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Fabulous Girl Clothing is growing and I couldn't be more excited, but I have to admit the last few years have been full of changes and new challenges.    

A few years back I managed with a lot of help from my hubby, Brian, to open a local shop back in 2014. It was called Fabulous Girl Boutique. It was super exciting and a dream come true. We had a smashing grand opening, rolled out the pink carpet (for real, I had one custom made!) and kicked off our new venture in style! 

 I loved my shop and miss it most days.  I absolutely loved connecting one on one with my people, which is what I miss the most!  My shop had been described to me by so many of our local loves (shop guests)  as a "girls dream come true" and for this girl it certainly was.  For those of you new to FGC, I'm the blonde in the pink sweater...more about me later!

 We offered full salon services, fun birthday parties, delicious goodies from our Sweet Bar and of course, fantastic boutique shopping like no where else here in the Sea Islands of SC. We had so many local loves that regularly patronized our shop, which we were so grateful for.  Our friends, family and community were with us on this venture!

As you might know retail is tough, no lie.  However, we were making it and our business was growing with each month that we were open.  I can't express to you how much fun it was to witness true delight from our customers. It was such a wonderful feeling to be serving our community in this way!!  Our local girls (mommies included) needed a special place to retreat and gather...Fabulous Girl Boutique was that place for so many.  {Insert a BIG shout out to one of my besties, Jen, for sharing with me that my shop was "her Cheers".  Wow!  What a huge compliment that was, thanks Jen!}.

Instead of hitting our five year mark, we were only a year and a half into this gig when a special job opportunity in Houston, Texas was offered to Brian.  Yikes, what were we to do?  This was going to be a life altering decision for all of us, my immediate family, my employees and my local loves.  

I had prayed and prayed and prayed for guidance, knowledge and the strength to be submissive to His will.  As much as I adored my shop and all my local loves, I knew in my heart that God was telling me to close up shop and move on.  Have I mentioned how hard it is to be submissive to God's will when you really just want what YOU want?!?  After wrestling with lots of tears, running different scenarios through my head and so much praying, I conceded to Him.  I realized that what I ultimately and so desperately wanted  and needed was for our family to be back together in the sense that I believe God intended us to be in the first place. Ya know, like both mommy and daddy are home every night, we all gather 'round the dinner table regularly to share good food and the happenings of our days with each other, go to the girls' activities together and share in everyday life that comes with being a married couple and having a family.  After all this pondering and praying, I've come to realize that I'm very much a traditionalist . This traveling husband gig just is not my scene. 

So with high hopes of selling our home and moving from SC to help facilitate getting my traveling husband off the road, we made the painstaking decision to close up shop and move.  It. was. a. tough. call.  It was me who ultimately decided to close my dream shop.  I knew Brian would never ask me to do that even though Houston was a great professional opportunity for him.  Have I mentioned that he's probably the nicest person on the face of the earth?  He is definitely Heaven sent.  Oh, I digress, but he makes it so easy for me to brag about him, wink.

 Here it is, here's my honest struggle:  I had waited a long time to be able to have my own shop (read:  years), plus we invested a lot of money in order for me to do so.  We had ourselves set up for a five year plan and then were going to reassess from that point. Sounds sensible, right.? Yes, until with blind faith you pull the plug on it all in hopes that you've made the right decision.  *Faith being the keyword here.   

We thought it completely reasonable that our home would sell that spring/summer season and we'd make our move to Texas, no prob....big buzzer WRONG!  Fast forward 19 months and about 500 house showings later (I'm exaggerating just a bit).  We just could not strike the right deal with any buyers to sell our home. Can you even believe that? I know it's not the Taj Mahal, but it's a great house in a lovely neighborhood.  So now I'm thinking and sometimes shouting "What gives, God?  Are you kidding me?!"  So, my shop is closed and my hubby still travels full time.  Believe me when I say I had some tough questions for God.  We had made so many sacrifices for me to be able to open my shop in the first place, trusted with blind faith and now our house won't sell?

We are lucky enough to not have just one, but two saving graces with this whole thing.  First we absolutely adore living here, which is another dream come true. I'm a true romantic at heart and this place is just like heaven to me.  It's so Southern, steeped in tradition and rich in American history.  I honestly feel so blessed to be able to call Beaufort, SC home and am so grateful to be able to raise our three youngest girls here.   If you have never visited Beaufort, SC before you need treat yo self! You'll be glad you did.  Beaufort is a truly delightful place to be. We're nestled on the coast of South Carolina between Charleston, SC and Savannah, Ga.  It's just beautiful.  Secondly, we missed out on hurricane Harvey that hit Houston so hard.  Thank you Jesus!  Seriously, can I get an Amen? Our hearts still go out to our friends in Houston, but we're so thankful God had stepped in and kept us from having to endure that storm and its aftermath. I can only reason in my head and in my heart that Harvey is exactly why our house didn't sell, whew.

{Jesus Side Note}:  This was the perfect lesson for me.  Yet again even though most days I think I'm plenty old enough to have learned  all the lessons that possibly could be, this experience reminded me that my life is in His hands.  It's His timing and not that of my stubborn free will that matters and that will reign supreme, thankfully.  Can you hear the song now,  "Jesus take the wheel"?  Thank goodness He took the wheel.  I still have faith that he will provide the right solution for our family and the traveling husband gig!  I'm a strong girl.  He apparently knows I can do this, I just need a little reminding once in a while. Been there too?  {End Jesus Side Note}

So, all is definitely not lost, not even close!  I ended up taking off that next summer of 2016 from FGC and spending every day with my little girls.  I'm so glad I did.  I needed that and I think they did too.  If I've learned anything over the years of being a mama and a daughter it's that you can't go back in time re-capture moments that have passed. We must live in the present and be present.  So I indulged myself.  I admit it.  I totally treated myself to memory making with my little ladies, big ladies and grands all summer long.  It was a relaxed, lazy day filled summer.  It was a time for me to regroup and reconnect, even with myself and God.  I needed to clear my thoughts.  I needed to make a new wish list and I needed to dream big again. No problem there!

It took me some months to figure out how I wanted to move forward with Fabulous Girl Clothing.  I pondered....a LOT.  You might say I even stewed a bit. Does anyone else do that, too?  Yep, a lot of soul searching was goin' on.   Anyhoo, I wrapped up a very fun summer with my most precious people and was able to clear my head for business. 

Just as Brian often tells me I have visions, not just dreams.  I certainly have a BIG vision and HIGH HOPES for Fabulous Girl Clothing moving forward. Hmmm, sounds like Faith to me! I decided to hire some much needed talent to help me behind the scenes to make all the magic I dream of come true.  Why I didn't do this sooner, I have no idea.  Well, on second thought I do know, but let me give you a little piece of business advice, actually two:

1.  You have to spend money to make money & grow, even when you really don't have any yet, it's tough. 

2.  You're not an expert at all the tasks that any business requires.  You might be a hack, but not an expert.  They are far more efficient at what they specialize in than you are at what you don't specialize in.  Free up your time so you can spend your talents on what you do best. It will pay off in the long run.

So after all the pondering & praying,  I couldn't be more thrilled with my decision to re-launch my business using a new business model beginning this year, 2017. If you haven't heard, FGC is now completely online with a beautiful new website that is super user friendly.  Please give us a click and wander through.  We're confident you'll be delighted with our girls boutique clothing that is handmade right here in the USA, the Carolina's to be exact!  We make our lovely clothing in small batches with a whole lot of heart especially for your Fabulous Girls.  

Please believe me when I say my heart sings every time we send out a fab package full of beautiful, handmade clothing.  It's exciting to me every single time I'm granted the chance to share what I do with you and to be a small part of your daughter's childhood memories, which is what we call their "Girlyhood".   Wow, what an honor it is!!  Please help us spread the word of our new, exciting chapter and venture online.  You can find us on Facebook and Instagram, too.  We'd love nothing more than for you, your friends and your families to join our community and come grow with us!  

xoxo

Embracing Girlyhood, 

Rachel