Kristen Porter wanted to have her clothing line be an expression of her faith.  Her personal journey woven into the fabric messages means more to her than just a saying. Kristen lives in Memphis Tennessee, where she runs and operates her business, Glory Boutique.

Glory Boutique is a black-owned business that offers high quality, modest clothing for men and women that upholds faith based values while cultivating creativity.

To say that Kristen had a vision to own her own clothing company and one day made that dream come true, would only be part of her story.

Kristen Porter Glory boutique
Kristen Porter is a Memphis, TN entrepreneur and owner of Glory Boutique

Kristen has always been very active in her church and ministry. Her father is an elder in the church and her father-in-law is a pastor. Instead of following in her father’s footsteps, Kristen went to college and originally focused on Communications and Marketing but decided to take another route that led to her becoming a teacher in 2018.

Kristen explained that she really enjoyed teaching and loved working with her students. However, just like many teachers, in 2019, Kristen had to deal with the pandemic, which led to remote teaching and all of the stresses that come along with it. Once she returned to face-to-face teaching, she endured even more challenges, which forced her to make the decision to leave teaching and focus on real estate.

She looked at real estate as an opportunity to continue teaching, while she used her ministry and taught first time home buyers how to make good decisions when purchasing their new homes.

During her real estate ventures, she continued to think about her love for ministry. In 2020, she decided to start an on-line business selling her scripture referenced, devotional based clothing. She started her “Product of Prayer” line, based on her belief that she is where she is because someone prayed for her. “People are always going through things in life and may not be exactly where they want to be, but someone is always praying.” Kristen said.

In 2022, Glory Boutique was running along well and Kristen was staying busy. However, her product was filling up her family’s home. Kristen shared that her husband started getting concerned that their home was full of product, and he wanted it gone. Kristen started praying. “God, I need a store, I need a place.” She said.

Product from Glory Boutique
Glory Boutique a black-owned business offering high-quality that upholds faith-based values

Kristen decided to relaunch her brand and this led her to host a grand opening fashion show to broadcast her apparel line at Creations Memphis, a local event center. At the grand opening fashion show, Kristen began speaking to the owner of the event center. During their conversation, the woman asked Kristen if she needed a storefront. Kristen had not explained to the woman about her and her husband’s previous conversation about needing a space. It turned out that the woman just happened to have an extra storefront that she was not using. Kristen saw this as a blessing, and a step in the right direction.

Kristen jumped at the opportunity.

Kristen had been praying for a store, but she had certain ideas about what she wanted. This place ended up having it all. In her research to find a lender for the space, Kristen went to the Small Business Administration (SBA) website and found out about Communities Unlimited (CU). She started filling out the application. Once she finished, she knew there were some holes in the application, but she went ahead and sent it. She was surprised to receive a call from CU’s Economic Development Loan Officer, Chris Tillman. Kristen shared that she began to pray. If this was not something God wanted for her, he should just shut the door in her face, really, really, hard she explained.

Kristen was amazed how much Chris wanted to assist her with her dream.

“He saw my little business, as something. He gave me hope.” She said.

Kristen worked with Chris on the application for her loan. Through the process, Kristen begin, working with CU’s Entrepreneurship Team and has been receiving assistance with making her business a success for the future. Kristen is now working on getting a new location with more foot traffic. With CU’s help, she hopes to make profitable business savvy decisions that make Glory Boutique even more successful.

Kristen explained that CU’s guidance and support have allowed her to be a part of a team, and she now has the accountability, peace and relief that she needs to move forward.

Her on-line idea has now come full circle. “I am now allowed to say to my husband, that this is not just a hobby. It is my business and this is real!” Kristen said smiling.

Check out her website here http://shop-glory-boutique.square.site

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