Check Out Lina Hung’s Story

Today we’d like to introduce you to Lina Hung

Hi Lina, thanks for joining us today. We’d love for you to start by introducing yourself.
My name is Lina Hung and I am the owner of a clothing, home and gifts boutique. About 6 months after I graduated college from Ohio University with a degree in Retail Fashion and Product Development, I started my entrepreneurial journey as a clothing business owner.

I have always had an entrepreneurial spirit in me. Growing up, as a 5 year old, I would find myself playing “store owner” around the house, setting up my own cash register and supplying shopping bags to my imaginary customers. At 10 years old, I delivered flyers on my neighbor’s front steps for my “bike washing” services. At 15 years old, I would aid my mom with her yearly yard sales, greeting and helping the shoppers. In my 20s is when I first started selling online.

I opened up my first online shop through Etsy selling my hand embroidered t-shirts and cross stitch art with very playful and silly designs out of my mom’s basement. How cliche but it seems to be a common theme. To me, fashion is an awesome way that we can express ourselves. Life already has its fair share of challenges, so I wanted to use clothing as an outlet to let loose and have some fun.

After a couple years of sharing my products on social media, my Etsy shop kept gaining more and more attention until my sales allowed me to upgrade from hand embroidery to machine embroidery!

Two brand name changes later and consistent sales, I finally graduated from having an Etsy shop to having my own website called Happy Keeps, a clothing, home, and gifts boutique where I sell vintage clothing, embroidered clothing, and goods that are curated from many unique brands. Happy Keeps is a colorful and playful shop with fun, quirky, and unique treasures.

My partner, Cody, curates the vintage clothing and I design and make the embroidered clothing. We are participating vendors in many craft and open-air street markets where we sell our products in-person to our community, building a strong local customer base.

This year, we are taking the leap to follow our dreams even further by opening our first brick and mortar storefront in the city of Columbus, Ohio.

We are so excited and proud to be a part of the historic Short North Arts District.

Would you say it’s been a smooth road, and if not what are some of the biggest challenges you’ve faced along the way?
I am going on year 8 of my entrepreneurial journey and i’ve had my struggles as a business owner along the entire way.

It is a struggle trying to find a healthy work and life balance. As a small business owner, it is hard to not always have work on your mind or feeling like you need to be doing more.

It takes a lot of sacrifice and time when embarking on the entrepreneurial route because it can be very time consuming. I have learned that it is totally acceptable to just do the best you can and be excited about your passion. The right audience will come along when you continue to be authentic to you and your business values.

It may take some time growing a business, but it is so rewarding when you see the lives you’ve positively affected by existing.

Appreciate you sharing that. What else should we know about what you do?
Cody and I love to offer and introduce the newest trends through our items in our boutique. Our preloved vintage clothing is where our customer knows they can find rare, unique, and one-of-a-kind clothing.

I specialize in designing embroidered clothing. With my 4 embroidering machines at home, I can quickly design and make clothing within the same day.

If you had to, what characteristic of yours would you give the most credit to?
A quality of mine that I feel is most important to my success is my ambitiousness. I have a strong desire in my passion and have always dreamt that I would own my own store one day.

In everything that I do, no matter how small or how big, I do it with my entire heart and I celebrate any and all victories. I work hard and never give up until I succeed.

Contact Info:

• Website: https://www.happykeeps.com
• Instagram: happykeepsmarket