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If there's one thing 15 years in business has taught me, it's this: the biggest opportunities almost never look like opportunities. They look like risks. They look scary!
Every major step forward in my business came after a pivot. Some were exciting. Some were heartbreaking. Every single one taught me something I never could have learned by standing still.
And looking back now, I can say without hesitation — the biggest pivot I ever made was also the best one.
It Started With Sunglasses
When I first opened DYL Fashions, we weren't a clothing store at all.
We started with sunglasses. (The story behind the name is one I'll save for another day.)
As the business grew, we became known for sunglasses, purses, and jewelry — especially our figural pieces. Frogs. Dragonflies. Little whimsical animals that made perfect gifts, the kind of thing people came back for again and again. Our purses stood out too, nothing like what you'd find in the big box stores.
I spent my weekends at trade shows, selling to customers looking for something different. We moved into small kiosks in local hair salons, and eventually opened our first storefront.
At that point, accessories were the identity. Clothing wasn't even on my radar.
If you'd told me back then that one day we'd become known for pre-loved fashion, I would have laughed you out of the store.
A Small Experiment
Back in our original downtown store, I'd carved out a small nook for pre-loved pieces. I've always loved thrift stores. Every time I found a beautiful leather purse or a quality piece someone else had overlooked, I saw opportunity sitting right there on the rack. Clean it up. Make sure it shines. Find it a new home.
We invited customers to bring in their gently used items. No cash, no consignment — just store credit. Simple. Our customers loved it.
Then we moved into our larger location on Dunmore Road, and our overhead didn't creep up — it quadrupled, almost overnight. The little nook came with us, and it grew into something bigger: a full quarter of the store, tucked at the back.
The Jacket That Changed Everything
One day, I put a jacket on one of our busts because she looked a little bare. That's it. That's the whole decision. I wasn't thinking about clothing at all.
Then a customer asked if she could buy it.
I hadn't even considered selling clothing. But that one question stopped me in my tracks.
Maybe people wanted more than accessories.
We rolled out two racks of gently used clothing. Around the same time, customers started asking if we'd take their clothes too — they already trusted us with their pre-loved accessories, so why not?
Money talks.
Two racks became four. Four became six. And slowly, without me really deciding it, clothing pushed farther and farther into the store.
Our customers were showing me exactly where the business needed to go. I just had to be paying attention.
Trying Something New
As clothing took off, we introduced new clothing too. I partnered with a woman who had wholesale connections — she bought the inventory, I chose what we carried, and I paid her back as pieces sold.
At the time, it felt like the perfect solution. Cash flow was tight. Payroll was growing. Buying thousands of dollars of inventory outright wasn't realistic.
Eventually she shared her suppliers with me, and I started buying directly.
That's when I learned exactly how expensive new clothing really is.
You have to buy size runs. Some sizes fly off the shelf. Others just... sit there. Thousands of dollars, tied up on racks, waiting for the one customer who'd want them.
It wasn't just expensive. It was money the business desperately needed elsewhere, frozen in place.
The Biggest Pivot
Then my supplier stepped away.
I had a choice to make: find another supplier, or commit — fully, no half measures — to gently used clothing.
We chose gently used.
Looking back, it feels obvious. At the time, it was one of the biggest decisions of my life.
And almost overnight, everything changed.
Instead of me pouring thousands of dollars into inventory, beautiful clothing started walking through our front door every single day — brought in by the very customers who'd wear it home again. We offered store credit, then added cash buying.
Our inventory costs dropped. Our selection got more unique, not less.
For the first time, it felt like the business had found its true identity.
Another Unexpected Pivot
Not long after, another hard decision landed on my desk.
Rent on the boutique climbed. Around the same time, Poshmark launched in Canada.
We already had our own website and were selling online, but I could see the opportunity to reach so many more customers. I'd looked at eBay and Etsy before and always found them overwhelming. Poshmark made everything simple — listing, shipping, all of it.
So in January 2020, I made one of the hardest calls of my career.
I closed the store.
I laid off employees who had become close friends. That part still hurts to think about — without question the hardest piece of the whole decision.
At the time, I genuinely believed I was done with brick-and-mortar for good.
For the next three years, I worked entirely online — sourcing beautiful pieces from thrift stores and from customers who'd call me the moment they had something special to sell.
I truly thought I'd never own a storefront again.
Life had other plans.
What Pivoting Has Taught Me
People ask if these decisions scared me.
Honestly? Once I've made a decision, I don't spend much time looking back. I trust my instincts, then I pour everything I have into making that decision work.
Every pivot taught me something.
Some made me money. Some cost me money. Some broke my heart a little.
But every single one shaped this business into what it is today.
I've learned that cash flow matters more than almost anything else. That expensive inventory creates expensive problems. That your customers will tell you exactly where your business needs to go — if you're willing to actually listen to them.
And most of all, I've learned this: pivoting isn't a sign you've failed. It's a sign you're paying attention.
If you'd asked me years ago whether I'd ever stop selling new products, I'd have told you absolutely not.
Today, I can say the biggest pivot in my business was also the best one.
It taught me to trust my customers. It taught me to trust myself.
And it reminded me that the biggest opportunities rarely come from holding on to what you've always done.
They come from having the courage to let it go — and reach for what's next.