The bright pink door on Lovers Lane is hard to ignore.
It’s the homebase for Avara, a fashion boutique based in Preston Hollow that has become one of the leading online retailers in the country, according to Inc.’s list of the 5,000 Fastest Growing Companies in 2022 and 2023.
The upbeat fashion found inside fuses bold prints with colorful pieces and is an introduction to the owner, Emily Wickard. She is the confident businesswoman who heads Avara and describes the brand as being accessible and “compliment worthy.”
Before Avara, Wickard worked in corporate financing for 25 years, eventually becoming vice president of Flowserve Corporation.
“From the outside, you think you would look at me and say, ‘Oh, wow, she has it all together, she has this big corporate job and this beautiful family and home,’” Wickard says. “On the inside, I was a mess.”
Part of it was not being fully involved in her two toddler’s lives. She also struggled with addiction before she left the company.
When the company went under and Wickard was given a severance package, she had the opportunity to take a step back and ask herself what she wanted to do with her life.
“I always loved fashion; I’d always receive compliments on my clothing,” Wickard says. “And I saw other women starting businesses. And I said, ‘They can do it. Why can’t I?”
Like most beginnings, it started with a Google search.
With her years of experience of being a leader in a billion-dollar company under her belt, she had mastered what was needed for a business to work. Her style and ability to make a niche in the market helped with the success.
The name Avara is a tribute to her daughter Ava, an idea that her husband came up with, he still teasingly reminds her. Ava approves of the brand and she’s seen a few of her teachers wear the clothing.
“She’s always had a real interest in coming to the business with me, which is awesome that I get to share this with my daughter,” Wickard says.
The brand is specifically for women in their 30s to mid-40s who need a fashion refresh. Her customers are people who resemble women like Wickard when she first started the business, someone who enjoys fashion but is too busy with work to spend the time shopping. One thing Avara prides itself on is being a “one-stop shop” for people who need versatile pieces.
“I live 35 miles from Avara so I have to make the trek every once in (awhile) and I never leave empty-handed,” one customer said. “They are so happy and love their merchandise. It’s different and upscale.”
Before Avara was a store, Wickard would post in Facebook groups about products she had and then list any pop-ups she would be at. Around early 2018, people came to her house (that had a broken door instead of the iconic pink one) and tried the products on in her bathroom. Her dining room table was dedicated to filling orders late at night.
“I think as a mom you often feel after you have kids, you lose your sense of style,” Wickard says. “And so for me, it was like, ‘Hey, ladies, we could still look cute and feel confident and a part of something without spending $300 on a dress.”
One by one, she was gaining more customers and followers of her business.
“If you had told me five years ago … I would have this booming online business [with] customers all over the country, and we think we have over 130,000 customers … I would have said you are insane,” Wickard says.
In 2020, people stopped coming to the house as often because of the pandemic, but Wickard decided to pivot.
She decided to add loungewear into her collection and the online shopping experience grew tenfold.
“I didn’t want to take my foot off the gas,” she says.
During the pandemic, customers would still share themselves receiving compliments. One customer shared she received compliments on her top in a Zoom meeting. Another expressed they hadn’t felt this good about themselves in awhile.
“You could just tell how good she felt about herself,” Wickard says. “I don’t believe you have to spend hundreds of dollars to look and feel confident.”
Once restrictions were lifted, the Lovers Lane shop opened. And exactly five years later, Avara is named one of the fastest e-commerce retailers in the country, valued at $25 million in revenue.
“I would encourage any women, 40s, 45s, 50s, you could still do it,” Wickard says. “You can still figure out what you really, really love and give it a go. And don’t stop. Never stop. Just keep going one day at a time.”
