People Wanted To Know Where They Found Their Kids’ Clothes, So They Opened An Online Store
Ever wanted to start a company with your best friend? These two women did just that. As the CEO and founder of Girls on Greenwich, Julie Turkel Abrahamson provides the aesthetic vision for the brand by cultivating a community of stylish moms and curating a collection of the best children’s wear. She previously founded a consumer product licensing agency, where she worked with clients including Jonathan Adler, Nate Berkus and launched products with major retailers, including Target, Bed Bath & Beyond, Macy’s and Williams-Sonoma. Shirin Malkani, COO, oversees the day-to-day operations of Girls on Greenwich. Prior to joining Julie, she managed the National Basketball Association’s domestic digital business, including all content distribution across digital and television outlets. She also served as General Counsel of Ziff Davis Media, a tech magazine publisher.
Julie and Shirin spoke with PowerToFly about what it took to launch their business, what it is like to work remotely and how moms make great entrepreneurs.
Tell us more about how you came up with the idea to start Girls on Greenwich.
Julie: I have two young daughters and people have always stopped me on the street to ask me where I buy their beautiful clothes. The answer shocked them: I bought and sold most of my girls’ clothing via other stylish moms on sites like eBay. I was continually hearing from moms that they didn’t trust the quality of the merchandise on eBay and other re-sale sites, or they found them difficult to navigate. My solution was Girls on Greenwich, an online only boutique with a curated, well-presented collection of second-hand children’s wear from the best brands.
Before you launched Girls on Greenwich, what was your career like? How is being a remote entrepreneur different?
Julie: Before starting Girls on Greenwich, I was solely focused on my licensing agency, Ripe Ideas, where I worked with designer brands like Jonathan Adler, Nate Berkus, Dabney Lee and Real Simple on their expansion into new product categories and retailers. I have been self-employed for almost 15 years, so Girls on Greenwich is different for me in that I am now building my own brand and my own retail outlet to launch brands.
Shirin: When Julie first spoke to me in 2014 about the idea for Girls on Greenwich, I was managing the digital business of the National Basketball Association. I had spent my 15+ year career in the digital media business in very corporate settings. While I had much success, I did not always feel a true sense of ownership around my work. With Girls on Greenwich, I wanted to do everything differently.
What was the most difficult thing about launching your business?
Shirin: The not knowing. Julie and I spent a great deal of time researching, planning and strategizing before we launched. Nonetheless, we tackle unplanned issues weekly, if not daily. Being nimble and creative is the best and the hardest part about a start up. We are making up the rules and processes as we go. By definition, we cannot know these things until we do them.
The best thing about growing your brand right now?
Julie: For us, building a brand now is about leveraging the power of social media. Pictures and video are the best way to communicate with our nascent community and grow it. We are well served by these very visual platforms, like Instagram and Pinterest.
Do you have any tips for working remotely?
Shirin: When you work from home you lose the structure of the office place, but you gain the ability to be more effective with your time and more hands-on with the work you do. Even though we both work on our own terms, we make a point to get together regularly and have “staff meetings.” Face-to-face time, whether in person or online, is so important is opening up dialogue and new avenues of thought.
How do you manage your schedule? Give us an idea of what a typical day looks like.
Shirin: I am a morning person and am happy to get as much done as possible early in the day. The days that I work from home are super-productive because I have eliminated commuting time. I am up around 6:00 am, try to work out a bit, walk my son to school, then I am heads down at work. The greatest benefit of my flexible schedule is being home when my son gets home from school. Work may continue after dinner but the two of us get that time together to discuss the day.
Would you recommend starting a business with your best friend? What are some advantages of having such a close relationship with your co-founder.
Julie: One advantage is that we know we have each other’s backs and understand each other on a deeper level.
Shirin: Yes, if she is the right partner. You need to know how you each like to work and whether there is compatibility there. It is less about making sure you approach things in the same manner than making sure your differences are complementary.
Do you think moms make better employees? If so, why?
Julie: Shirin and I are both moms and our director of photography is a mom. I think it helps us create a better product for an audience that we innately understand.
Shirin: Absolutely. I know of no more efficient people than working moms. Those I know are never procrastinators or time wasters. They break down tasks, prioritize and execute.
How has having kids made you re-evaluate your career? How has becoming a mom inspired your career?
Julie: Girls on Greenwich is directly inspired by my daughters and our lives in the West Village. My girls are an integral part of the business and they give our brand a voice that people can relate to. Also, if they don’t love something I buy for them (but I did) or they outgrow a dress, it goes up on the site — so they are our top consignors! I believe this is an amazing experience for them to be able to really understand what I do for a living and actually help shape the business.
What separates your online business from other children’s clothing sites?
Julie: We see Girls on Greenwich as more than just a marketplace. Other sites in the secondary children’s market operate more like a swap meet. We curate and select our merchandise carefully, looking to help stylish moms connect with hard to find brands. Many of the brands we carry, like Bonpoint, Bonton and Lanvin Petite, are not readily available in the US either online or in brick and mortar stores. We certainly attract moms specifically looking for brands they already love. We were also excited to help in the discovery of these brands by new fans.
Can you share your favorite tech essentials, apps or remote work tools that inspire you to work smarter?
Shirin: Working smarter for me is about communication, organization and timely follow through. I have not found any one app or tool that does all those things for me. I am a huge believer in lists so a well-timed calendar reminder and Evernote are my essentials.
Tell us your favorite place (either in our outside of the home) to work from?
Julie: When I am feeling blocked I go shopping. Being in stores and talking to both the shoppers and the people who run the stores helps to get my creative juices flowing.
Shirin: I take calls sitting in the bay windows of my living room. I look out on the old trees and the brownstones behind them and I feel connected to where I am and how I got here. Girls on Greenwich has an authenticity because it too has a connection to a place and a moment.
Advice you would have given yourself a year ago when first starting on your new company?
Shirin: I had always thought that I could solve any work issue with more work. Longer hours, more tasks to accomplish, more people to talk to — that approach would fix anything. When you start a business, you realize that hard work is necessary but it is not the only thing you need. You need other people to help and you need time to build a community, so be patient and work smart.
And finally, what do you like to do in your free time? (If you have any!)
Shirin: I am a food person. I like to cook, I like to eat out, I like to read about food. And I like to share food, so I tend to organize my free time and my social activities around food. We even had our inaugural GoG holiday party at my apartment; I made brunch!
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