A Woman on a Mission
It’s been exactly one month since we opened our doors in Grand-Rue, Diekirch. We’ve been overwhelmed with the positive feedback and your kind words ever since, so, we wanted to start off this new section on our site with a warm welcome note and a big thank you for your love and support so far, especially from our founder, Iuliia Grinkiv, who has written a few sentences for you.
Today, I decided to write about my work. So often have I heard my friends, acquaintances and clients say things like, ‘working with beautiful clothes is just a dream for every woman’, or ‘you have such an amazing job, I would love to do the same’, or ‘you’re so lucky to be doing something you love’, and (an all-time favourite of mine) ‘you can’t tell me that this is hard: you drive over to Italy, buy some clothes and sell them’.
And yes, they are all right in their own way. I truly consider myself to be blessed to have been able to do what I love for the last 20 years. I really love my job and would even say that I live for what I do. I took a break from this career for one and a half years and realised that I couldn’t live without it, so I decided to bring it to the next level and open a boutique: BUON ITALIAN FASHION.
But, behind those racks of clothes and beautiful pictures, there’s also another side to the story. It’s one of constant flights and hours-long car trips to Italy and back, one of running from one factory to another for 8 to 10 hours every day without the tiniest break. One of scrolling through 30+ Telegram channels and 500 to 700 pictures daily to find the most stylish and beautiful looks that won’t break the bank, pre-ordering new items and collections, being constantly in exchange with buyers that I’m collaborating with and that are in Italy. Receiving and checking new orders that arrive every two weeks, sending parcels to clients that live abroad, unpacking, steaming, hanging and organising, making photos and videos for you, replying to messages and calls - all that while working in the boutique six days a week.
My work schedule is 24/7. Vacations and weekends are not part of this job. Even when I’m on holidays, I have to work on-line. I can’t afford to turn off my phone. I remember how, about seven years ago, I was lying in bed in a hotel in Italy, after doing a (for me) record-amount of factories over four days, and crying from fatigue and pain in lungs and legs. And yet, I continued to work and still love what I do.
Over the years, I’ve tried to find collaborators to include in my business, but it has never worked out. I saw an immediate difference in sales between the collection that I’ve bought and somebody else. Clients felt it and weren’t in for it. My experience has shown me that I am the basis of this business. If I’m not there, there’s no business. And while that thought is stressful at times, it also gives me immense pride and joy to know that you trust and believe in me.
My goal isn’t to make the most amount of money possible - that doesn’t make me happy. What does make me happy is being able to give you a glimpse into my world by showing and sharing its beauty, to see your faces light up when you find a piece that fits and makes you feel like you can take on everything, and your smile when you walk out in your clothes feeling more confident than ever before. That’s the reason I do this job and that’s the reason BUON ITALIAN FASHION exists.
And so, I want to use this occasion to warmly thank everyone who supports me, to all my girls that have been with me for the last two decades and to all the new clients that now come to the boutique to admire, make purchases or offer a kind word. You can’t imagine how valuable that is to me and how much motivation I get from those exchanges. So, from the bottom of my heart: thank you for being part of this journey and making this boutique what it is!
