I am the founder of Etoile luxury handbags. I was born in Montreal, CN and Etoile is French for the word star. You'll feel like a star when you carry an Etoile bag. Etoile is the most fascinating, beautiful exquisite handbag collection you will ever come across. I'm recording today from one of our New York City factories, I love to spend time with the product. t's a really great, happy place for me. 

Tip - Most Successfuls entrepreneurs have fun!

And we build fantastic, beautifully aesthetic pleasing bags that really resonate well with a wide audience. Our DNAis really in the intelligence of the bag. Our most popular bag contains a second bag, it's totally convertible. 

Tip - Many successful entrepreneurs design a product or service with one addtional "stand-out" feature.

I'm still the Creative Director for Etoile. I designed the first bag to solve problems for me when I travelling to see high end buyers whne I worked in high-end fashion. I needed to look the part and be efficient and that' how Etoile was born. 

Tip - great entrepreneurs solve problems. 

My Childhood

My mother worked for a big corporations, but when I was young girl, she had a flower shop. Though on a smaller scale, my mother did set an entrepreneurial example for me. I don't recall saying, I want to be just like my mom. In fact, I recall wanting to be the opposite of my mom and just being silly. I think in retrospect I can see that it certainly has shown me that it's a possible. In some ways, I've turned into my mother - LOL. We sell direct to consumer and to luxury retailers. Selling to luxury retaailers allowed us to quickly expand our footprint in different regions. 

TIp - Alternative distribution channels for entrepreneurs can help you quickly expand geography and market share.

We started in 2018 and our first customer was a luxury store named Stanley Korshak in Dallas. Since that time we expanded it to e-com and to our own brick and mortar stores. I'm very, very strict on distribution. Brand equity is so important if youre trying to beuild a great American luxury brand. Even though this is our fifth year, I feel like we are still in the infancy of our brand.

I went to college and studied business. I always ha a calling for the fashion industry, and fortunately Montreal is global hub of fashion. Out of college I wnet to work for a marge American luxury brand working on their Canadian sales and distribution. I did well enough that I was privileged to sit in a CEO walkthroughs and meetings. I learned so much at that and my next jobs. The second job I had total ownership of four brands. It was like being an entrepreneur with someone else's money. My last job was all about product development and creative. I got to travel to Asia, to Europe, to visit factories, to understand how to maximize,yielding your fabrics all abou tmanufacturing. 

TIP - Many entrepreneurs learn their trade while employed for other Companies.

In my career I had, I touched so many different sides of the fashion industry that I though, oh my God, I know everything. That's gonna be a breeze. I've learned so much more since staarting Etoile. First, when we make mistakes. We acknowledge the mistake, fix it and move forward. There's no need to dwell on mistakes, fix it and don't do it again. The hardest lesson has been cashflow management. You cannot really be successful until you masterd the cash. As a young company, we've had to be very agile and be very lean operationally.

One of our mutual mentors is Jay Rodgers. Jay has knowledge of experience in different types of business and has been very generous with his time in heloing me and Etoile. There are times where I've called Jay and asked a question, got an answer, I slept on it and found out I disagree. The value of successful mentors is immense to your business growth.

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You can also reach Don at https://donwilliamsglobal.com