Meet Alison Buirley | Entrepreneur, Business Owner & Clothing Designer

We had the good fortune of connecting with Alison Buirley and we’ve shared our conversation below.

Hi Alison, how do you think about risk?
Taking risks has played an integral role in running my business and being an entrepreneur. There are risks we take as business owners every single day. If you allow fear to takeover, the growth of the business can be impacted immensely. There are variables that are out of our control in every aspect of the business ranging from the initial design concept to the fulfillment but with a change of mindset these risks can feel powerful. Changing your mindset from fear to growth is how I personally have been able to cope with the difficulties of running a business. With risk comes failure, with failure comes experience, with experience comes growth and with growth comes success. For me, changing my mindset about failure has been the key to accepting the risks. Genuinely believing that failure will occur and that it is a steppingstone to growth and success is the foundation of my thought process when dealing with my business and life’s setbacks.

Alright, so for those in our community who might not be familiar with your business, can you tell us more?
I have a core memory that I can picture perfectly in my head of the 6-year-old version of myself sitting at my grandmother’s kitchen table with my sketch pad, talking about how I wanted to be a Fashion Designer. I had designed a three-piece swimsuit and sketched it out along with several other dress designs that I was hopeful I would one day share with the world. Though my three-piece swimsuit design never transpired I tend to circle back to this day often because as fate would have it, I ended up doing exactly what I had always envisioned but it happened in a roundabout way. 22 years later I had been laid off from a corporate retail job while I was on maternity leave. What seemed devasting at the time ended up being a huge blessing and led me into my dream career. Taking a few years to be a stay-at-home mom and spending a lot of my spare time making and selling hair accessories and tutus, I saved up enough money to design and produce my first kid’s clothing collection for my new company, Be Girl Clothing, which I named after my daughter, Brynlee whos’ nickname was “B” Girl.
Unfortunately, my dream business did not start out with ease. I was a victim of a scam and the wire transfer that I sent over to the receiving overseas factory did not receive the money. I was left with a sinking heart and years of hard work with nothing to show for it. I found out I was scammed when I was in the hospital with my youngest son who I had just given birth to and found it ironic because I had named this first collection, Count Your Blessings. I quickly changed my mindset to think of how lucky I was to have a healthy baby boy and no matter how much time or money that was lost, this was one of life’s biggest blessings. Though I felt a bit hopeless on the business front, I had a deep desire to overcome this obstacle and start to fight for my dream.
The crazy thing is, I would never change this story for my brand. It was not a great start, but I learned so much from this both about running a business but also about the desire I had to keep going and turn this downfall into a driving force for future success. Starting over is not always a bad thing especially when the comeback is always that much sweeter.
Ten years later I can reflect and confirm that this was a blessing in disguise. Shortly after the scam I joined forces with our current factory in Vietnam who wants just as much as I do for each piece to be loved and valued by our customers. I also have two sister companies to date so the family of brands is continuing to grow, and I will be forever grateful to the loyal customers and shops that have supported my brands throughout the years.

I have learned so many valuable lessons from being a business owner but most importantly, staying strong during challenging times has been the most valuable. A change of mindset or perspective helps to push through the aversity knowing that growth is on the other side. I have gained an understanding that some of the best things come from humble beginnings and if you have enough desire, you can overcome any obstacle thrown your way.

If you had a friend visiting you, what are some of the local spots you’d want to take them around to?
Living in Columbus, Ohio I am an arms width away to so many Central Ohio locations that offer great entertainment.
If my friend was staying with me for a week, we would enjoy all my favorite spots including an assortment of day activities and night life.

I would be sure to take her for a cup of coffee at a new location that opened down the road called the Village Coffee of Sunbury. We would also fit in a few late morning walks on the Galena Brick Trail for some light exercise.
We would enjoy shopping at Easton Town Center and enjoy a late lunch and wine tasting at Cooper’s Hawk Winery Restaurant.

On another day I would also make it a point to take her to Worthington for a candle making session at Penn & Beech Candle Co and then head to dinner at The Whitney House, a short walk away.
We would enjoy heading to downtown Columbus one day and would spend our time walking around, enjoying the shops and ending our day with a dinner and a martini at Mandrake Rooftop.
Another day we would head over to Dublin for a full day of fun at the Bridge Park area where we would stop at the Dublin Market and hangout at Pins Mechanical Company for bowling and appetizers. We would end the day with dinner at Kitchen Social.

A trip to the Columbus Zoo would be a great time filler and would be saved for a warm day where we would want to spend our time outside. I would take her to Be Fit Café for a late lunch/early dinner and then we would head to Elodie Nail Salon on our way back for a relaxing manicure and pedicure.
One evening we would go to Henmicks Farm & Brewery and enjoy a cocktail and enjoy dinner at one of the food trucks offered while listening to a local band.

I sure hope I have a friend that visits for a week because now that I have this itinerary mapped out, I would love to enjoy it😊

The Shoutout series is all about recognizing that our success and where we are in life is at least somewhat thanks to the efforts, support, mentorship, love and encouragement of others. So is there someone that you want to dedicate your shoutout to?
After years of being in business and not seeing the growth that I anticipated I knew it was time to make a change. I dove into audiobooks at this time because I knew it would help strengthen my desire to make a change and give me the confidence to do it. I listened to multiple books from Mel Robbins and Grant Cardone among other authors but those two truly helped me on my journey. Mel Robbins aided in equipping me with tools to be mentally strong enough to take the leap of faith and make a change even though it seemed scary at the time. Grant Cardone provided insight on the dedication, tenacity and grind that is required to see the kind of growth that I was wanting. After reading multiple books by these authors, I made a substantial change, and I transitioned my children’s clothing business from an ecommerce site to selling wholesale. Years later, I continue to be inspired by the helpful content in those books.

Website: https://www.begirlclothing.com

Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/stories/begirlclothing/

Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/begirlclothing

Other: TikTok:
https://www.tiktok.com/@begirlclothing

Image Credits
Photo with two ladies is in our Dallas Showroom: Rockin’ Royalty Showroom

Photo of lavender bunny dresses is a photo from one of our retailers: Duckies Shop of Fun in Santa Rosa Beach, FL

Photo of myself holding up two swimsuits is a photo in one of our retail stores: Pink and Blue Avenue in Destin FL

Photo of myself in the black dress standing behind a table is at Children’s Club Marketplace in NYC