Jenna Louk’s leap of faith has brought her to downtown Iola.
Louk was content running her online business, Pink Skies Boutique, until a perfect confluence of events convinced her it was time to give it a go as an Iola merchant as well.
Pink Skies opened its doors at 101 E. Madison Ave., Suite B — she shares an entrance with Jock’s Nitch — on Nov. 1.
“I wasn’t really looking for anything, but then I noticed this space was for rent,” she said. “It’s pretty crazy how quickly it all came together.”
Described as a boutique founded in faith and a love for pink skies, Louk’s shop offers a variety of trendy, but modest clothing and gift items — “cute things at a good price,” she said.
The move allowed her to expand her offerings substantially, now that she has a place to store merchandise.
“Up to now, my office was my childhood bedroom,” she said. “I had to order probably triple what I had. And before I had to stick to clothing, but now I have gift items, too.”
It also meant having to scour through lists of wholesale vendors to find appropriate products for her clientele.
Her decision-making was simple. Were the clothing or gift items she’d want to own herself?
If so, she made the purchase.
“Any spare time I had, I was on my phone,” she chuckled. “I was with my friends watching a movie, and they saw I was on my phone.”
“You’re looking at stuff aren’t you,” Louk’s friend questioned.
“I’m sorry,” she replied with a laugh. “This is all I’m thinking about.”
LOUK, 21, is already a veteran business owner.
Louk and best friend Chloe Sell started a lawn-mowing business in 2019, when both were still high school freshmen.
That business continued through high school, and then college where Louk earned a degree in entrepreneurship from Kansas State University in May, even after Sell had to call it quits in order to attend ophthalmology school two years ago.
