Starting a business was a longtime dream for Tonya Winston, owner of clothing retailer, B.Royal Boutique. When Tonya moved to Chicago to begin a career working for a city bank, she and her best friend often took shopping trips to trendy yet affordable boutiques on the north side of Chicago. Tonya was always on a mission to find unique pieces of clothing in order to create a style different from her peers. “It was so neat because I could find unique pieces that not everybody was wearing,” says Tonya of her shopping excursions.
Around that same time, Tonya started doing personal shopping and styling for some of her friends. However, she noticed a disturbing trend in many of the stores. “I wouldn’t be able to shop for [my friends] at these cute boutiques because they weren’t offering the sizes that would accommodate the average-sized women, which is an average size of 12.” She also noticed a similar trend in media, advertising and television, that most brands were not inclusive in their sizes. Tonya wanted to do something to address this gap in the clothing market, sparking a new business idea. “I was beginning to think, ‘Oh, how cool would it be to have my own store, and to be able to curate the goods and have them be inclusive’,” says Tonya.
When Tonya first sat down with an advisor from the Small Business Association, she pitched her business model and shared that she wanted to have a plus-sized store. Initially, she got a hesitant response, and she thinks she knows why people were skeptical of her idea. “One, because I am not plus sized, but two, just because it’s so unpopular. It is a struggle to get those shoppers to come into the store,” says Tonya. But keeping inclusivity at the heart of her business was a critical detail for Tonya. “It had to be a part of my business, even if it wasn’t going to be the only focus, it had to be a part of it. I wanted my aunt, mom, sisters, and cousins to shop in my store too,” says Tonya.
In 2014, the moment was finally right for Tonya to take her first leap toward her dream. But initially, the circumstances were not ideal. She had been laid off from her career in a bank in Chicago, where she had worked for 15 years. She was newly married and also had a son who was less than a year old. Despite the inflection point of stress in Tonya’s life, she recognized the moment not as a setback but as a chance to achieve a goal. “I realized that this is a perfect opportunity for me to do this dream that I had been putting on the back shelf, as I was in this great career before that took up all my time, and I didn’t have time to do the shop. But now, I had all the time to do it,” says Tonya.
Tonya Winston, owner of B.Royal Boutique, models her own clothing for online and pop-up shop, located in the Manhattan Town Center.
Nearly as soon as she started, Tonya’s new dream required an immediate pivot. Her husband was accepted into graduate school in Boston, requiring a move for their young family. In order to be more flexible, Tonya decided to start with an e-commerce model. “That’s how B.Royal Boutique became an online store,” says Tonya. Through hard work and perseverance, Tonya launched her online business in 2016, shortly after the birth of her second baby.
Being an entrepreneur with two young children presented many challenges for Tonya, not the least of which was simply setting aside time to work on her business. But prioritizing her work gave her a vital creative outlet. “Working on the business was my refuge. What I would do is start building the website at night after I put the kids to bed.” Tonya continues, “You want to do something that reminds you of who you are, both as a woman and as a person. When I started back in 2016, this was really my passion project that got me back to ‘me’.” Looking back, she also notes that she started referring to herself as a “mom-trepreneur,” embracing the title that so clearly articulated her values of work and family. Joined by her supportive husband, Tonya says she calls herself a “mom-trepreneur” because in this role, you can’t do one without the other.
While Tonya was in Boston, her online store started to grow. “I had a taste of success, great success. I had year over year growth,” says Tonya. With the momentum of her online store, Tonya wanted to expand into a storefront. She found an opening in an outdoor mall in the suburbs of Boston, right next door to Gap. However, the door closed on this opportunity when her husband learned he had been hired for a new job in Kansas. After moving, Tonya picked up where she left in opening a brick-and-mortar shop to complement her online presence. “I did get to work trying to find a space right away, but come to find out, it’s not easy because I didn’t know anyone, and they didn’t know me,” says Tonya.
Although it was initially a struggle to find a place, Tonya finally decided on a location at the Manhattan Town Center Mall. She opened her doors in early November 2022. Walking into B.Royal Boutique, customers immediately notice the inclusivity of sizes, styles and trends prominent in Tonya’s brand. “I think that it is clear to see when you visit us that we carry inclusive sizes and inclusive clothing, and that it is something that is at the heart of my business,” says Tonya. “My business is all about empowering women, how you feel in your clothing and when you walk into a room. But it is also about supporting other businesses in terms of what I curate, so I curate most of my jewelry and belts in my store from other women-owned brands,” she says. “I am bringing a whole different flavor and style, coming from Boston by way of Chicago. So will Manhattan like my style and what I am bringing?” she asks aloud. “It has been refreshing that people are saying ‘Yea, we want something different and something new.’ And I am happy to be able to provide that,” says Tonya.
Since moving to Kansas, Tonya has been able to experience support from the Manhattan community. Before her family moved to Kansas, she connected with the Black Entrepreneurs of Flint Hills , and after moving to the area, she got involved right away. “They put on this conference, [Black and Bankable], that was all about thinking about how you drive your business, how you run your business, and about making sure you have those processes in place, in terms of your banking, your marketing, and investing,” says Tonya. She was able to attend the conference, along with other events hosted by the Black Entrepreneurs of the Flint Hills. Through her connections with the organization, she also met a local photographer and models for some of her recent photoshoots for her clothing. “I am glad to be able to have people from the area on our website and in our ads,” says Tonya. She says the support of the Black Entrepreneurs of the Flint Hills has been invaluable for her as an entrepreneur who is new to the area. “It’s been such a joy to know them and know that there is a support system here for my business.”
B.Royal Boutique is open for the holiday season at the Manhattan Town Center Mall, Saturday (10-8) and Sunday (12-6). Visit them at the Town Center Mall, open on weekends and always open online.
