We had the good fortune of connecting with Keya Leslie-Girton and we’ve shared our conversation below.

Hi Keya, can you walk us through the thought-process of starting your business?

Wow, the thought process of starting up! Where do I even start. I believe being an entrepreneur was my only option. I grew up in Detroit, Michigan where my parents worked job after job but yet we didn’t have the same outing as my friends parents. The common phrase was we don’t have that kind of money to do things like that. I stuck with me up until now. I never asked my parents for money knowing that there wasn’t much to stare so I always created my own way. From lemonade stands, to selling been babies I was determine to make something shake. When I got a little older my time was more involved around going to college to bettering myself in the medical field because lets face it there is always a job waiting for you there. But the more and more I studied I felt like I wasn’t motivated to continue. I was always under paid and never enough free time outside of work. So about a couple years ago I started really thinking about what my passion was. If anyone knows the struggle of figuring out an answer such as that then you know I was I was stressing myself out. Deciding what you are passionate about after being told for years that working to pay bills are the main idea of life over and over again you tend to not focus on what makes you happy as much anymore. Your happiness becomes the quietness before and after work to be honest. So deciding what I wanted to invest my time into felt like looking at a long list of careers choices colleges had to offer before applying. So I broke it down into what do the most of when I’m not working and that was going out enjoying the company of my friends. Before I would head out I would have to dress for the occasion and I always felt like I needed to update my wardrobe, so there it was my solution to many of my problems. I loved the idea of putting together fashion pieces, it was like a puzzle. I realized that I go to a multiple stores to find the look I’m searching for. I thought long and hard if this would be something that I would enjoy doing and I remembered as a child all I did was sketch and create fashion shows. Being an only child really has you tapping into your imagination a lot of the time. But of course over time you find other things to preoccupy your time was. After a few months of research I thought why not start an online boutique and see how it goes. The worse that could happen was I learned what not to do and how to improve. The thought of failing was terrifying but over time you accept that there are never any losses and always knowledge gained in every situation. Although I’m fairly new to the game I have learned so much about the industry over the past few years. I’ve had many mentors and spoke with a lot of people who did well and that have closed their doors. But after it all starting my own business was an adventure I wanted to take with myself. I knew that I would have so many ideas and plans of different businesses but what really had me locked in moving forward was learning more about things that weren’t taught in school and myself. I spent a lot of sleepless nights researching my industry and the business behind it to make it this far. At the end of the day either you have it or you don’t. Starting a business in easy to decide but sticking with it and understanding that it is all about experience, growth, and patience is hard for many to endure. Once you get the hang of it, it is well worth the blood sweat and tears you but into it.

What should our readers know about your business?
I started my online Boutique Pure Queen with the idea of giving my queens a way of expressing their feelings through clothes. How you dress is definitely a way of knowing what’s going on in someones head am I right? I wanted confidence to exude from every Angle. The more and more I put time and research into my brand I realized that it’s more than just that. I want my all my ladies to find true happiness from within before anything else. Us women wear many hats and forget to give ourselves love at the end of the day. We forget that being selfish and saying no more often to things that don’t benefit us is okay. Yeah, Pure Queen is a clothing brand but our clothes are more of a materialistic approach of showing the world how we feel. Pure Queen strive to expand the minds of our queens in spending more time alone and finding out true purpose on this earth. Yeah of course clothes are a must when leaving the house. So My brand is here to offer many varies of statement pieces for what your are feeling like today. Like I said before us women were many hats therefore we can’t fit into just one bubble of style. We have may emotions and feelings at all times. So why not create a clothing brand that represents our journey in finding ourselves. One day we are feeling sophisticated and class where as the next we may be feeling edgy and ready for an adventure into the mountains for some time alone. Whatever fits the mood for the day Pure Queen has what you are looking for. But more importantly we showcase our inventory as such as a journey to self-love and reflection.

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?
Living in Dallas has really spoiled me to the fact that there is so many things to do no matter the city that you are in. Just last year I changed up a few things in my daily routine like switching to a 100% plant’ based diet. My favorite thing to do is be is the guide around the city when my friend and family come to visit. There has been so many vegan restaurants popping up everywhere here in dallas it’s been amazon trying new places like DaMunchies, tiki Loco, Nunos, and Cinnaholic to name a few. But of course activities outside of food are almost the most memorable. Bowlski for your bowling fix but also to send you back in time with their retro decor. Deep Ellum the home of creative minds with punch bowl, murals, comedy clubs, and last but not least the Select Start. Select Star is one of my favorite bars, it’s centered around arcade games and yummy drinks that fit the perfect gamer vibes on Saturday morning when Schools out. It’s like the adult version of simple bliss of being embracing your inner child. Last stop is the museum’s such as The Perot! The Perot has to be one of my favorite museum’s I’ve seen with different floors of discovery about the world through natural science. It’s amazing what the earth creates through natural science.

Who else deserves some credit and recognition?
I think when it comes down to inspiration or what got me started thinking outside the box was books and the friends I surrounded myself with. Rich Dad, Poor Dad & The alchemist were by far the most eye opening about the mindset of being a great entrepreneur. But more importantly i have to say thank you to myself. I’ve done a lot of work researching the market and what I could be doing better for my brand, and when I came to answering questions I found myself to be stuck a lot. Last year I started to be more about myself. How do I tell my ladies out their that feeling good all translates into how they accomplish things when I felt that I struggled with finding my true self-love. I spend a lot of time meditating, fasting, detoxing, and cleansing my body to find my inner peace and love. Spending more time with myself and understanding that I’m the true representation of my brand it became so clear in what needed to be done to take off. So for those who say self help books aren’t for them, I believe they are more powerful than we give them credit for. I read You are a Bad Ass, and when I tell you it was an eye opener. The energy that I give off is all about how I want others to see me. But the same energy has gotten me to such a higher place in helping others and growing my knowledge about business in general. So at the end of the day those who I surround myself with have been with me through he journey which is a true blessing but accepting that I needed to change a few things within me helped me really reach the next level.

Website: Shopurequeen.com
Instagram: Keya.m.leslie

Image Credits
Photo credit @studiocrvz (IG)

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