Small Business Owner Spotlight: Candy Colored Girl's Nora Young
In our podcast series, I Built a Company That Makes a Difference, we speak with small business owners balancing sustainability with running a successful business venture. We discuss all things small business, environmentalism, and the lessons learned.
This week's episode featured guest Nora Young, founder and owner of Candy Colored Girl, a—dare we say—very cool vintage clothing store located in Brooklyn, NYC. Candy Colored Girl specializes in hand-picked second-hand apparel emphasizing sustainable fashion for women and children. They also offer jewelry, accessories, and all manner of quirky fun oddities!
Nora spoke about her career in the vintage clothing industry, her thoughts on sustainability, and more. Read on for excerpts from our discussion.
Source: Instagram @Candy Colored Girl Vintage
A passion for clothing from a young age
Nora has worked in fashion for many years in various capacities. Although her store is still relatively new, clothing has always been a passion of hers. A self-described mild-mannered child, she had strong opinions about fashion. As evidenced by her career from costume design to clothing retail, that obsession with style never disappeared.
About five years ago, with some convincing from a friend, Nora opened her store. She visited exactly one retail space location, which was a perfect fit, so she jumped on the opportunity.
"I had a roommate who I met through a store I was working at. She was a customer. We became friends. She moved in. We had a couple of bottles of wine, and she was like, 'I think it's time for you to open your own shop.' And I was like, 'Yeah, I think you're right.' And she was like, 'I know you like to overthink things... Don't think about it. Just do it. Now's the time. Just do it.' And I opened the store probably within a year of saying I was going to do it."
Thriving as an introvert in retail
Working in retail, one is expected to interact with people constantly—and that's hardly the ideal situation for an introvert like Nora. She said she realized this and made a conscious decision to work on creating positive interactions with people despite her natural inclination to introversion.
Today, she's part of a thriving community of friends, vintage lovers, and fellow business owners, partly due to her conscious effort towards reaching out and connecting through Candy Colored Girl.
"...And so when I would go to work, I would have to put on this persona, and I would know how scared I am to walk into a place, and I would imagine someone else being that scared. So I was like, 'I have to take care of them, and I have to make them feel comfortable.'
And that's just kind of been who I am for my life, and I'm glad I made that decision because I've made so many friends. So many friends. I mean, having the shop in Bed Stuy... the people who come into my shop are the best people I've ever met, truly. And they're my neighbors."
Persevering through the hard times
Although her store has had its fair share of successes, it has been a challenging journey for Nora. She's navigated her father's death, the COVID-19 pandemic, and the stress of working every day of the week—that's right, every day. Talk about dedication.
Through it all, Nora has managed to maintain an attitude of gratefulness and positivity, relishing the connections she's made in her community.
"I've learned that putting yourself out there and sort of being open and vulnerable again, it really does bring it back to you... I just remember telling all my friends that I gave myself one day off a week, and now I won't have any days off, and I can't do it—I don't think I can do this. My friend was like, 'Look, you did it. You're still doing it.'
That's really important for everybody, especially entrepreneurs... because there will be points when you look around in the chaos, and you're like, what am I doing? And then somebody reminds you, 'Hey, you're doing it.'"
To hear our complete conversation with Nora and discussions with other entrepreneurs making a change in a big way, visit our website and listen to Apple Podcasts.
Say hi to the founder Nora 👋