Yes it’s official! Vancouver's CityLux Boutique is expanding. Our brand new 1300 square foot ground level store will be located at 1015 Howe Street just few blocks from our current location and within walking distance of Holts, Nordstroms and Robson.
We’re super excited to not only announce our new store but also to announce our new vision for the company.
CityLux is going to be much more than a fashion boutique. As founder, my mission is to create a company that contributes to making this world a better place for my daughter and other young girls to grow up in. When I first started CityLux it was simply to fulfill a passion I had for fashion but soon it's real purpose and potential started to come to me.
My inspiration comes from growing up as a bully and being bullied. I experienced first hand the harsh reality of competition and bullying among young girls and women. And when I say growing up I’m not just referring to my teenage years. Being a mean girl and dealing with mean girls stretched well into my twenties. I know first hand how hard it is to go through and some of the poor choices I made as a result.
Bullying is a diverse issue with many root causes as well as many potential solutions. I can only really speak from my own experiences, and so I can share that I stopped being a mean girl when I found something I was truly passionate about. That passion was joining my first start up company. Finding this passion was truly life changing. It evoked an energy and happiness level I never knew existed within me. It was like I had tapped into an unlimited source of energy. This passion radiated through me and as a result I finally felt like I found where I belonged, I felt valued and confident. This new internal self-confidence melted away the layers of walls I’d built to protect myself which was what created my mean girl attitude and need to hide my own insecurities.
I believe that when you find your passion you just know. Work and pleasure are blended into one. There’s no work life balance because you are balanced. With time I also learned that your passion will grow and change, but as long as you keep listening to where your heart is leading you, this powerful energy source will continues to empower you. So embrace the journey and encourage others to do the same.
I’ve been blessed in business. CityLux isn’t my first startup. It happens to be the 3rd. I got involved in my first startup as a early employee and as a result received stock in the company which later went public. At the second start up, a fintech company, I'm the co-founder and I still remain actively involved. When I started CityLux two years ago it was just a hobby. It's blossomed into a full on company which leads us to where we are today.
Over the past year the real purpose of CityLux has become clear to me. My vision and goal is to create and support a community of connected and empowered women. It's no coincidence that LUX is in the company name. While many might immediately associate luxe with material success there's a lot more to it than that.
It’s about living your luxe life and the only true luxury in life is time. YOUR TIME. So many of us work our lives away telling ourselves we're doing this so that we have money to spend, enjoying it later. True luxury is living and loving every moment you have. Life is too short to not love what you do. So the Citylux dream is all about helping to empower women to go after their luxe lifestyle dream. That means finding their passion and pursuing a lifestyle that allows them to live it every day.
How is this connected to our goal to help end bullying and meanness among girls and women?
CityLux is here to empower women find their purpose and passion in life so that they will be happier and kinder to those around them. In our new store we will encourage women to pursue their passion by creating space dedicated to helping the entrepreneur in them get started. Whether it's providing mentor-ship on how to start your own business, or creating space for local designers to showcase their product, or our in-store glam bar that creates clients for make-up artists and hair stylist or creating the ultimate fashion blogger hub with access to our clothing and awesome selfie walls to help build content, CityLux is becoming a hub for creating positive connections and a centre for inspiring and empowering women.
The CityLux concept is still in its infancy and I’m excited to see how it will grow. What I do know is that it’s not a one person idea. I’m just starting a spark that will be ignited and will be carried on by many other beautiful and inspirational women. Together through kindness and tapping into our passions, we will create a beautiful future for our children to grow up in.
