Today we’d like to introduce you to Rachel Mento.
Hi Rachel, so excited to have you with us today. What can you tell us about your story?
I never felt very fashionable. After having kids, I honestly got in a rut of wearing the same old clothes week after week. During that time, influencers became popular on instagram. I started following a few and was influenced by their products and started shopping more for myself. I noticed that when I wore an outfit that I loved I felt so much better about myself. I started following more and more influencers and had help with hair and makeup and shoes. I felt like a new person and I loved it! I thought why can’t I do this?! So I started a new instagram account and I started influencing (basically I was showing outfits to my 100 friends and family)! I applied many times to be on an affiliate app but got denied. It was getting expensive buying all these new clothes and so I had a thought. What if I can buy clothes wholesale and then keep on of everything and sell the rest!! I looks up opening a boutique on Pinterest and that was it! In September of 2019, I created my own logo (which is now tattooed on my ankle), I formed an LLC, got. Wholesale license and started ordering clothes I loved!! I started a Shopify website and I attended any pop up in my town I could find. It was September of 2019 when I sold out at Downingtown Fall Fest that I realized I needed to move out of my bedroom and open a shop. I found a tiny place that was really cheap on the outside of town and did all the work myself to open up my first location of Boutique On Thirty in November 2019! It started slow, but throughout the winter friends told friends and I had an actual customer base. Covid struck in March and I was very scared of how it would affect my business. I adjusted my business and did a lot of videos, people could see the clothes, order online, and I had store pickup or local delivery!! It was actually so nice to get out of the house and make my deliveries in my mask (which was a top seller at that point)!! As covid continued, people saw how important it was to shop small and my business took off!! In January 2021 a location in town opened up and I went for it. I had such a phenomenal year. I hired employees, tripled inventory, and won Best Boutique On The Main Line three years in a row. I expanded in 2022 and opened a Juniors On Thirty. I think it was too much. My overhead was too high and shopping small was not as prevalent as it was in previous years. I had some family things going in at the time as well and my heart was not in it. How can I be prancing in front of a mirror showing my outfit of the day when I had a kid with big mental health problems. I decided I wasn’t having fun anymore and I needed to concentrate on my family. I sadly closed the shop in October 2023. For two years I missed it so much. I ran in to customers and they always said how much they missed my shop. In October 2025, a new restaurant opened in the borough and right next store a little shop became available. I kind of thought it was fate. It was affordable and such a perfect t location. I showed my friend Jenn who owns GlitzBeautiful, and we decided to open up together. She is a makeup artist and does glitter extensions. She’s been a part of my business for years and we help each other a lot. We opened Black Friday and it was a success!! I’m so happy to be back in the borough. It’s not easy, shopping online has become easy and you can find great clothes cheap on Amazon. It’s hard to compete with big stores, but I’m hopeful that people will continue to support local!
We all face challenges, but looking back would you describe it as a relatively smooth road?
Juggling family and a business is very hard. If I’m not at the shop I have to pay someone and that’s not always feasible. If my heart isn’t in it because I’m having a bad day, it shows. It’s hard to do videos and smile in front of instagram when I’m not feeling great. It’s also hard to compete with stores like Marshall’s and Target. Costs keep going up and I have to be able to make money, but I’m not trying to be unaffordable.
Thanks – so what else should our readers know about your work and what you’re currently focused on?
I strive to have affordable and unique clothes for everyone! I love helping woman feel great in their clothes and their bodies. So many times someone says I can’t shop right now I’m trying to lose weight. I had a child go through an eating disorder and it makes me so sad how hard our society is in our own bodies. I want women to feel great inside and out.
Is there a quality that you most attribute to your success?
I think you have to love fashion to own a boutique. I don’t necessarily think you need to even be up to date on trends but you need to live the clothes you have and feel great in them! You need to be a people person. I think I’m a very friendly and relatable person and I love that my customers are my friends!!
Contact Info:
- Instagram: Boutiqueonthirty
- Facebook: Boutiqueonthirty
