Meet Alison Ables | Shop Owner & Composer

We had the good fortune of connecting with Alison Ables and we’ve shared our conversation below.

Hi Alison, we’d love to hear about how you approach risk and risk-taking
Risk is everything! The definition of entrepreneur has the word risk in it: “A person who organizes and operates a business or businesses, taking on greater than normal financial risks in order to do so.” It is extremely challenging to run a retail shop if you don’t already have a lot of money, so I’ve had to borrow capital to grow my business. I started out as a small, vintage-only shop, and grew little by little by expanding my inventory and staff in small increments. I’m fortunate that my shop has blossomed since then!

Let’s talk shop? Tell us more about your career, what can you share with our community?
With music, I always played by ear. I was way more of a feeler than a technical player. I wouldn’t think very much before recording a track. I still don’t. I just play what comes to me at that moment. I think I had Impostor Syndrome without realizing what it was at the time. Sometimes people would talk down to me because I wasn’t advanced with music theory. But I eventually became successful with music, which made me feel more confident to try something new. When I started the shop, I went by that same gut feeling when it came to building it out, bringing in new brands, posting social media, hiring, etc. I didn’t run numbers all of the time; I didn’t look at detailed analytics every month. I did what felt right, and hoped for the best. It ended up working out! I feel pretty good about that! Or I’m just really lucky, lol.

Any places to eat or things to do that you can share with our readers? If they have a friend visiting town, what are some spots they could take them to?
I’d take them hiking at the Angeles Forest and the Huntington Gardens. If they were into vintage, I’d take them to one of the huge vintage wholesale warehouses around town (those are hard to find in other cities). Overnight at Joshua Tree. For food, I’d take them to Chifa, Otoño, maybe Musso and Frank; that list is endless. A show at the Theater at Ace Hotel, beach day at El Matador. MOCA, Broad, Getty.

The Shoutout series is all about recognizing that our success and where we are in life is at least somewhat thanks to the efforts, support, mentorship, love and encouragement of others. So is there someone that you want to dedicate your shoutout to?
I’d like to shout myself out! I came into this as a touring musician, and later on a composer for picture. I had zero experience with retail, and none of my friends did either. I had to figure everything out on my own. It took a lot of self-motivation. I had just moved back to LA after being away for a decade, and didn’t have a network of people here anymore. I needed a change in how I made a living, and my love of interior design, vintage, fashion, etc. is what made me want to open a boutique. Thankfully my family has always been supportive of my endeavors. Shoutout to my mom, who always encouraged me to move forward with my interests.

Website: https://preludeanddawn.com/

Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/prelude_and_dawn/

Other: https://www.tiktok.com/@preludeanddawn