Written by Camryn Mahnken, photos by Marissa Bannigan

Growing up with a love of fashion and a dream of one day becoming a designer, Missouri State senior acting major Emma Keifer, owner of The Blonde Bear Boutique, has stayed true to her roots. 

Emma founded The Blonde Bear Boutique amid the pandemic in May of 2020. In her childhood, she recalls having an obsession with Project Runway and designing her own clothes. During quarantine, she decided she wanted to rekindle that old love and start her own boutique. She talks about how her childhood interests influenced her decision to start the boutique. 

One of these interests was a fascination with Jane Goodall, an anthropologist and activist for conservation and animal welfare. Goodall was best known for her 60-year study of chimpanzees in Tanzania but she has also worked tirelessly on behalf of environmental issues, including founding the Roots & Shoots program to encourage youth conservation. Goodall’s connection to the environment, and specifically the rainforests, was inspiring to Emma. 

Though fashion and rainforests don’t necessarily go together, Emma found a way to combine her love of both with her boutique by partnering with One Tree Planted, an organization that makes it easy to help sustain rainforests around the world. 

“Now every order from my boutique plants a tree in the rainforest. The most simple thing was choosing to partner with them.” Beyond that, Emma also plans on transitioning to compostable packaging soon, making The Blonde Bear Boutique even more sustainably-minded.

When asked what the goal of her boutique was, Emma said she wants all girls to be able to express themselves through her clothing. She said that Blonde Bear offers styles that are “more bold and unique, feminine, but also strong and comfy and cozy,” so there’s really something for everyone. She also aims for size inclusivity, and is expanding to make sure her boutique offers all sizes “so that all women can feel comfortable.” 

Though the boutique is new, it’s found customers from all around the country, from Chicago to Florida to Los Angeles. Emma’s favorite part about running The Blonde Bear Boutique is the relationships it’s allowed her to make with hundreds of customers. 

“I’ve connected with so many incredible women and heard their stories, it’s really crazy. I never thought clothes would connect me to the many people that it has,” Emma told us. 

With nearly 1,000 followers on Instagram and items that frequently sell out due to demand, Blonde Bear has been quite successful in its 6-month duration. 

When looking towards the future, Emma sees new opportunities for the boutique outside of online shopping. “I’m moving to L.A. in May, when I graduate, and my goal is to have a pop-up at the Melrose market every Sunday.” The Melrose Trading Post is an open-air market that has vendors of all types. Along with the pop-ups, Emma wants the boutique to have new products every three weeks and incorporate more of her creativity into the brand. 

“I want to have a lot more of my own designs,” Emma says. “It’s so new, but I want so many things [for the boutique].”

Though she started a business in one of the most difficult times to do so, Emma believes in going after what you want. When asked what advice she’d give to someone looking to start their own small business, she said, “Do it! Do it. You can start with 50 dollars. It is hard but it is so worth it to be doing something you love every day… It is a lot of work, but it will pay off in your soul, your mind, and your life. My friends have seen the biggest change in me, I’m so much happier doing something I love.” 

The Blonde Bear Boutique is available to shop by Instagram and by website.