Today we’d like to introduce you to Carolyn Taylor Bosco.
Hi Carolyn, it’s an honor to have you on the platform. Thanks for taking the time to share your story with us – to start maybe you can share some of your backstory with our readers?
I’ve explored a pretty unique path for my career over the years. I started working in the fashion space in B2B sales, then moved on to work high-pressure sales for a marketing company to be able to fund starting my own fitness and travel retreat business called My Body Taylor. I ran this business full-time for 6 years and took groups around the world, such as Bali and Mexico, on wellness retreats. I then moved into some corporate wellness where I taught meditation and productivity workshops at VICE Media, Open Society Foundations, and more. After learning so much from starting and running my own business, I naturally became a go-to person for those around me wanting to start their own businesses. This led to me moving into website design and digital marketing for other business, becoming head of content for five Shopify apps, and really getting into the eCommerce space. Last winter I was bombarded with group text threads of links and screenshots from friends and family looking for shopping advice. I needed to shop for a few events myself and started sending my own links to several friends. At that moment I realized, hold on there should be a place for this. I thought there has to be something out there that allows you to shop online together with friends. Turns out, there wasn’t. I knew this was the idea I had been waiting to come up with and I had to fully jump in to create this. I finished all my current work projects and moved right into working on OuiShopp full-time. I was able to land funding and put together a strong team by March 2022. OuiShopp launched in the app store in September 2022, and users are loving it! We placed Product of the Day on Product Hunt upon launch day and there is still so much more exciting growth coming!
Would you say it’s been a smooth road, and if not what are some of the biggest challenges you’ve faced along the way?
I’ve definitely been able to take things I’ve learned from my previous businesses and apply them to starting OuiShopp. Overall, it’s been pretty smooth, but that’s only because I’ve learned how to maneuver over speed bumps and hurdles. The main struggle is really just having patience and flexibility. Development takes time and if you’re doing things the right way to be successful, there’s no getting around that. Shortcuts bring shortcomings. Also, when launching a product into the market, you have to connect with the market and spend some time getting real feedback. You can’t create things the way you want them, you have to listen to exactly what the market wants and needs. You have to be willing to be flexible and pivot in response. I’ve put a lot of focus here and it’s allowed us to do a revamp that’s being released in about a week. We’re extremely excited about this!
Thanks for sharing that. So, maybe next you can tell us a bit more about your business?
OuiShopp is an app that enables users to shop online with friends and family in real-time! You can shop LIVE on any online store. On the app, you’ll create shopping sprees with specific friends or family. You can either be connected by video and voice and browse together or browse separately and mark items for advice from your friends.
We are so proud to be pioneering the truly collaborative online shopping space! Users are using the app for daily shopping advice or to shop for outfits for special events, such as bridesmaids’ dresses. Interior designers can even shop with their clients for furniture.
Very soon we’ll have influencers hosting special shopping sprees for products they are affiliated with. If you’re an influencer, reach out to us to get involved! We’ve also just finished our Shopify app where eCommerce stores can directly integrate with the app to turn their stores collaborative.
OuiShopp is available for download in the iOS Appstore and Google Playstore.
We all have a different way of looking at and defining success. How do you define success?
Success can look different to everyone. It’s important to get clear on what success is to you. We’re always growing, so that vision of “being successful” in your life may be something that constantly expands. As long as you are making progress doing what you can from where you are with what you have right now, you’re successful. This really enables me to live in a daily state of gratitude, which to me, is the biggest success of all.
When I seem to fall out of this state, I know I just need to find my next step toward a little bit of progress and then I’ll be able to enjoy where I am in the present moment again. Works every time!
Contact Info:
- Website: ouishopp.com
- Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/carolyntaylorbosco/?hl=en
