Prept was born out of founder, Nicole Boyd’s, personal challenge with the time and effort it took to feel beautiful for everyday and major moments her life–from her wedding, to her baby shower, and just day-to-day. She couldn’t find the personalized yet affordable style + beauty help she needed, when she needed it. The boxes/subscriptions didn’t cut it and local stylists weren’t in her price range. So, one day while on maternity leave from her corporate job, Prept (her 2nd baby) was born.
“I created Prept to be a personalized, affordable, digital experience that women on-the-go could turn to with their style + beauty needs, wherever and whenever they needed help.”
Prept provides personalized, yet affordable style + beauty services that are designed to help you save time/stress and feel beautiful, confident, & “Prept” for anything. We know women have different needs when it comes to style/beauty – so we try to offer something for everyone. From special occasion styling to everyday wardrobe advice, and makeup lessons to makeup bag makeovers, we match you to professionals (aka bffs) that you can work with 1:1, virtually.
Tell us more about your services, who are your clients and what are they looking for? What do you offer in your services?
Preparing for special events, life changes, and everyday occasions can be challenging. You want to look & feel your best, but mastering your style + beauty situation all on your own (i.e. searching the internet for the perfect outfit, running store to store, watching tutorial after tutorial) can be time-consuming/stressful. Prept is here to change that. We provide a personalized, yet affordable style + beauty services that are designed to help you save time/stress and feel beautiful, confident, & “Prept” for anything. We know women have different needs when it comes to style/beauty – so we try to offer something for everyone. From special occasion styling to everyday wardrobe advice, and makeup lessons to makeup bag makeovers, we match you to professionals that you can work with 1:1, virtually.
Our clients are everyday women that want to look beautiful and put together…but without having to deal with putting it all together and figuring out how to master style/beauty on their own! We have helped everyone from professionals, to creatives, to moms/moms-to-be, to brides, and everyone in between. Further we help all ages, all shapes/sizes, and all budgets/preferences.
Why is social media marketing important for every business?
Social media is booming, from the apps we know and love to new apps like Clubhouse…it’s only getting more important to show-up on these channels to engage with your customers/potential customers to stay relevant! I think social is so important for building community, engaging with + listening to + learning from your target market, sharing what you do and why it’s valuable, enabling people to learn about your brand and telling your brand story in an authentic way.
‘’I began brainstorming starting my own company to solve a problem for women that I was passionate about’’ Can you tell us some tips on how one can do this, what is the best way to have a creative new business idea?
Prept got its start from a brainstorm sesh, while I was on maternity leave, on the back of my closet door with sticky notes – true story. Anyone with passion and drive can start a company – and good companies solve problems. I would encourage you to think about problems in your own life or that you have seen/faced that could have been different with a solution. Then brainstorm that solution! With different ideas in mind, it might take a couple tries to land on something you are truly passionate about and would actually be driven enough to run a business (day in and day out) around. I initially wanted to do something in the travel space, but nixed it because as much as I loved travel, I couldn’t see myself investing it in every single day. With an idea in mind another step is to do the research to evaluate the competitive landscape – does someone else have the same/similar solution? You’ll also need to do the research to make sure there is a market and demand for your solution – talk to people, run a survey, test out your idea with friends & family. You may even find that your idea adapts and evolves, and that’s okay as it should meet the needs of your customers!
How do you promote your business?
In any and all ways that I can. From a personal perspective, doing things that put myself/my personal story out there (like this!), talking to any/everyone I can, handing out business cards, networking & joining social clubs (KNOW women, Female Founders Collective). And from a business perspective, doing everything from running my organic social channels to hosting events to PR to digital marketing.
What should future business owners be doing online to progress in their careers? Do you have any special advice for other ‘digital divas’ out there?
Think about how your ideas could be powered by or streamlined by TECHNOLOGY! It is the future and there is SO much potential. I know this is easier said than done for people who don’t have a tech background like I do…so stay up to date on innovation – Forbes is a great resource, Entrepreneur, Wired, Medium, all good sources.
Tell me about what you’re working on now.
We are laser focused on enhancing our current app Beta per customer feedback so that we can launch a crazy better version this FALL! I am also focused on fundraising to scale the business and excited to expand the business to LA per my upcoming move to this city and the proximity to other entrepreneurs, businesses in the style/beauty space, tech, and VCs.
What are your future goals?
Keep growing in ALL WAYS – our team, our tech, our client base, our community and find a way to have fun while doing it like surrounding myself with a badass group of women to build this startup with me that are just as passionate about helping empower women to look & feel their best. I’ve said it before and I’ll say it again – I won’t be stopping until this thing is huge and we have rung the bell at the Nasdaq.
What have you learned most from entrepreneurship?
That running a business is way more work than I ever could have possibly imagined but at the same time the absolute most rewarding job I’ve ever had in my life…and I’ve had many! You play every single role in the company and are the thread that pulls everything (& hold everything) together. I feel like the hardest thing for me has been sales & marketing so I am pushing myself to grow/learn the most in that area via books, research, etc.
What has been your favorite moment in your career so far?
That is a tough one. I would have to say getting positive feedback from my first, independent, paying customer that I did not know/ did not know me from adam. For me it was a huge validation that there was a demand for this experience that we are building and it really kept me going in the early stages.
Share two pieces of advice for female entrepreneurs.
1. Rome wasn’t built in a day. Just do the best you can every single day. Chip away at that to-do list the best you can. Oh and definitely make a to-do list and leverage time blocking! This has been so key for me while still having a day job AND my side hustle.
2. Connect with people who are doing this (aka entrepreneurship) just like you – even if they aren’t in your exact space/industry – talk to them, pick their brains, learn from them, just connect and share stories. I have found it makes what I am doing more bearable, as not a lot of my friends / family are navigating this same journey
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