Happy Festive Season everyone,
Hope you are all enjoying the winter season and I am sure you are all having tons of fun with your Christmas shopping!
Today on our blog we are featuring the one and only Kylie Hearne the CEO of Stardust Boutique. I had the pleasure of actually being Miss Stardust Boutique in 2011/12 and actually was there to cut the ribbon at Swansea Wales…how exciting is that! I have watched Kylie’s business grow from strength to strength and now she is here to tell us her story in her own words. Read below for this exciting interview:
1) Congratulations for all of your success as the Founder and CEO of Stardust Boutique,
from winning awards to massive sales in business. Pls tell us when you had the idea to set up
your own business?
Thank you very much, I started my business because I was searching for a job after graduating from Swansea University with a degree in classical civilisation in 2010, and I am a very impatient person! I needed to pay the rent and bills and my part time job was not covering these, so I began renting my old pageant dresses on facebook to try to get money to keep myself housed and fed. I spoke to the charity the “Prince’s Trust” who put me on a 4 day enterprise programme to teach me how to run a business and it just went from there! It was not an idea I had; it was more of a way to survive.
2) What 5 qualities does it take to be a female entrepreneur?
1. HARD WORK
2. HARD WORK + DETERMINATION
3. HARD WORK + BELIEF
4. HARD WORK + INITIATIVE
5. HARD WORK + EVEN MORE HARD WORK
3) What has been your biggest challenge as a Female Entrepreneur so far and what steps
did you take to overcome this?
Lack of finances has been my biggest challenge. I started my business with a rail with just five old pageant dresses. I have had to build from this – bearing in mind I currently have a shop and employ 6 members of staff! You saw the answer to my last question. Without finances I have had to work day and night for nearly three years to achieve this. I believe it would pay off. I am a very determined girl.
4) You are admired and loved by many amazing girls in the Pageant Industry, who
would you say is one of the most outstanding Beauty Queens in the UK at hand?
Thank you very much! I could pick so many outstanding queens but the one I look up to the most is Rhianedd Adlam the Welsh winner for the Face of the Globe competition. It is her personality that stands out to me; she is kind, hard-working, and unbelievably modest. She is also extremely intelligent. I think she is a true role model.
5) What advice would you give to a girl that is keen to purchase a dress from Stardust Boutique
for a Beauty Pageant? How can she choose the right dress i.e. colour, shape, fitting, length etc
Plenty! I never sell a dress to a lady without it being exactly right for her. This question could take an eternity to answer so all I will say is if anyone needs to know what will be right for her they should contact me. I will be as honest as a mother and as kind as a sister.
6) Congratulations for being a former Beauty Queen.
Tell us about your previous pageant experience of winning? Which pageants did you enter and what did you win?
I came second in Miss Earth Wales so I had the title Miss Air which meant a lot to me because I believe a lot in caring for the earth, and recycling. Most importantly I love animals and nature. I have started a ‘wear sparkles not fur’ campaign. I am so delighted to see so many beauty queens joining the cause as animals are barbarically stripped of their skins while alive for fur. This extends to reptiles and birds. Therefore I now sponsor the competition MISS EARTH WALES wholeheartedly. I also won European Princess of Wales. This was a very special competition because we competed as a team. It was the most enjoyable competition I entered by far! I have also won various awards such as best hair at Miss Wales, Miss Charity at Miss University. I have a lot of experience but I feel my pageant days are good memories – not for the future for me anymore.
7) You are originally from Wales and reside in Swansea, what do you love most about Wales?
I love my home. I love the countryside, I love my family. I love my little village of Hendy, I love the archaeology and history.
8) You have visited London a few times, what do you love most about London?
It is different to home and there is so much history. I studied four different history A levels: Ancient History, Modern History, Classical Civilisation, Archaeology. I love the history of London in the way I love the history in the City of Bath. Just being in the City can make you feel as though you are in another time! So much to see. It is like being in a dream!
9) What advice would you give to the girls and the current winners at UK’s Dazzling Beauty who would like to
be outstanding beauty queens in 2014? What advice can you give them on what they can do to shine?
Be yourself, be kind, be honest, and be true to your crown. Do lots for charity. To be honest, these are things that I believe all humans should do – whether they are beauty queens or not.
10) Thanks so much for sponsoring us at UK’s Dazzling Beauty for the second year in a row! The girls loved their prizes. Pls give some advice to girls that would want to win the crown in 2014:
Thank you very much for having involved us in this wonderful competition for a second year in a row. My advice would be to approach us for styling advice and catwalk advice, but if you want to win a crown you must be kind, honest and wonderful on the inside because this is more important than make up, hair, and (even as a dress-shop owner I must say this) dresses!
Interview end:
That was a great interview wasn’t it? Kylie is very inspirational and such a HIGH achiever. We can really learn a lot from her.
Dazzling Beauties I hope that you are UTTERLY encouraged to go out and achieve your dreams. Any thing is possible if you just work hard and never give up.
Pls visit Kylie’s website and check out her fabulous dresses:
Web: http://www.stardustboutique.com
Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/stardustboutiqueltd
Twitter: https://twitter.com/StardustDresses
uksdazzlingbeautyblog 