Alondra Vasquez has always had an entrepreneurial flair to her.
“When I was growing up, I would sell Mexican candy around my neighborhood, and color eye contacts in middle school to make some extra cash,” she says.
Now at age 30, her business savvy has transformed Vasquez into her own boss with two growing businesses: online boutique, ‘Pretty A Shop,’ selling trendy clothes for women and Seattle Boss Baes network, which she launched last spring as CEO. Prior to starting these ventures, Vasquez was working in childcare and busy being a mom to her young children.
Vasquez said her kids played a big role in starting her own companies, “I wanted to spend more time with my kids, so I decided to create my own business but didn’t leave my job right away either. It was definitely a process.”
She first made jewelry as a small side hustle while working steadily. But over the years, she eventually branched out and started her online boutique ‘Pretty A Shop’ in 2018. The boutique started by selling accessories like eyelashes for a while, then expanded to items like women’s shoes, dresses, skirts, sets and jackets.
The market for online shopping has definitely gained more traction since the pandemic hit, “I think a lot of online boutiques started to bloom due to the need and convenience of online shopping, and everything has just happened so fast for me.”
Vasquez has also found success using local pick-up and curbside options to sell her items.
In the summer of 2020, Vasquez decided to host her own pop-up event for the first time featuring her boutique’s clothing and accessories. She called it a ‘stop by and shop’ event outside a friend’s house.
She decided to continue hosting pop-up events into 2021, and in the springtime of last year, she officially launched “Seattle Boss Baes,” a community where women-owned businesses can network with each other to share ideas, and participate in weekend pop-up events to sell their items.
“I decided to create Seattle Boss Baes to help other female entrepreneurs that needed support or a platform to network in,” she says. “At first, there was only about six other businesses at our first pop-up last spring, but we had some huge turnouts at other events and even had 28 vendors at a summer pop-up last year.”
Vendors ranging from food, clothing and gifts have been a popular staple in the events so far. As more women started to hear about the network, participation went up. Her savvy marketing on Instagram has also helped and even motivated other young women out there to start their own businesses.
Her uncle and aunt, Julio and Lourdes Vasquez, have also played a huge role in the success of the pop-up events as they own Casa Mixteca, a Burien restaurant where many of the events have been held in the parking lot. She even expanded outside Burien to surrounding cities like Puyallup, Renton and Tacoma to host more, and has made community partnerships with other local businesses.
Vasquez recently held a vision board meeting in downtown Seattle for aspiring or seasoned entrepreneurs who wanted some motivation or goal-setting ideas for 2022.
She is excited about her first pop-up events for 2022, which start Valentine’s weekend: Feb. 12 in Burien and Feb. 13 in Renton. Vasquez will be there with her Pretty A Shop fashion, and there will be various vendors and activities, such as Valentine’s desserts, food, gifts, drinks, art & crafts, fashion, a live DJ, makeup artist, photobooth, and much more.
So far, many of the participating vendors have been local Hispanic women, but Vasquez wants everyone to know that any woman who wants to participate is welcome.
“Seattle Boss Baes is a network open to any female entrepreneur or aspiring entrepreneur who wants to network with other women, and showcase their business at our pop-up events,” she says. “It can be challenging juggling mom-life with my businesses, but I love working for myself, and working with other women at the events.”
If you are a woman interested in participating in future pop-ups, contact Alondra on Instagram and she will direct you to the vendor form application. And check out Seattle Boss Baes Valentine’s weekend, especially if you are looking for some delicious treats for your loved ones!
How to reach her:
Email [email protected]
Visit Pretty A Shop online or Instagram
Valentine’s weekend pop-up events are both 11 a.m. to 5:30 p.m.
Saturday, Feb. in Burien at 452 SW 153rd St.
Sunday, Feb. 13 in Renton at 3803 NE 4th St.
