Monica Cutrer, Urban Charm Boutique
Monica Cutrer is the gal behind Urban Charm, a hip boutique with a selection of stylish new and vintage clothing, jewelry and accessories. We sat down with Monica to get the story behind her business, her life, and her inspirations.
1. What inspired you to launch Urban Charm, and tell us a little about the company.
Remember the days of playing dress up with your mom’s designer clothes, four-inch heels and fancy jewels? Of being that Girly Girl who lived for putting on sparkly lip gloss, having tea parties and playing with dolls? Of leafing through fashion magazine after magazine, admiring the beautiful models and those oh-so-glamorous outfits? Then you get Monica!
Monica Cutrer, creator of the hottest fashion boutique, Urban Charm, and its online counterpart, www.urban-charm.com, simply put, gets fashion. While her penchant for fashion may have started back in the days of playing dress up in her mom’s vintage heels, it certainly blossomed through her teens. A New Orleans native, Monica always seemed to have her finger on the pulse of fashion, and gravitated towards creating looks that embraced a feminine, yet funky vibe. When she moved to the Washington, DC area, her fashionable flair followed her and within no time, Monica was helping to style her pals for exciting nights out on the town with finds from local boutiques.
2. What steps did you take to prepare for the launch of your company?
When deciding to launch Urban Charm; initially I held in-house smaller-scaled shopping events with a few girlfriends and coworkers. I used my style-conscious girlfriends as guinea pigs to test out the market and to see how desperate we all were for trendy, hip and urban fashions while remaining affordable. From there, it turned into exhibiting at Eastern Market on the weekends! In addition to putting the Urban Charm brand out there; I was able to launch the website as well which helped in reaching a wide range of fashionistas. Today Urban Charm has grown to sponsor and host a variety of fashion events; (i.e., trunk shows, shopping parties, fashion soirees and fashion nights) at least twice a month. The boutique has yearly scheduled events such as The Ultimate Fashionista Flea Markets (held in Fall/Winter and Spring/Summer of each year); Release Your Inner Diva Party held yearly and the Accessories, Clothing and Handbags Launch Parties held throughout the year as well.
3. What is your favorite part about running an online boutique?
My absolute favorite part about the online boutique is that I get to meet so many fashionistas around the world without a face-to-face. It’s a connection that brings a certain comfort level when visually serving as a fashion platform. And when I do meet them in the flesh it’s a flowing fashion experience. I can see how their style has come together with a unique piece from Urban Charm! I recently had my first international client calling me from London asking me questions about style as well as the boutique’s accessories!
4. What obstacles have you faced since launching your business, and how did you deal with them?
There are several obstacles in any business and you just have to learn to approach it, think about it and face it with the determination that you can make the situation better. Particularly for an online boutique, it’s important to relay the right message across to your clients without seeing them! You have to think about the client. Is this accessory going to impress them? Are they going to wear this hat? What about the belt? And those handbags? How will they feel your pieces? Having the ability to stay consistent while yet creative is very important in the fashion industry. I have to stay on top of fashion trends, and continuously research what’s going on in the fashion world.
5. Tell us a little bit about yourself (background, hobbies, etc.)
Urban Charm caters to today’s trend-savvy fashionistas who command the most in style, but shy away from the attitude that other boutiques so often exude. For Monica, it’s all about having girly fun, hanging out, dishing fashion advice, and of course, creating perfect outfits for their clientele, no matter what their size, style or occasion may be. Whatever the look, Monica garners tremendous satisfaction from helping clients create a style that’s true to their personalities and figures. She loves making her clients look and feel simply fabulous each and every day.
Much like its Girly Girl founder, the boutique’s feminine vibe is reminiscent of carefree childhood days, invoking an instant memory of those tea parties and Barbie dolls, while being chocked full of magnificent modern staples and must-have finds from today’s hottest trends. One could say that Monica is just like playing dress-up all over again, only now it’s even better.
6. What events do you have coming up that may be of interest to our members?
Interested fashionistas can sign-up on the Urban Charm website (www.urban-charm.com) to receive the official newsletter of fashion events, style tips and advice!
7. What advice can you give to women who dream about launching their own business?
The best advice I can give is to continue to be passionate about what you are doing. If it’s a career you enjoy whether as a fashion stylist, retailer, buyer or fashion executive, if you enjoy what you are doing and it comes naturally to you, you will be alright in the end. Stay true to those feelings and through the challenging and great times your business will be successful.
8. Where are your favorite places to shop, sip, dine, and socialize in DC?
A few of my favorite places in the Washington, DC area are eating dinner in Georgetown, sightseeing in the area, hanging out with friends in the U Street Corridor or just socializing at the movie theater or watching a football game at Lucky Strike in Gallery Place.
