What Two Entrepreneurs Want You To Know About Building a Brand

Two visionary entrepreneurs — Kate Kim, founder of viral jewelry brand Caitlyn Minimalist, and Lin Jerome, co-founder of Refined Hospitality Group — shared their journeys from startup to storefront, offering hard-won insights on launching physical retail, turning aesthetics into strategy and building businesses rooted in authenticity and meaning.

Their stories, shared with moderator Amy Hall, COO of Caton Commercial Real Estate Group during the Women-Led Retail Concepts Transforming Shopping Spaces and Places panel at ICSC LAS VEGAS in May, underscored the creativity, resilience and drive behind two very different but equally inspiring paths to success.

From Etsy to SoCal Storefronts

Kim moved from Vietnam to the U.S. in 2012 and started selling personalized jewelry on Etsy in 2013, inspired by a necklace she’d created with her grandfather’s handwriting. The following year, she rebranded and launched the now-multimillion-dollar Caitlin Minimalist business, which now has two Southern California stores open and more on the way.

Turning Marketing Expertise Into a Hospitality Brand

Jerome, meanwhile, left a career in higher education to pursue her passion for hospitality. In 2015, she and business partner Alexandra Lourdes launched The Refined Agency, a marketing firm that eventually led to Café Lola, now one of Las Vegas’ most photo-worthy cafes. Today, Refined Restaurant Group includes Café Lola, Saint Honoré Doughnuts & Beignets, Pizza Anonymous and 3 Little Chicks, plus retail site LolaXO.

From Ideas to Insights: Lessons for Aspiring Entrepreneurs

Kim and Jerome’s paths to retail success were anything but straightforward, and both founders credit persistence, creative vision, and community for getting them there.

Here’s what they want other entrepreneurs — particularly women — to know.

Be Persistent When Searching for Your First Location

Finding the right physical location is often one of the toughest hurdles for new businesses.

“There are a lot of challenges,” Kim said of Caitlyn Minimalist’s expansion into a physical space. “One of the biggest is finding that first location that fits your brand — somewhere your customers already are and that matches your online look and feel.”

Getting landlords’ attention wasn’t easy, especially with no prior retail experience, even though Caitlyn Minimalist was a top seller on Etsy. “We’d call and email saying: ‘Hey, we have this brand that’s doing really well online. Would you give us a shot?’ But nobody responded,” Kim recalled.

But persistence paid off. A connection with California’s Irvine Spectrum Center led to a four-month pop-up in October 2024, which became a permanent Caitlyn Minimalist store. A second location at Fashion Island [in Newport Beach] followed early this year and five more deals, mostly in Southern California, are in the works.

Jerome faced similar challenges at first. “It was so difficult to find a landlord who understood what we were trying to do,” she said. “It was new and unproven. Who were we? A lawyer and a [PhD] starting a marketing company then opening restaurants. People didn’t get it.”

Eventually, they found the right first spot and a landlord willing to take a chance. “To this day, he is one of our best customers, and his team has been instrumental with helping us expand the brand,” Jerome told Authority magazine in 2020.

Today, Jerome and Lourdes are franchising Café Lola, adding Saint Honoré locations and expanding beyond Las Vegas.

Breaking into retail took grit, resilience and the right relationships — but the payoff has been worth it.

“The feedback from customers, landlords and mall staff has been overwhelmingly positive,” Kim said. “Once people physically see what we bring to the table, they love us.”

The Takeaway: Securing a foothold in retail takes persistence, clarity of vision and a strong network. For entrepreneurs, those qualities can turn initial skepticism into lasting opportunities.

Design Your Space With Sharing in Mind

In today’s market, it’s not enough to create a beautiful space. You have to create an experience people want to share. For Kim and Jerome, designing spaces their customers feel compelled to share has been central to their success.

“We wanted a location that was beautiful, where the outside looked just as good as the inside,” Jerome said. She and her co-founder were tired of bland, uninspiring coffee shops that fell short in both food and design.

At Café Lola, every detail is whimsical, colorful and social media ready: floral walls, sparkling chandeliers, pastel lattes dusted with 24-karat gold. “It’s like a Pinterest board come to life,” Jerome said.

But Jerome stressed it’s not just about looks — it’s part of their marketing DNA. “Every corner of Café Lola had to be a place where you could take a photo, shoot a video, create content,” she explained.

Kim agreed that design for social media is crucial, especially when working with influencers. “Every corner has to be postable. Even our mirrors say: ‘You look stunning,’ because people love to post it,” she said.

For Kim, though, it’s also about how the space makes people feel. “We want every customer to walk in and feel welcome and uplifted, even on a bad day. You don’t even have to buy anything. You can just come in, feel good and leave happy. Or you might leave with five or 10 pieces of jewelry. Either way, the experience matters.”

Creating camera-ready spaces builds community, sparks engagement and turns customers into brand ambassadors.

The Takeaway: In the age of Instagram and TikTok, your space is your marketing. Make every corner count.

Build a Support Network You Can Rely On

For Jerome, building multiple brands while raising a young child during the pandemic was overwhelming. “My daughter’s 6 now, but when she was young, we were just starting to grow brands while navigating COVID,” she said. “When she was 10 months old, everything shut down. We worked around the clock just to keep the lights on. My house was on the line. This is my daughter’s legacy.”

Through sleepless nights, early doughnut shifts, last-minute café openings and deliveries, Jerome was everywhere, “but I have a great support system,” she said. “My husband works with me every day. We decided one of us is always with our daughter. And my mom, who Café Lola is named after, lives with us and helps raise her. I couldn’t do this without them.”

Kim learned that lesson the hard way. “You cannot do it all by yourself,” she agreed. Early on, she took on every role — photographer, model, editor, packer — days after giving birth. “My baby was a Christmas baby, and Christmas is crazy for e-commerce. I literally did everything.”

Eventually, she learned to delegate. “My husband works with me. He usually speaks for us, but this is a female-led business, so here I am,” she laughed. “A support system is everything.”

The Takeaway: Entrepreneurship is rarely solo. It takes help, trust and a community that lifts you up at work and at home.