Lynn Crandall

I love my work because I feel like a fairy godmother, making brides dreams come true every day! Just walking into the store each morning, I am surrounded by beauty and creativity.

I opened the Bridal Collection with my mom in 2000. We have 30 employees in one location in South Denver. Our projected revenues for 2017 are approximately $5,000,000.

I knew this was my career the moment I stepped into a bridal store to shop for my own wedding. The wheels started turning then and haven't stopped since!

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Although we are an independently owned boutique, we are consistently in the top 10 for the majority of the wedding gown designers that we carry. We also sell special occasion apparel for balls, proms, pageants and offer full service alternations.

Our company is known for our outstanding customer service and has received many awards such as: The Best of theknot.com for over ten years, Wedding Wire Brides Choice Award every year since 2009, Jovani top prom retail award and many others.

To date, I'm most proud of the thousands of brides who have walked down the aisle looking and feeling beautiful on their wedding day. I’m also proud of the fact that we have a fiscally healthy business that successfully employs 30 women in today's economy.

My title is President and I focus my time and energy on consulting with designers, new product development, customer service, vendor relations and stylizing.

I actually was studying to be a medical doctor and I decided at the last minute to not go to medical school because I wanted to put my family first. So, when I started my business, I have always kept my family at the foremost of all my decision-making. I also have a Master's degree in counseling and the skills I learned come in handy working in a bridal salon.

I am able to use the store as a platform for creativity and I love dreaming up new ways to stylize brides, and new ways to work my business. I have the freedom to set my own hours and balance my time accordingly. I also enjoy finding key talent and building people up, consulting with designers and creating new styles, and believe it or not, crunching numbers and discovering ways to increase our profitability.

Some important things I have learned are:
- You can't control everything that happens, but you can control how you respond;
- If you can capture an individual’s intrinsic drive or motivation, their resulting success is immeasurable; and
- Honesty and integrity are precious commodities in today's society.

The biggest mistake I learned from is the assumption that I can and need to do everything. I had to learn to let go of trying to control everything and surround myself with people who are gifted where I am not, and trust their abilities.

A good match for this career is someone who has an insatiable interest in bridal fashion, loves working with the public and helping people realize their dreams.

It takes about 12-18 months to transition into a bridal career from a start-up position, or you can purchase an existing boutique.

A person can expect a marginal income the first year, with exceeding $100,000 after 3-5 years.