Today we’d like to introduce you to Victoria Dunn.
Hi Victoria, thanks for joining us today. We’d love for you to start by introducing yourself.
My story does not start in Charleston, South Carolina, it starts in the small village of Bayfield, Ontario, Canada. I grew up in a small coastal village in Canada and moved to Toronto to study Finance. The irony in my chosen major was that I was never good at math, and did not enjoy the subject. Someone, I was able to complete my degree and I moved into the commercial real estate sector.
My entire life was spent going to school each year and preparing for the following. When I had graduated, it was a different preparation. I was preparing to get into the corporate world climbing my way up the ladder, one deliverable at a time. In 2019 I got sent to Chicago for company training, where I met my southern gentleman. Fast forward a year of distance later, a global pandemic and an engagement, I finally moved to the USA on a work visa with our company. As I spent my time watching my husband move up the ladder, I was still stuck at the bottom. Being a female in the corporate industry is the textbook case of working in a male-dominated world. I watched my husband get promotion and raise after raise, while I was stuck doing the same workload and quality. After months of struggling, my husband gave me the tough love that I needed to come up with what I wanted to do.
“If you do not like your life, then change it”, I remember him vividly saying. A few weeks later, an idea finally clicked in my head. I had an opportunity to make partner with a small company that was also doing Iraca Palm. She spoke Spanish and wanted me to handle the marketing side of things in exchange for 50% of a company that had no sales, but connections. With some advice from family, I turned down the offer. The next morning, I came across my own Iraca Palm Supplier that spoke fluent English. What started off as 10 bucket bags and 10 tote bags, expanded into a small fashion line and earring line.
In the span of a month, that newly added addition of the business grossly expanded at a lighting pace. I discovered that wholesale was going to be my bread and butter, and I loved the ability to get into stores across the USA. To this day, I am so proud to say that Victoria Dunn is in over 120 stores across the USA in the time span of 6 months. It has been one wild ride, and I would not change it. for the world.
Can you talk to us a bit about the challenges and lessons you’ve learned along the way? Looking back would you say it’s been easy or smooth in retrospect?
As an empowered woman, there are highs and lows along the way. I am a twenty-four-year-old female who went from a male-dominated industry to a female-dominated industry. Although woman empowerment and encouragement appears to be on the surface for most brands, it, unfortunately, is not. A large challenge for myself was coming to terms with the brands I used to love and support so much, would not support me back. The challenge was never getting the business started or growing the business initially, but developing trust in a world that can often be perceived as trustworthy.
Mental illness also plays a struggle along the way, I have suffered with depression since about sixteen so finding creative motivation to get up every morning was initially a struggle. But the high of my business is what keeps me going every day, and keeps me on a great path to positivity.
The last challenge would be the new challenge of expanding into different markets and continuing to expand with no financial assistance or investors. I have always wanted to own 100% of my company, and do not ever plan on changing that. It is very important to me to always do it myself, which is why I am constantly looking for new ways to grow but at a rate that financially makes sense. One of the biggest methods that I use for growing my business is investing 100% of profits back into the business, and so far, its turned out to be very beneficial.
Appreciate you sharing that. What else should we know about what you do?
Victoria Dunn specializes in slow, ethical fashion that consists of hand block print in India, and woven Iraca Palm in Columbia South America. I am most proud of expanding my line so quickly and expanding into speciality fabrics for my spring line such as Eyelet and Swiss-dot.
One of my main goals while running this fashion line is to always make woman feel beautiful, no matter the time, place, or stage in their lives. About a year ago I bought my first block print dress, and I knew that I could do it better.
We’d be interested to hear your thoughts on luck and what role, if any, you feel it’s played for you?
The COVID-19 pandemic millions of people across the USA in both a positive and negative way. When my corporate job went remote, it allowed me a lot of extra time to allocate to my business. It also allowed me to find a gap in the market to enter into because when I launched in May 2021, consumers were started to go out again and spend money. I strongly believe if I had launched in 2020, I would not have grown as fast because no one was purchasing dresses, oppose to purchasing comfort clothing. I am a firm believer that everything happens for a reason, but you also create your own luck and chase your own dreams. You have the power to make your own dreams happen, do not sit around and wait for luck to happen.
Pricing:
- Block print fashion under $200
- Designed in Charleston, made in India and Columbia South America
- Hand Woven Iraca Palm Bags Under $200
- Hand Woven Iraca Palm Earrings Under $65
Contact Info:
- Email: victoria@victoriadunndesign.com
- Website: https://victoriadunndesign.com/
- Instagram: @victoriadunndesign
Image Credits
@rebeccasigetyphotography
@haleyfosterphoto
