Bonnie Kirby of Well-Dressed Nashville wasn't always in the fashion business. But the former pediatric nurse loved clothes and loved a good deal, and still does, so it was inevitable that those two loves would lead her to Well-Dressed Nashville (WDN). WDN sells name brand clothes, bags, shoes, and accessories for Nashville's top influencers and celebrities online and most items (except for high-end designer) are 50-70% off retail prices. They have multiple online events throughout the year, so get on the email list or follow the Instagram page.
FL: Let's talk about you and how you went from being a pediatric nurse to getting involved in this business.
WDN: Okay. Yeah, it literally was a lightning bolt moment, and I feel like a lot of entrepreneurs talk about that too, where something just happened and they're like, "What? We're doing this. It's happening." There was a pop-up closet sale that they were doing at Parlour 3 in Brentwood in September of 2019. Hunter Premo was doing it with seven of her other influencer girlfriends. Natalie Kennedy, Alexa Anglin, KBStyled. I really love following her, and I wanted to shop her stuff. I only knew about Brooke, KBStyled, and Hunter when I went. I wasn't a huge influencer girl starting out. I like clothes and I like a deal and it seemed fun, so I went.
I left that sale with my goodies, and we went to out to eat after. I was with a friend, and I was just like, "That was so fun. This is a whole thing. This is a huge market no one's tapped into." I'd never heard of anything like focusing on influencers and all of their stuff, and obviously, they have so much of it. I just got a napkin and wrote down my idea for the business and went hard in on it from there.
FL: At what point did you decide to do this full time and give up nursing?
I think it was January of 2021, not even two years from the advent of the idea. I mean I was so busy and I was having a really hard time with being a mom of three kids, being a cancer nurse to children, and then also trying to grow a business. Because I was only working one day a week, it wasn't the hours. It was the mental load of it that was too much. But it was a stressful choice to make, though, because I loved what I did. I wanted to be in three different places at three different times, and it was just too much for me. And I'd really never been able to use my creative side.
FL: What do you do with stuff that doesn't sell?
WDN: We either give it back to them if they want it. Usually if it's high-end designer stuff, they'll take it back, but if not, we donate it. I have a girl who actually comes to pick up, who takes it to different charities like ShowerUp and Home Street Home, and Top Buttons.
And of course, a portion of our proceeds from every sale goes to Tennessee Kids Belong. Our third child is adopted and I knew when I started the business that I wanted it to be more than just clothes. I wanted us to actually help people and possibly change somebody's life, so I really wanted to look for an organization that was just doing really great things, and they really are.
FL: What do you attribute your rapid growth to?
WDN: The thing that I know for a fact is the only way that I've grown to this level this quickly is because of the women in Nashville being so collaborative and supportive and willing to give great ideas and help where they can. 100%. I owe it to mostly other people. 100%. And my best friend who I did a podcast with recently, said, "You know, your secret sauce is that you're not afraid to do anything. You don't care to look dumb at all."
FL: Now you're selling designer bags from the public?
Yes. You can apply to sell. Make money off the bags that are just sitting in your closet and upgrade to a bag you really want to carry! I want to make selling designer bags as easy and convenient for people as possible, so we'll have a concierge pick-up, come to your house, take the bag, sell the bag quickly. We sell them very quickly. We have about 10,000 website hits a month.
FL: Where do you see the business in five years from now?
WDN: Probably expanded to five cities. Metropolis areas.
WellDressedNashville.com/Instagram: @welldressednashvile
