Today we’d like to introduce you to Laura Doby.
Hi Laura, thanks for joining us today. We’d love for you to start by introducing yourself.
The Cotton Boll Boutique started as a dream shared by two friends who loved to shop! Laura & Rosemary worked together in healthcare and spent their off-time in their traveling careers at the mall. During the pandemic (yes, we opened a store during a pandemic), the boutique we dreamed of got its start in Laura’s family room at home. It quickly grew, and we later became the first boutique in the Uptown Shoppers Market, a vendor mall in our town of Greenwood, SC.
Many people are curious about the origin of our store’s name. It all started with a summer job in my hometown of Bishopville, SC, where being a cotton scout was a common summer job for students. Cotton scouts were responsible for walking through the fields, identifying pests, and advising farmers on when and where to spray. It was a demanding and sweltering job.
When I applied for the position, I was initially turned down. The hiring team believed I was too “girlie” and “fru fru” for such a tough job. Instead, they hired the high school football coaches, who, to everyone’s surprise, only lasted one day. I was then given the opportunity and ended up excelling in the role, working as a cotton scout for five summers. Eventually, I started my own business, providing scouting services for my brother in law, Claude, and his brother.
This experience taught me a valuable lesson: never underestimate the power of a determined woman. We are capable of achieving anything we set our minds to, regardless of how “fru fru” we might appear to be!
Alright, so let’s dig a little deeper into the story – has it been an easy path overall and if not, what were the challenges you’ve had to overcome?
Overall, it has been a smooth road! When we started, we never dreamed our business would grow into what it has. We grew out of my living room pretty quickly and rented half of a booth at the Uptown Shoppers Market, a vendor market in town that specialized more in antiques and collectibles. We were the first boutique in there and we just grew and grew from there. We now rent a huge space there and it has worked well for us.
The biggest struggle we have had is with setting up our website and dealing with the challenges that come with that. We are not big enough (or brave enough YET) to keep separate inventories for the store and the website, but, so far, we have managed to come up with a system that seems to be working.
I also still work 4 days per week in my lifelong job as a social worker in healthcare. For the most part, it is just me and Rosemary doing everything. Thank goodness, we are both hard workers and determined girls!
Thanks for sharing that. So, maybe next you can tell us a bit more about your work?
I have worked for 37 years as a social worker/consultant in long term care. I work for a wonderful company and am blessed to have worked with wonderful people. That is how I met my “partner in shopping.” Rosemary, who has now retired, and I always shopped after hours when we traveled in our consulting positions. In the back of my mind, I always had a dream of owning a boutique. Sadly, Rosemary lost her husband shortly after retiring and then the pandemic hit. With a little more time on our hands right then, we literally started the boutique on a whim! We had no idea what we were doing. We are proud of what it has become. It is the “go to” place for so many people in our town. We serve women of all ages, but I would say our biggest group would be ages 35-55. We believe that shopping in a boutique does not have to cost you an arm and a leg. We believe women should wear their clothing confidently and boldly. Nothing satisfies us more than someone who comes in thinking she can’t wear something colorful and bold and she tries it on and loves it. We enjoy helping customers, socializing with customers and treating everyone like the queen that they are! I think we are known for having a big selection with a variety of items that can be worn casually and professionally. Our store theme is “Southern. Classy. A Little Bit Sassy” and this is on point for us!
Personally, I would say I am known for my determination. When I want something, I go after it. I do not do anything without fully expecting it to be a success.
What’s next?
I don’t think we have any big changes planned. I don’t think we could grow anymore in size. We laugh sometimes, saying we have a department store, not a boutique! We know there are areas we need to do better on. We try to post on social media regularly, but we need to do better on Tik Tok. We need to grow our online sales. I hope to retire from health care in the near future and am looking forward to being able to have more time to spend at the store, interacting with customers.
Contact Info:
- Website: shoptheboll@gmail.com
- Instagram: the_cottonbollboutique
- Facebook: https://facebook.com/TheCottonBollBoutiqueGreenwoodSC
