Meet Sebastian Escamilla: Boutique Owner

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

Hi Sebastian, what role has risk played in your life or career?
I think about risks in one way and that way is always asking myself whether or not I’ll regret taking it. Instead of focusing on what could go wrong, I think of all the things that could go right because it’s inevitable that both will happen. That being said, what makes it worth it? What do I envision for my future? Where will I be in 5 years if I take this chance? These are all things I tend to think about when taking risks in life. In my experience, taking risks has had mostly positive impacts in my life. When taking a risk has gone wrong, I’ve learned valuable lessons, and when they’ve gone right, I’ve leveled up and had significant value and purpose added to my life.

What should our readers know about your business?
In the summer of 2018 my partner and I started a small online website to sell clothing and accessories as a hobby. We continued to promote our brand via Instagram and Facebook until we were able to put on several pop-up shop events that helped us grow our audience, sales, and inventory. With all this additional inventory we needed a bigger space and couldn’t continue keeping a growing inventory in our home. We opened our brick and mortar in 2019 in Montebello, California. I’m most proud of how far we’ve come and how professional and appealing our store looks now compared to our first pop-up shop. Business-wise I’ve found it easy and comforting keeping my circle small. It’s not as easy at it sometimes looks and investing countless hours and not necessarily getting paid for all the time and energy you put in can sometimes take a toll on your mental health. In overcoming these kinds of challenges I have to constantly remind myself that it’s ok to step away and take a breather sometimes. I tend to guilt myself a lot for “not being productive” but it is ok to do something else you enjoy for awhile and it makes all the difference. I want the world to know that our brand is meant to empower you no matter how the world labels or defines you. We want you to feel proud of what you wear knowing that our items are either handmade or handpicked with quality in mind.

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?
Everyone comes to LA to see the beach right? Going back to being a 13 year old and visiting California for the first time that’s what I wanted to see the most. The Santa Monica Pier, crowds of people, and the sounds of the ocean waves crashing onto the shore is everything I was looking forward to. The beach is always a must, but there’s also so much good food in this city. Roscoes Chicken and Waffles is usually the first stop after picking a friend up from LAX at 8 AM. Then there’s Disneyland, the happiest place on earth. These are just my top picks for things to do when visiting the city. They may seem kind of touristy I guess, but being from Texas I still am kind of a tourist in this town. Who else deserves some credit and recognition?
In the game of entrepreneurship you will always have your loyal supporters (mostly family and friends), critics, and bystanders who watch from afar but are neither supporters nor adversaries. On the contrary, what you gain apart from these three categories are strangers with no personal connection to you or your business that simply enjoy following the story and watching a small business grow. I would like to shoutout our small but loyal fan base, a lot of them that have been there since the beginning, and those supporters we’ve gained along the way. Thank you for continuing to stick by us through it all and especially during the 2020 pandemic. It’s been rough.

Website: www.shopnolbls.com
Instagram: nolbls
Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/shopnolblspoint

Image Credits
Sebastian Escamilla