Have you ever had an idea or a goal that you’ve wanted to pursue, but you find yourself constantly putting it on the back burner for whatever reason? I can name about fifty different things that I have consistently done this with, some of them I’ve put my big girl pants on and taken the leap, like this blog and other things are still in the idea machine phase. Sometimes I feel like the idea phase is such a discouraging place to be, dreams are big and can feel overwhelmingly unachievable and one thing that I always find helpful is hearing the stories of other girls that have found themselves in the same position. Cydnee Janae owner of Triple J Boutique was one of those girls too or one of us I should say.
For over a year Cydnee had this idea of starting a boutique. She got into the western fashion industry in high school and was quickly noticed for her style online. “I went to community college for a couple of years and during my second year I realized that I wasn’t super interested in anything they were offering.” Being her own boss and creating her own hours seemed far more appealing, so in February of 2019 she took the leap and Triple J Boutique was born. The boutique started out being jewelry based, but when covid hit Cydnee realized the opportunity to grow the business into much more was there and this endeavor really could be her full time gig.
Authentic native jewelry is and always will be the name of the game for Cydnee’s boutique. I’m sure we’ve all heard the mixed opinions from the people in our industry about buying real versus fake turquoise or buying from small makers versus buying factory made. Cydnee said that everyone knows buying authentic pieces is an investment, but it’s about investing in the quality and the story behind the art. When you’re buying from small makers, not only are you supporting them and their families, but you’re supporting the culture and buying something that is timeless and will never go out of style. I asked Cydnee about her thoughts with the “trendiness” of Native American culture. I feel like there are a lot of people on social media that judge people from non native backgrounds for wearing certain native pieces and styles. Cydnee said that she believes there is a balance to it and as long as you’re respecting the culture and acting with pure intentions she doesn’t see why our industry supporting native makers would be inappropriate. Obviously there is a line in the sand that sometimes gets blurred when it comes to fashion from any culture and I think that the best thing that we can do as individuals in the western community whether we’re native or not, is to help educate other’s when its appropriate instead of jumping someone’s case because they don’t understand the same way we do. I’ve yet to meet a native maker that is unhappy to have the western industry’s support for their art and culture, but I think where we can be better is to support them instead of jumping to “find it cheaper” somewhere else.
Back to Cydnee, for those wondering who’s behind her business, this gal DOES IT ALL. Cydnee referred to herself a control freak and all I could think is, aren’t we all? She said she’s not sure if she would be able to handle giving over any control to someone else and even things like working with influencers is something that she is very selective about. I really appreciated this part of our conversation because I feel like the influencer world is something a lot of people want to be a part of, but their understanding is limited. Cydnee said she is extremely picky about who she works with because a lot of times, intentions aren’t pure, people aren’t genuine and the messages about wanting something for free from people who don’t even follow her page are overwhelming and disrespectful. I could not deal with that, I mean I love y’all, but NO. While we’re on the topic of influencing, I’m sure if you’re reading this, you know that Cydnee has a significant following on social media. When I asked her about it she said that she never expected to have the following she had and that just posting what she loved grew her following authentically. With that being said, being in the social media spotlight wasn’t a goal of hers and she said that there are definitely stereotypes that come along with having a following in our industry. We talked about how being genuine is a challenge, not because she’s not a genuine person (trust me she’s freaking awesome), but because speaking from your heart can sometimes open up cans of worms that no one wants to deal with and in certain instances, saying nothing at all has been the better call. While social media is fun, there are times that having an online presence has hurt her self esteem and that fitting the mold for what’s expected of influencers in our industry can take the fun out of it.
With all of that being said about having a personal presence on social media, having a boutique presence is an even bigger deal. “There’s a lot of pressure when it comes to having a big social media following for your business because you feel like if you’re not interacting on social media, you’re not making sales.” While she does love the photoshoot portion of owning a boutique, Cydnee said it’s not all picking out clothes and taking pictures. Scheduling posts, responding to comments, keeping up with inventory, shipping orders, handpicking the items she is going to bring in, the list is never ending and it’s something that she is constantly thinking about. I feel like this has been a trend for all of the small business owners that I’ve had the opportunity to talk to and I think the biggest takeaway we as customers can take from this is that showing grace and support to these girls and guys working their tails off behind the scenes is the least we can do. I think a nine to five sounds better to all of them somedays and the fact that they’re so passionate about their business that they’re willing to have a job with no off button speaks volumes. Cydnee said that she’s happy with where she is at, she loves the creativity that her business allows her to have and that she’s nothing but grateful for every opportunity this endeavor has given her.
In this interview I had the opportunity to pick Cydnee’s brain about what it takes to run a successful online business and she said that growing your following to be in front of as many customers as possible is always a priority. By keeping up with the algorithms and staying different and unique, she has found a way to be successful in that regard, but it’s something that takes a lot of time and effort to maintain. When you have good reach, you’ll have good sales. Another thing we talked about was the importance of setting a budget and setting an amount to pay yourself as the business owner. Obviously when you’re first starting out, investing your money back into your business is a top priority, but making sure that you’re taking care of yourself financially along the way is important to keep yourself motivated and making the countless hours of work worth it. When it comes to inventory, Cydnee said that she is always pushing to stay consistent with what she’s buying and who she’s buying from. One thing that she is proud of is her ability to be unique and have success selling out of things that she has handpicked. She said that there’s no better feeling than taking a risk and seeing it sell out and has kept her pushing to not follow the trends and maintain her individuality.
So what’s next for Triple J? Cydnee made it sound pretty simple. Continue to be unique and grow, maybe set up a couple of pop ups at rodeos and grow her online presence to gain more support for the native and small makers that she loves so hard.
Cydnee, you’re such an inspiration and I appreciate your honesty and integrity so much. I love your support and passion for the native and western industry and I hope that your story gives someone else in our industry the push to chase a dream of theirs. Thank you so much for letting me share your words of wisdom with everyone and I can’t wait to see what Triple J does in the years to come.
Until next time friends,
xoxo, lex
Cowgal Chatter 