Rising Stars: Meet Sharaea Lamb

Today we’d like to introduce you to Sharaea Lamb. They and their team shared their story with us below:

Sharaea was inspired to start her custom sweater business in 2021. She has a passion for creating unique designs to celebrate the holidays. She started small, making custom sweaters for close family and friends, by hand, meaning, she would purchase a sweater, design the craft single-handedly, and gift close family and friends. She would always receive positive feedback and encouragement to expand. Since she never envisioned stepping into entrepreneurial ventures, starting her business didn’t form until 5 years later. With the support of close family and friends, YuleTiide Flair become a reality! YTF small business is an online marketplace that relies heavily on efficient & fast delivery services. We pride ourselves in efficient/reliable shipping practices because we want our customers to return, and not settle for our competitor brands based on in-store convenience.

Sharaea works full-time, & she thought managing drop ship orders would be too time-consuming, so she ventured into designing (digital designing/concept sharing) and working with manufacturing wholesalers to create unique designs that can be mass-produced.  YuleTiide Flair LLC is a unique custom holiday sweater & holiday accessories business-female founded and operated. The word “Yule” has two meanings for holiday celebration: “Christmas” & the “Winter Solstice.” Our mission at YuleTiide Flair is to continue to design festive, memorable sweaters and holiday accessories to celebrate the holiday season moments with family, friends, and work associates.

Our unique brand spark conversations and allow customers to feel nostalgic during the holidays! Sharaea is on a mission to empower fashion enthusiasts to be confident and secure within themselves by equipping them with custom holiday festive-unique-ugly-one-of-a-kind-sweaters. The holiday season, for many reasons, is tough, people deal with seasonal depression, a reflection of the loss of loved ones, and many other struggles. Female Owner- Sharaea Lamb started this business because of encouragement, and also because she wanted to bring back the excitement, cheer, and celebration for the Christmas/Winter Solstice season. While living through the pandemic, it was very challenging exploring ways to have fun and celebrate; and having virtual parties with festive apparel was a great way to look into the positives, despite the challenges.

YuleTiide Flair’s goal is to serve the American market superbly through our online stores. Sharaea envisions becoming the go-to brand for quality Holiday sweaters, Holiday Socks, and Holiday accessories designs while serving our customers with an irreplaceable experience through passion, creativity, and attention to detail, which will leave them with no other option than to order more of our products.

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?
Not at all! Haha. YuleTiide Flair has faced many challenges within the first few years of business, from high suppliers’ costs to brand awareness. I thought building a business in my hometown would be sorta less challenging than it has been. I know lots of people, I strongly believe in the quality/designs of my brands, and the holidays are full of fun festive family/culture events to sport unique sweaters. That’s what I thought, but my thought process was wrong, & the most difficult challenge YTF is facing today lack of exposure and needing more brand awareness. My educational background is in Marketing, and I have a bachelor’s in business administration-Marketing/advertising concentration, and an M.B.A-Integrating Marketing Communications concentration. However, I am in need of hiring a marketing team to handle exposing my business to potential customers, gravitating to new potential leads, and staying relevant throughout the year, not just during the holiday season.

I could absolutely do it myself if I had more time, but I am already juggling multiple hats for the business, with designing my product lines, navigating affordable suppliers’ costs, and finding capital to remain in business. Not to mention, I have a full-time job & working to elevate my career as well as my business. Haha! So, yes struggles/challenges, but also some great wins!! In the first year of business, YTF sold out of all its products! It was a great accomplishment, and my family and friends’ support was truly amazing! Also, YTF hasn’t had one single return/or customer complaint, so there’s been some fantastic wins as well!!

Can you tell our readers more about what you do and what you think sets you apart from others?
I grow up with many different dreams, but I think towards the end of High School I started dreaming about careers that weren’t so gender-neutral at the time. So as I ventured off to college, attending Middle Tennessee State University, I had two dreams: to become an overseas sports agent and half-time segment-NBA sports commentator who would debate and share 1st half stats, across the table, with my future husband. Haha. In early 2005, the sports world for female international agents and female broadcasting network commentators was predominately male: Retired athletes and White Males. So those dreams quickly vanished, and I started thinking real picture, where are you going to work after college?? I moved to Chicago, IL after graduating college and I tried landing a position with a sports radio station. Since I’d interned for Cumulus Media, and ESPN sports Radio in Nashville, I knew following my former business to Chicago would land me a position on his team! He will remain nameless, but he pretty much ghosted me when I got into town.

So, I had to think about plans B, C, and D, & my young eager self didn’t have plans in place after plan A. I ended up getting temporary assignments for work and lots were in the fields of the following: supply chain/logistics/operations/education/transportation. So, the work-related experience started to become my focus, and every corporate position I’ve held has been in customer supply, operations, logistics, sales analytics, project management, procurement, education, and not in Marketing-sports or broadcast communications at all. Lol. What I am most proud of from my story is my adaptability. At the time, I didn’t land a position in what I would consider my dream job, however, my professional corporate career has allowed me to grow my business acumen. With my professional career experience, I am now better equipped & more knowledgeable to run a business. What sets me apart from others is not allowing my fears to completely shut down or stifle my potential. Examples: I didn’t know a single soul in Chicago, IL, except my intern boss that stop answering my calls, but I moved to IL and made things work. At times, I would work (2-3) jobs at once, but I made the choice to figure it out after plan A didn’t work.

My dreams of becoming the first African American Female international sports agent never became a reality, but I didn’t stop working my (9-5’s) to run home to Nashville to hide. (Huge Shout out to Nicole Lynn-The First Black Woman to represent an NFL quarterback in the super bowl…We are getting there The Future is Female!) I never thought I wanted to become an entrepreneur, but my passion for designing holiday sweaters and accessories pushed me to figure out the business stuff to make it happen. What I’ve learned I’m sure others have done this before, but I am grateful to GOD for not allowing me to give up, to humble me to take on positions I felt I was overqualified for, and learn new skills/trades to build my business acumen.

What are your plans for the future?
In year 3, I’m looking to sell the remaining inventory from year (2) and add Pet sweaters, and (1) Holiday Hoodie Sweater Designs & sweater sizes for Children Ages, and 8-up. YuleTiide Flair was established with the primary aim of creating highly profitable brands by delivering best-of-class high-end Holiday Christmas sweaters, Holiday Socks, and accessories to customers. The United States is perfect for our type of business, as it houses many consumers who would love to buy what we sell.

Being the leading force in the company, I’m already very familiar with the intrinsic idiosyncrasies of the country. (3–5-year plans) My future plans also include forging partnerships with our delivery agents, partnerships with a third-party retail company, acquire funding to recruit a team. Introduce aggressive marketing campaigns to enhance visibility, and acquire bigger warehouses to store products. Expand operations by establishing a physical store and integrating our products more online.

Pricing:

• $35.00
• $65.00

Contact Info:

• Website: www.ytfllc.com
• Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/yuletiideflair/
• Other: https://www.tiktok.com/@yuletiideflair 

Image Credits
David Sanford @Reciprocitytv23, Dezmond Perry – [email protected], and Sharaea Lamb [email protected]