Rising Stars: Meet Chikeria Hurst

Today we’d like to introduce you to Chikeria Hurst.

Hi Chikeria, please kick things off for us with an introduction to yourself and your story.
In December 2018, myself and business partners had a round table about solving a problem that we had. Which was lack of fashion in our city. Stores were closing everyday in our local mall. The options were very slim. This caused us to always have to travel multiple times throughout the year to shop. At the end of that meeting we birthed Shoptheambie. A fashion brand that curate stylish clothes for moments that matter. In March 2019 we launched our clothing boutique. The launch was super successful. As the business grew we all were trying to balance business, corporate jobs, and family. At that time we all held supervisory positions while growing our business. During the pandemic, our business grew rapidly from what we expected. We went from $40k our first year to $357k in 2020. Due to our fast growth, we needed to devote more time to this growing business. I prayed to God for him to give me the permission to walk away from my job. In October 2020, I took that leap and it was the best decision I could have made. I had plan to leave my job before the pandemic but due to the unknown, I stayed. I prayed about my decision to stay and when it was time God made my current situation uncomfortable and I took the leap. As of today, we are all working for Shoptheambie full time with one employee. Today we are running a million dollar business serving women stylish clothes for moments that matter. Making them feel beautiful and confident when they step out. We are shipping worldwide and growing day by day. I never knew I would be so fulfilled in life by helping others feel and look beautiful.

Alright, so let’s dig a little deeper into the story – has it been an easy path overall and if not, what were the challenges you’ve had to overcome?
Running a business has its challenges and obstacles. It’s what you do to break through and overcome them. There is not a roadblock or hurdle that I feel that you can’t overcome. We went into this business with no knowledge of how to run a business. It didn’t stop us from learning by researching nonstop. Google and YouTube were vital to our success. We would spend countless hours learning marketing and how to use tools to grow our brand. Along the way, we have attended numerous webinars, conferences, and mentorship’s to gain the vital things we need to scale to the next level. We learned and applied those learnings and were able to gain wins.

Can you tell our readers more about what you do and what you think sets you apart from others?
I am a business owner, wife and mom. I have held various supervisory roles in my career. I have always been known for challenging the norm. I believe in setting goals and achieving them by putting in hard work. No excuses accepted.

Who else deserves credit in your story?
I give all the credit to my mom. She is a big part of my Why. I go hard for her and my family. I witnessed my mom work a job for 30 years to make sure that me and my brother had what we needed. No matter the obstacles she faced she never gave up and that is what stuck with me. I have achieved every goal in my life because of hard work and discipline. Faith without works is dead. This is what I live by everyday.

Contact Info:

• Website: www.shoptheambie.com
• Instagram: www.Instagram.com/shoptheambie
• Facebook: www.Facebook.com/shoptheambie

Image Credits
Brandy Norman at Bee’s Photography