Elizabeth Jeffer – Founder & CEO of roztayger -an online shopping destination offering a carefully edited selection of men’s and women’s handbags, totes, wallets, briefcases, travel bags, electronic cases and other small leather goods.
1. Did you ever imagine yourself achieving what you have?
Since graduating from college I have dreamt of opening a fashion oriented retail store of some sort. I put that dream off due to the fear of commitment, timing in my life, and knowing too much about how hard it is to run that kind of business. Instead I went into wholesale – representing accessory designers, selling to the people whose job I wanted. In short, I put off my dream for many, many years to pursue something less risky, and subsequently less exciting. As this industry got more difficult for traditional brick and mortar retail stores I began to enjoy it less and less and decided to take the plunge and open my own store online. Finally, I am pursuing my dream, albeit online and not in a freestanding store. I do miss the more intimate face to face interactions with people but am so happy to finally being doing what I have wanted to do for so many years. It was really had to get to the point where the fear of not trying was greater than the fear of trying and failing. I have never been happier in my work and in my life. I can also say that being a bit more mature has helped me balance perspective on things and my guess is that I am handling the stress of running my own business better than I would have at 25!
2. What in hindsight would you say you underestimated about your industry or business and why?
I think there is the perception that niche brands, like the ones I carry on www.roztayger.com, will not be able to make it through these hard economic times. However, the internet has really opened the floodgates as to what is possible for niche brands to achieve and many HAVE survived.
3. What is the best business related advice you have ever been given?
Be true to your gut, trust your intuition and define yourself clearly.
4. What do you love most about what you do and why?
I absolutely love weeding thru collections and picking the styles I know people will purchase. I seem to have a sixth-sense about what people will buy. I had quite a few buyers ask me to write their orders and I LOVED that. I would follow up and see what sold and who bought it. The process of connecting the person with the right product really excites me. I like to make people happy and help them to feel good about themselves. While fashion is only artifice it can really make a difference in someone’s outlook. If they feel good about how they look “carrying that bag” or “wearing those shoes” it can really boost their confidence. There are clearly more important things in life but these small things can make a difference and I like to be a facilitator in making that happen.
5. If you knew then what you know now what would you do differently and why?
I would not have let fear stop me from starting my business sooner. It’s true that when you do what you love it’s not really work. It is hard sometimes to make that a practical reality but you owe it to yourself to try.
6. When you’re not working how do you like to spend your time?
I have two kids so I like to spend as much quality time with them as I can. I also love to practice yoga, see interesting movies, read books, travel, and explore other cultures.
7. How do you define success?
I define success as taking the risk to do what you love and going for what you believe in despite the fear of failure. Of course financial success is great too, but for now I am very happy and feel success in having launched the site and creating a niche shopping experience that seems to be resonating with people.
8. If you had to share one final thought with our audience of thousands of women in business – what would it be?
Take a look at what you are good at and what gives you the most satisfaction and try to figure out a way to make that a career in some way. It’s not always easy and it may not seem practical but you owe it to yourself to give it a go. Believe in yourself and feel confident that your passion in whatever you choose to pursue will carry you to the end goal.
About Elizabeth Jeffer
After an extensive career in fashion and being exposed to many innovative designers, Elizabeth developed the idea for roztayger as a way to offer products known for their design and superb quality in one online location. Elizabeth’s love for design, aesthetics and fashion began as an art history major at UCB. She later went on to have a successful career in fashion sales and merchandising in both San Francisco and New York City where she co-owned the Metropolitan Design Group.
However, Elizabeth’s true inspiration for roztayger stems from her grandmother, Rosalind Tiger, an avid art collector and interior designer with a flair for fashion who encouraged Elizabeth to follow her artistic dreams. The name roztayger is beautiful blend of her grandmother’s first name, Rosalind, and her last name, Tiger, which is phonetically pronounced Tayger. roztayger is a tribute to her grace, style and sophistication. To discover roztayger.com click here.