Final 10th Anniversary PDF For Printer

Our 10th Anniversary Women of Distinction
CHICEXECS
Kailynn Bowling
&Nikki Carlson
Photos by Dawn Nicoli/Nicoli Productions
IT WAS A CHANCE INTRODUCtion
through friends that brought
powerhouse entrepreneurs, Kailynn
Bowling and Nikki Carlson, together.
Kailynn had started a lucrative business
buying items wholesale and selling
them on eBay. Her method of traveling
down to Los Angeles to secure
inventory for her business was of great
interest to one of her friends who had
brought a girlfriend along with her on
this fact finding mission. The friend
turned out to be Nikki Carlson, and
this would start more than a decade
long friendship and business partnership
between Kailynn and Nikki. "I
was in the mortgage industry at the
time," explains Kailynn, "but I knew it
was not what I wanted to do as a career."
Nikki had spent the last ten years
working in marketing and advertising,
but she too felt the need to branch
out and do something different and
exciting. After a subsequent foray to
LA, an email arrived at Kailynn’s desk
asking very succinctly "Do you want
to go into business together?" 13 years
later they are not only working in their
own thriving business, but currently
have over 200 beginning entrepreneurs
who they are directly responsible
for launching their way to business
ownership success. In addition, they
represent successful brands who have
already gained success on their own
and rely on Chic Execs to either move
them to the next level or help keep
them at the top of the market.
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After that initial phone call from
Nikki, they were both so excited about
their new endeavor except for one
small problem…they had no idea what
this new business would be. The final
decision was that they would start an
online magazine and would position
themselves as the "Modern Day Martha
Stewart." "Our Magazine Chic Blvd
was created before the advent of social
media, but we used it similarly" shared
Nikki, " We would send out marketing
emails to women, and they would go to
the suggested website review products
and services found on the sites and
share with us what their thoughts were.
We would get 300 or more emails with
each mailing and women would share
not only their responses to the product,
and suggestions for improvements,
but they often shared their life stories
with us. We never let one of these
emails go unanswered." This opinion
portion of their magazine soon evolved
to include a request from readers for
their suggestions as to what products
they liked or didn't like. At about the
same time the iPod was growing in
popularity, but with one problem that
Nikki and Kailynn quickly noticed, all
of the accessories for this trendy new
item were geared to male consumers
and women were not being recognized
as significant consumers. Armed with
plain ear buds, glue guns, and a variety
of crystals, Kailynn and Nikki worked
in their living rooms creating electronic
accessories that were not only geared
towards fashion but function as well.
In less than six months, thanks to their
background in marketing and advertising,
they received requests from
over 50 magazines. This wasn't all; the
purchase orders started rolling in with
requests for their hot new product,
Chic Buds, from major retailers such
as Best Buy, Neiman Marcus, Nordstroms,
Lord and Taylors, Bed Bath
and Beyond, Target, and Barnes and
Noble. The reality was that Kailynn and
Nikki were on the pulse of what these
electronic retailers wanted to know and
that was "How do we reach the women's
market in electronics?"
After receiving a $150,000 purchase
order from Mary Kay, the
women decided that they desperately
needed to learn about manufacturing
so they could cost-effectively, design
and patent their products.
In 2006 they ventured to China to
examine their options, a brave move
for two pretty young blond women
from California. The trip was a
success, they learned a lot, and their
business continued to grow. They had
no competition at this point. Nikki
shared, "We came in from the perspective
of producing a product that we
loved and needed because we felt if we
loved it, so would other women. We
also went out of our way to make our
earbud packaging very pretty and elegant,
so that you could give this special
item as a gift and it would make the
woman receiving it feel special. We