A shop baby was her beginnings. She started out in her dad’s clothingstore and later, as time passed, her parents moved on to other endeavors. Her dad’s side of the family has always had a lot of business owners and entrepreneurs, so at a young age this must’ve imprinted possibilities on Nicole Ortega’s heart. When the idea presented itself for her to open her own business, she was cautious but couldn’t resist the pull and the possibilities. What pushed her to open a clothing store in the heart of Westport? Let’s find out. Here is her story.
The story starts when Nicole found herself as a single mom, raising two boys. Once a stay at home mom, she now looked for opportunity to find time to spend with her children, as much as possible. After her divorce was finalized, she decided to go back to school so she could make it possible to have time with them.
One day, what seemed like any other day, she got a copy of the newspaper and saw a buy, sell, and trade ad. Back then, “consignment” was the trend. Consignment just meant the store sold it first before you got your side of the profit on your items you were selling. On this particular morning, in this particular newspaper issue, there was an article that changed Ortega’s life. A picture of the lady sewing the curtains for the dressing rooms in her new store. She spoke of “buy, sell, and trade,” which introduced the idea of selling your clothes to the store owner first and walking away with your profit up front. This idea intrigued Nicole, and being a single mom, a college student and on a budget, she quickly went to check it out. Liking it, she soon started going in all the time. New items always came in daily, so she found herself there a lot, which meant she got to know the owner really well. Nicole laughed, while telling her story. She recalls that she had expensive taste but had to live on a budget at that time.
After being at the store so much, the owner of that buy, sell, and trade shop asked Nicole to work for her. Nicole told her that she didn’t have time and couldn’t afford to put her children in daycare. She told Nicole to bring her children with her and Nicole was amazed and jumped on the opportunity. She started managing the owner’s second location and as a result, in 2004, she took a class called ‘Fast Track with the Kansas Woman’s Business Center. She was overwhelmed by all that was involved and was intimidated by how to make it happen. How would she be able to support her family with all the expenses that would be involved? She backed off of the idea for a while but continued to carry a notebook and began to jot down every idea that she came across or that came to her mind. She used this notebook to collect ideas and concepts for if she were to open a clothing store.
Working two jobs to support her family, she decided to risk it all and go into business for herself. She had a friend who has designed for top brands like Sprint, the Royals, ABC, Chick-fil-A and National Geographic. She got in contact with him, immediately, for advice on logo and branding for her store. He got involved with helping her build a brand, logo and designs for her upcoming ventures. She spent six months collecting the needed materials, in her home, to open her business and then three more months, she swung open the doors and was greeted with great acceptance by Westport’s local business community. From the first day, Clothz Minded was a great success!
Ortega said that being a single mom and having limited funds in the bank, she needed her shop to make money right away. When she decided to risk it all, she jumped in with both feet and just had to make it work. There was no room for failing. She did more than make it and today, you can still find her plugging away in the heart of Westport, still having what it takes to make it happen. Stop by and say “hey” to Ms. Ortega. Check out her latest fashion finds. She has some great pieces and works hard to bring great style to the streets of KC. Her vision for the future is to gain more space. She wants to duplicate herself and would like to expand into opening more shops locally.