Meet our large featured sponsor for the month of April, Kelly from Closet Groupie!

Tell us a little bit about yourself?  Hi, I’m Kelly!  I grew
up in a family that was all about fashion… I even used clothing racks
for monkey bars as a child.  I studied fashion design at Parsons and
worked for a few of my favorite designers including YSL, DKNY, and Ralph
Lauren.  I love getting lost in textile markets around the world.  My
closet (and apartment for that matter) reflect that.  

How did your shop get started and what’s the premise behind it?
 I was in my friend Reina’s closet one day and it is one of those
closets that is to die for.  I was thinking that every woman should be
able to shop in her closet.  On Closet Groupie you can sell items from
your closet that you are no longer wearing or that you’ve outgrown.  You
can also sell the things you never got around to taking the tags off
of!  People follow you (Become your Groupie!) if they like your style.
 If you need to make some extra money because you’ve been shopping a
little too much, you can sell your clothes on Closet Groupie and recoup a
little of your investment.  It’s really fun to ship your clothes off to
another fashionable woman to enjoy. 

What inspires you the most?  I’m inspired by many things.
 I’m used to being in very creative environments where everyone is
allowed to express themselves.  Art, nature, and other people tend to be
my biggest sources of inspiration.  I’m also personally inspired by
Bill Cunningham.  He puts into perspective a world that can seem very
superficial and frivolous.  

What advice do you have for anyone who is looking to open up their own etsy or online shop?  I’m
going to steal a line from Nike and say Just Do It!  Whether you are
selling your closet on Closet Groupie or setting up a shop on Etsy, you
just have to start.  You will figure out things that seem complicated
such as photography, pricing, shipping, and maintaining relationships
with your customers along the way.  There will be some small failures,
but you will learn from them and keep going and improving.  You would be
surprised at how many people fail just because they never start! 

What are your future goals & plans, where do you want to be in 5+ years?  At
Closet Groupie we want to turn every fashionable woman’s closet into a
boutique.  We want to give everyone access to some of the best closets
on the planet.  We want to enable fashionistas to earn money by selling
their closets so they can do things they were never able to do
previously…like buy that designer handbag they’ve been eyeing or take a
fabulous vacation.  And we want to make all of this EASY and FUN.  It’s
going to be a fun five years!  

Find Closet Groupie, here!