Meet Jasmine Garcia-Saunders | Owner of Liv Chic Boutique

We had the good fortune of connecting with Jasmine Garcia-Saunders and we’ve shared our conversation below.

Hi Jasmine, what do you attribute your success to?
I created my brand, Liv Chic, a year after having my first child when I decided it was time to find myself again. Everything was different about me. I struggled most with my self confidence and finding my love for fashion again because it was so difficult to find flattering, age appropriate clothes in “plus size” with my new postpartum body. I’ve always struggled with my self-image and weight growing up, but things really changed after having my son. I wanted to create something that made women of all sizes feel beautiful and included. I believe staying authentic and offering something real and genuine to customers has definitely helped the business flourish over the past couple of years. Instantly, customers connected with me and my story because they could relate. We are one of the only boutiques in our area that carries a full plus size section with affordable pricing. This business model has definitely set us apart from local competitors and I believe customers truly value what we have to offer.

What should our readers know about your business?
Liv Chic Boutique is one of many boutiques located in Downtown Corsicana. Here at Liv Chic, we sell women’s clothing, jewelry, accessories, shoes, gifts, beauty products, and offer makeup services by appointment only. We are one of the only boutiques that offers a full range of sizes from small through 3x and are considered an affordable boutique. We’ve received so much love, support, and positive feedback for being size inclusive and affordable. I’m very proud of this. Due to the overflow of love and support, we received 5 Best of the Best awards, nominated and voted by the community, in less than a year of having my storefront. This is what I’m most proud of. To hear that we were even nominated brought tears to my eyes because that goes to show that people love and appreciate what I’m doing for our community. I did not expect to win even one award, let alone be nominated in five different categories. I feel so humbled and blessed.

It took lots of late nights, long hours, tears, and risk to get to where I am today. I started this business in 2020 from my home with Facebook LIVE sales which grew quickly over the next year. While I started this business, I was also working a full time job, raising my son, and being a wife to my wonderful and supportive husband. Needless to say, I had a full plate and looking back, I’m unsure of how I held it all together. In 2021, I decided to take another risk in the direction of growing my business by investing profits to purchase more inventory, supplies, and displays to attend vendor market events, or what we called “pop-up shop”. This was the true test of finding what worked and didn’t work and learning our customer base and who we wanted to target. In 2023, I took an even bigger risk by quitting my job and took out a small business loan, then opened my first storefront. God was leading the way as everything quickly fell into place, and that’s when I knew this is where I needed to be.

I’m so grateful for the support we’ve received and I will continue to work hard every day to grow this business for my family and to better serve our community in a way others haven’t–with inclusivity. I’m so excited to see what the future holds. As my cap at graduation from TWU in BBA in Marketing stated, “The Best Is Yet To Come”.

Any places to eat or things to do that you can share with our readers? If they have a friend visiting town, what are some spots they could take them to?
We live in a small town, but with small towns comes heart warming and welcoming downtowns! Our downtown is such a vibe! We would start our day at a breakfast/brunch spot downtown. A few of my favorites are Mitas, Tres Marias, Timbers, or Across the Street Diner. We’d then go walk down Beaton st. where majority of the boutiques are located for some retail therapy! A great lunch stop mid day would be Napolis for Italian, Aguados for the best burgers and fried foods, K&K BBQ, or Cocina Azteca for some authentic Mexican food. I would suggest visiting the movie theatre for some bowling, drinks, games, and a show! OMI (Old Mexican Inn) would be the spot for dinner, Mexican food, and margaritas! Other activities would be visiting nearby wineries, historic tours, a night out at Moontower Bar & Grill, and a visit to the world famous Collin Street Bakery.

Shoutout is all about shouting out others who you feel deserve additional recognition and exposure. Who would you like to shoutout?
I’d like to give a shoutout to a few special people that have helped me get to where I am in the journey of my success.

First off, my number one supporter since day one would be my loving husband and partner of 12 years, Tristan. We have watched each other grow, adapted, and seen many stages of life together. Through all my crazy ideas, he has stuck through it all and always believed in me even when I didn’t. I truly appreciate the way he lets me run wild chasing my dreams and is there to follow and support me.

I would also like to give a shoutout to the person that believed in me and saw something in my that I didn’t see before, Mary Thompson. Mary is the definition of a superwoman in business. She’s truly my idol. She’s given me some of the best business advice and continues to be there for me at only a call or text away. She’s wise and I feel so lucky to have met her. God truly knew what He was doing when He made our paths cross.

Lastly, Amy Tidwell, Director of Main Street has encouraged me to open my storefront from the early days of attending market vendor events. She’s been so helpful in the success of my business with everything she does for our downtown and helping our businesses bloom. She’s a true rockstar and I don’t think my business would have skyrocketed as quickly as it has if I did not choose the downtown location. The support in this community is phenomenal.

Website: www.livchicboutique.com

Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/livchicboutique/

Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/LivChicBoutique

Other: TIKTOK: https://www.tiktok.com/@livchicboutique

Image Credits
Photography by Daniela Michelle Photography