By Ashlee Hall

Inside and old historic house off of highway 119 in Alabaster, Ala., you can find style, a smile and a friend.

Frou Frou Boutique is a locally owned women’s clothing store that began out of Brigelle Oden’s basement in 2011. Hard work and consistency is what grew the brand into what it is today.

Oden is originally from Lowndes County Ala., but after meeting her husband at The University of Alabama at Birmingham, she and her husband made the move to Alabaster.

While working for a boutique during her first year at UAB, Oden discovered her passion and gift for retail.

“I was just good at it,” said Oden.

This natural passion is what gave her boss at the time the confidence to make Oden a buyer for her boutique. At 18 years old, Oden was traveling to Los Angelas and New York markets as a buyer for the boutique.

These opportunities afforded to Oden gave her the confidence to leave school and pursue her passion full time.

After getting married, Oden had to take a step back from retail to care for her young children. Because of the more stable hours a corporate job offers, Oden worked at a bank until her children were old enough to go to school.

At this time, social media was on the rise. Oden saw the increase of retail through Facebook from brands like Tupperware and Pampered Chef, where people were able to sell from their homes. This sparked her idea to start a boutique from home and promote it through social media.

“I could not leave the feeling alone of wanting to do that,” said Oden.

Support from her husband, family and friends helped Oden kickstart Frou Frou Boutique in 2011. She began running her business out of her home office in the basement where she would host “pop-ups”, which allowed her family and friends to come in and shop.

Since Frou Frou was ahead of the curve of the rise of other boutiques, the store formed a loyal following. After developing a strong brand and following of customers, Oden was able to move her business to a store front. After a few moves, Frou Frou is now settled in its current location.

“Being a small business owner is not for the weak,” said Oden.

Long hours of working behind the scenes is the small price to pay for Oden to continue doing what she loves. The journey to where Frou Frou is today was not easy but if you are passionate and consistent, Oden is sure that you can make your dreams happen.