The History of Mizzy’s Boutique - Alternative Lifestyle Shop

Updated 2.28.2022

Let’s get to know each other, shall

we? Mizzy’s Boutique has been a passionate project that is developing into the most amazing and rewarding accomplishment thus far for me.

Alternative Lifestyle Boutique

The journey begins April 4, 2019 when the Mizzy Bender brand was created. In full transparency, my handsome partner Spencer, thought of this very savvy name so we can easily integrate the new brand with our alternative lifestyle events company, Mindbender Parties.

Around the same time, I had a lot of life changes happening, including a restructure within my corporate job, eliminating my position but providing 6 months severance, which was amazing. This gave me so much time to figure out what direction I wanted to go in next. Spencer asked if I would consider working full time on Mindbender Parties and with a lot of thought, I agreed to a 3 month trial period. It would give me time to learn, observe and see if it was something I thought would keep me busy, especially because my brain ran at rapid speed and needed a lot to keep me occupied. But, come June 1, 2019 I jumped in full force, learning everything I could about the business, the community, the general foundation of what I was really getting myself into. To my surprise, it was going so well and I was loving every second!

Some time mid August 2019, Spencer mentioned the name “Mizzy’s Boutique” … I LOVED IT! But, what was it? We had no idea but both thought on it for a while and truthfully weren’t able to act on it because we were in the process of building our house and moving out of our apartment into said house that was not completely finished. Not by far. Lol

Anyway, come October, I ordered my self a computer and a vinyl cutter and learned how to create swag for Mindbender Parties, as we wanted to be able to sell and give away our merchandise at our events. To make things official, I created Mizzy’s Boutique Facebook page on October 28, 2019.

Here we go, no turning back now, Mizzy’s Boutique was officially in business! I spent all of November learning how to make shirts, cups, bags and all sorts of stuff to be able to sell at our December holiday events. It turned out to be a huge success, which was the perfect motivator yo keep going.

Pineapple Swingers Apparel

Now, you may ask how I came to create full pineapple lifestyle merchandise then? Well, I’m a huge fan of consumer research and I love data. We would have discussion threads on our Mindbender Parties public Facebook page frequently giving the community a safe place to have conversation on all sorts of alternative lifestyle stuff. During these conversations I learned that the upside down pineapple symbolizes swingers. The most important learning was that humans didn’t really know where to buy said items. A huge light bulb went off. I already had the equipment, I was learning how to make our swag and our overall we envisioned something grand for the boutique. So this was it, this was the moment. The moment Mizzy’s Boutique had a foundation, a concept to build on.

Etsy

December 2019 I created Mizzy’s Boutique on Etsy learning all there is to know about running a store, SEO, shipping and so so so so much more. My head was on overload with the amount of information that was rotating through. But, I love to learn, so bring it on! My first order came on January 25, 2020. My heart had never been so excited. All my hard work paid off at that very moment.

At the same time, my severance was just about at its end and it was time to apply for unemployment. My goal at that time became building Mizzy’s Boutique into something spectacular. Investing my unemployment into my business would allow me to keep going and I certainly didn’t want to stop. To my surprise, because of my work history, I qualified to apply for a NY state program allowing one to open a business. If approved, unemployment benefits are extended by 13 weeks. Well, hello! This was a no brainer. I can actually make this official? With guidance from the state? Heck yes! Let’s do this! I am so thankful to have been accepted into the program late February of 2020, as so many benefits came from that experience. The most proud moment of them all was June 1, 2020 when Mizzy Bender Corp was founded.

The rest of 2020 was head down and focus. I would learn and implement, learn and implement. I mean, what else was there to do during a world pandemic? Not only did I figure out how to build an online store, I figured out how to take Mizzy’s Boutique out on the road, vending at alternative lifestyle events across the east coast. The first pop up shop was July 17, 2020 a small little set up with a few items. Today the boutique is a 10x15 set up with just about every adult item one could want and your favorite swinger swag.

Another really proud moment was the launching of www.mizzysboutique.com on December 23, 2020 especially because I created the website myself, and I absolutely despise the technology stuff. But, you gotta do what you gotta do. So when I accomplished the actual launch, I was beyond ecstatic! The boutique now actively runs through our own website, Etsy and in person pop up shops.

I am so proud to say that we have our very first banner hanging in the indoor pool area of The Paradise Club, PA as of July 10, 2021!

Its been a crazy journey. An amazing adventure. A dream come true, and it’s only getting start. I hope you enjoyed some of the history.

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