Angel Heart Boutique
Edmond resident Schayene Silva has always had an entrepreneurial spirit. Growing up in Brazil, she came from a family in which her parents and grandparents ran their own businesses, and her favorite childhood game was playing store.
“I was always selling something: Barbie dolls, Barbie clothes that I would make, candy, those little popsicle things that you make in the summer,” Silva said.
So it seemed like a natural progression to eventually leave her full-time job at an oil company to embark on her own entrepreneurial adventure. Today, along with husband Felipe Resende, she runs Angel Heart Boutique, an online plus size clothing store.
The couple started the boutique as a side business in 2015, originally reselling products on eBay. The business grew quickly, and Silva knew this was something she wanted to pursue full-time. Her husband said if she could make the equivalent of her full-time salary for three months, she could quit to devote her time to their company. They originally ran the company from their apartment, but have since moved into a warehouse in Edmond.
“When you see that you’re bringing so much more doing something else on the side, you kind of lose interest in your job,” Silva said. “It took me three months to actually leave my job, but I was already feeling like I was going to leave.”
Silva came to the United States at age 18 after her mother married her stepfather. While she describes the move as culture shock, she said the experience helped her grow up and fueled her entrepreneurial drive. Her husband Felipe came to the U.S. at age 12, and they met in Oklahoma as adults. Back in Brazil, she had frequent exposure to her family’s entrepreneurial pursuits, often visiting her father at work. In fact, her parents’ business was on the same block as their home, and Silva said in her family, running a business wasn’t something that required choosing work over family, but rather was a way to merge the two.
“My parents were always present in my life,” Silva said. This freedom was one of the main reasons Silva and her husband wanted to have their own business. “We really just wanted to stay home with our dogs,” Silva said.
The couple take their dogs to work with them, and also have the freedom to travel for around three months out of the year. Another perk, Silva said, is knowing you have the flexibility to meet your financial goals. This does require considerable hard work, especially in the first three years, Silva said, but for her it was worth it. “I’m never tired of it, I’ll work as many hours as I need to and I’ll be happy doing it,” she said.
Resende eventually quit his job at a tech company to run the boutique alongside Silva, and she said working together is another major benefit. Silva said their personalities work well together, and they never get tired of working so closely together. They’re also careful not to micromanage each other. Each oversees different areas of the business, with Silva handling tasks like purchasing items and marketing, and Felipe taking on duties like accounting, payroll and shipping. “We never argue over business. Plus, you have somebody to talk to,” Silva said.
For more information about Angel Heart Boutique, visit www.angelheartboutique.com.
