Name: Cynthia Hudson
Business Name: Cynthia Hudson Style (Personal Style and Shopping Business for Women and Men)
I offer wardrobe edit/audits, personal shopping services, special occasion styling/shopping and "shop your closet". For Men, I provide a concierge style service and carry a Custom Menswear line offering everything from T-shirts to tuxedoes.
Length of time in Business: Since 2010. Added helping Men in 2016.
Location: I serve all of the Greater NYC Metro area. Generally within 1 hour of Rye. NYC, Westchester and Fairfield Counties mainly.
Kids: I have 4 kids. My son Jack is 21 and is a rising Senior at Elon. Liz is 19 and a rising sophomore at University of Edinburgh. Cate is 16, a junior at Rye High and Ali is 14, an 8th grader at Rye Middle.
Pets: We have a toy poodle, Penny.
Before starting this business: Before marriage, kids, etc. I was a Media Sales Executive. I worked at Hearst Magazines for a number years. With Good Housekeeping starting in NYC and then being promoted and transferred to San Francisco and then Chicago with them. I then ran the Midwest Ad Sales office of Town & Country for a few years before moving into Cable Ad Sales for The Television Food Network.
I started my business: In 2010, I considered going back to work. I was happy as a stay home Mom, but was itching to add something new to my life and could see the kids were growing up fast and was beginning to wonder what I was going to do with myself once they moved out. After a lot of thought, I decided that going back to work did not make sense for a few reasons. The costs of childcare would likely deplete all of my earnings, I didn't want to commute everyday into the city and I did not want to miss out on being home for the kids or lose my flexibility. So, I decided to blend my love of fashion and shopping with helping people. I truly believe feeling good in what you wear and developing a wardrobe of things you love makes life easier but also boosts confidence. When you are dressed well and look great you feel empowered. This is true for both Women and Men.
What I love most about what I do now: I love helping people develop their personal style and build a great wardrobe. The gratitude I feel when my customers tell me how confident they feel or about the compliments they're receiving makes my day and doing what I do so worth it.
To start my business: I launched a website/blog www.cynthiahudsonstyle.com. It started as a venue for me to show off my style and outfits I wear, suggestions, tips....Quickly it became difficult to maintain all the fashion posts. So the blog evolved. But the website pages offer information about my services and about me and the blog posts (as often as I can) are about things I think are interesting, beauty, fashion finds, events, etc. It also serves as a way to boost ranking on Google for searches. My instagram @cynthiahudsonstyle is where I am able to post more about my style, etc.
Biggest challenge I faced: I think the biggest challenge I have faced and continue to face is learning about and keeping up with technology and social media and managing all aspects of growing and maintaining my business on my own.
How I Overcame challenge: I guess I just do it. Might not be the best approach always but it is true we learn through our mistakes.
Thing that surprised me most about this project: How appreciative both my Female and Male clients are for my assistance.
Best tip for an entrepreneur: Ask a lot of questions especially about starting a website and then just go for it. Nothing is perfect or will to go to plan perfectly.....keep going!
Check her out at cynthiahudsonstyle.com!
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