywhere!
Would you say it’s been a smooth road, and if not what are some of the biggest challenges you’ve faced along the way?
Has it been a smooth road? More like the scariest roller coaster! There are days when I feel so successful and celebrate what I’ve created, then there are days when I’m terrified I bit off more than I can chew. I’m my biggest supporter and worst critic unfortunately.
I have such high goals and standards for myself that if there are days I fall short, it’s so hard to not doubt myself and if I have what it takes. But of course I do! I really rely on friends and family during those times to help ground me and remind me that there’s no one better for the job!
Alright, so let’s switch gears a bit and talk business. What should we know?
At Authenticity, we offer women’s clothing in sizes small to 3X, accessories, jewelry, and home & gift items! With rising stress in our economy, I always try my best to source items from my vendors to have the most accessible price range possible!
My goal is for every customer that comes in to not feel edged out by size or price! I want Authenticity to be a place where everyone can be just that, authentic!
It makes me so proud to be the owner of Authenticity every time a customer thanks me for offering their size or budget because I too have been in the situation far too many times when I had to leave stores empty handed due to lack of inclusivity in their sizing or affordability.
Every time that happens, it makes you feel like you don’t fit in or belong there to some degree. The more it happens, the more disappointing and heartbreaking it feels and you start to believe you aren’t good enough to shop at certain places. I want everyone to know that no matter who you are, you are welcome and loved in Authenticity.
My store is a safe space for you to come as you are and feel like you have a place here with us! I feel that even with just one year in business at my brick and mortar location, I have already built such a sweet community of people who love and understand the message.
I have witnessed so many strangers interacting with one another in my store while trying on clothing and hyping each other up! Those moments sometimes make me have to hold back tears of joy, because THAT is truly why I am in this business. To build a community of women who support one another, cheer each other on, and build each other up when they don’t even know they need it most.
Is there any advice you’d like to share with our readers who might just be starting out?
To anyone just now starting the journey of opening a boutique, or dreaming about it, just START. As small or big as that might mean for your situation, start dreaming.
Type out your ideas in a document, start researching vendors, decor, displays, do it all like if you had the budget right now and could hit checkout. Save all of those links, bookmark everything you like, start a pinterest board, create your logo, theming, make your business plan and get inspired and do EVERYTHING you can right now. Take control of your dreams and make them into something real! Only you can do that!
If you’ve gone that far and developed all of those ideas, build up your social media presence and start small at pop-ups, farmers markets, research what’s available in your area and sign up!
Take it day by day, event by event! But most importantly, never stop adding to your idea list, your pinterest, your business plan. As hard as some days might be, don’t let go of your dream.
Contact Info:
- Website: https://authenticitybyallee.com
- Instagram: https://instagram.com/authenticitybyallee
- Facebook: https://facebook.com/authenticitybyallee
- Other: https://tiktok.com/authenticitybyallee
