According to newsofsanantonio.com, the Elysia Collective Company is a business where owner Emily Howell sells her own T-shirt, sweatshirt, and jewelry designs. Most importantly its is also where she leases space to a dozen other women so that women can have a place for female business owners to attempt to take a step into the world of retail.
Howell and others are having their grand opening at 6 p.m. today, Wednesday, the 19th, at 11858 Wurzbach Road. Amongst the entrepreneurs leasing space is Leah Nanez, co-owner of Sisters from Texas, where her and her sister bake earrings made of polymer clay in their kitchen ovens. Who stated, “It’s like I’m baking cookies all day, but instead of cookies, it’s earrings.” Another, Gabrielle Richter, launched a fashion boutique online and at pop up tents as the pandemic had started. She said that, “We had done one pop-up, and then everything shut down, which was nerve-wracking.”
Now instead of having to travel and setup for temporary stands, she is able to dedicate a brick-and-mortar space for her business. Howell herself started selling things back in high school where she would sell stickers and according to her, “It all started with a sticker, It was a UTSA sticker, actually.” That is where she attends college and studies public health, which is reflected in her products themselves. “We have, “Invest in Your Mental Health” t-shirts, We have a lot of different self-care type of designs,” she said.
Howell is 20 years old and started her personal business, Emily Grace Designs, when she graduated high school. She added that, “So whenever I first started my business, I invested in a Cricut and an iPad, that’s it, I did made-to-order shirts in the beginning, did not have inventory. I just kept saving my profits and investing and saving my profits and investing.” She’s still investing, not just in herself, but in other women with the same dream as her.
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