Nicole Banks is the Chief Pretty Chick in Charge at shopprettypieces . com . As a third generation seamstress , Nicole creates individual pieces that women can mix and match to create their own look . But her shop isn ’ t just your run-of-the-mill clothing outlet . Pretty Pieces is her heart , her soul , and her life saver .
With a background in IT and project management , Nicole loves everything regimented and process driven . She worked for a long time in the corporate world in IT , marketing and design . But when she was diagnosed with an abdominal obstruction , caused from years of scar tissue build up after surviving ovarian cancer , and had to have emergency surgery , she needed to find a creative outlet to help her ease the stress during recovery . That outlet was her first love — fashion .
Eventually , Nicole built her business large enough where she could focus on it full time but , she still struggled not having a set routine and place to go every day after she left her corporate job . After two months in , she was questioning her choice . She says , “ Being an entrepreneur , you have so many hats . When you work in a regimented corporate environment , you do what they pay you to do all day , every day . It ’ s almost like that ’ s a comfort zone or safety net . So it was a complete paradigm shift for me .”
In order to make it work and to feel like she was getting somewhere , Nicole created her own structure and her own team . She didn ’ t have others to rely on if she was ill or needed to take a day off , so having structure was essential for the business to continue to flow .
What she loves most about having her own business is connecting with women and making an impact on their lives . She tells a story about one woman by saying “ I got an inbox one day that said ‘ You changed my life ’... so I responded and said something like , ‘ I ’ m glad to hear that . Can you tell me more ?’ and she said , ‘ I was literally on the verge of suicide ’ but I was doing some blog posts during ovarian cancer awareness month . I was really honest and I was really transparent and she said , ‘ that saved my life . Your story kept me going because if you could do this and make it look this good , then I need to keep fighting .’ Getting messages like that trumps it all .”
Right now , Nicole ’ s business is her life . She is in the process of writing a book about her experiences to help other women who want to create a business from their passions . She says , “ Everyone wants to shine , but nobody wants to buff .” Nicole has been buffing her way life by working hard and overcoming all the challenges put before her in her life .
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Cancer warrior Nicole Banks had a vision to enhance women ' s self esteem through trendy fashion .
During her intense battle with cancer she began to find her first love , fashion while recovering . Nicole makes sure that each unique piece is of quality and pocket friendly . Heavy research is conducted to ensure everything is in-style and in season .
While being a cancer survivor and still struggling with Thyroid Disease Nicole makes it her mission to provide fashionable clothing to women of all sizes .
Nicole Banks shopprettypieces . com � �
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