Be creative in your style, don’t follow the crowd.
Penny Karabey is the owner of Luxury Next Season and is a trend-setter with a unique style and flair for the extraordinary. She is a Turkish American enjoying life in Manhattan’s Upper East Side of New York.
Penny is an entrepreneur who wears many different hats. She is also a jewelry designer who travels to her favorite locations such as Paris, Rome, Milan, Istanbul, and Geneva. During her travel, Penny Karabey finds inspiration for her jewelry designs. She also searches for luxury fashion pieces for clients that are difficult to find in New York.
Luxury Next Season brings luxury fashion exclusivity, and highly sought-after items to the New York market place. As a shopping consultant, she has an extremely high profile on Instagram featuring the “Outfit of the Day”.
Penny is devoted as a wife and mother. As a family, they spend their time at their Southampton home during their time off. They enjoy playing polo at the Southampton Polo Club. As an entrepreneur, Penny is a coffee aficionado, a computer engineer, and a certified fitness instructor.
Where did the idea for your company come from?
Penny Karabey is the owner of Luxury Next Season and is a trend-setter with a unique style and flair for the extraordinary. She is a Turkish American enjoying life in Manhattan’s Upper East Side of New York.
Penny is an entrepreneur who wears many different hats. She is also a jewelry designer who travels to her favorite locations such as Paris, Rome, Milan, Istanbul, and Geneva. During her travel, Penny Karabey finds inspiration for her jewelry designs. She also searches for luxury fashion pieces for clients that are difficult to find in New York.
Luxury Next Season brings luxury fashion exclusivity, and highly sought-after items to the New York market place. As a shopping consultant, she has an extremely high profile on Instagram featuring the “Outfit of the Day”.
Penny is devoted as a wife and mother. As a family, they spend their time at their Southampton home during their time off. They enjoy playing polo at the Southampton Polo Club. As an entrepreneur, Penny is a coffee aficionado, a computer engineer, and a certified fitness instructor.
What does your typical day look like and how do you make it productive?
I start my day using Instagram as well as checking emails for the first two hours of my day. We take orders and my staff will begin the shipping. Any appointments that I have to go to I attend in the afternoons. I also take this time to follow new trends in the market. I address marketing during this time. I set aside time for when my son comes home from school. I turn off my phone and we do homework and share time together. I cook every day for my family. On weekends during the summer, we play polo. We have the Family Club and the Polo Club. We have horses and ponies.
How do you bring ideas to life?
I do not think too much about ideas. I go to the internet and begin to find sources. When I find something that excites me, I get ideas. I don’t necessarily start a project right away. I will begin a project when I am feeling creative and energetic of the idea.
What’s one trend that excites you?
I am a maximalist. I love colors, patterns on my outfits. Street style is always exciting me. Real fashion is on the street.
What is one habit of yours that makes you more productive as an entrepreneur?
What makes me more productive as an entrepreneur is that I am a quick decision maker. I always find solutions for each of my customers. If I can make a customer happy, even if I am going to lose money on something, it is my prerogative. I always make sure my customers are happy.
What advice would you give your younger self?
I would tell myself to follow my own company rules. If I break my own rules, I will continue to break rules. I would tell myself to try not to be a superhero.
Tell us something that’s true that almost nobody agrees with you on.
Many women believe that if you wear black to a formal occasion that you are elegant and sophisticated. I do not believe that. I believe that it shows that you don’t have any choice. You don’t have any creativity. It shows that you just follow others instead of creating your own style.
As an entrepreneur, what is the one thing you do over and over and recommend everyone else do?
Searching. I search new tools, new platforms and new opportunities every single day.
What is one strategy that has helped you grow your business?
One strategy that I use to grow my business is through social media. I also stay in touch with my clients. I message my customers to let them know about the latest trends. Customers can also message me on Instagram. It has worked very well for me. Our last promotion was with Ariella Charnas, also known as “Something Navy.” It was very successful.
What is one failure you had as an entrepreneur, and how did you overcome it?
I purchased stock that was very trendy at one time. I purchased a large quantity and I could not sell them. When the trend had passed, I had to see if I could sell them as a promotional item. When they did not sell, I started giving them away as a gift to my clients. I just added them with their orders. But now all of my customers expect a free gift with their orders.
What is one business idea that you’re willing to give away to our readers?
I do not have a business idea, but I have some advice. Find a problem in the market and find the solution to start a business. The advice is that is not to wait to start your own business because there will never be the perfect time to start a business. If you find a solution to a problem, you can make a business successful. You have to go for it and work very hard to make it work for you. You can seek out advice from Women Entrepreneur NYC and small business associations.
What is the best $100 you recently spent? What and why?
On Martin Luther King Day, they had a one-day soccer camp. I was able to attend that with my son and it felt so good to spend that time with him, doing something that he really enjoys.
What is one piece of software or a web service that helps you be productive?
I use Zapier. It is a social media tool that saves me a lot of time. I create one post and Zapier shares the post across all of my social media pages. I have investigated many tools such as Zapier, but it is by far the best tool to get the job done quickly.
What is the one book that you recommend our community should read and why?
“Accidental Icon” by Iris Apfel. The book teaches you that you don’t need to plan everything in your life. Some things will just come about and it will be a very good thing.
What is your favorite quote?
It is my logo: Apple inside an orange. It means make it happen.
Key Learnings:
• Staying in touch with clients on social media is a great strategy to grow your business.
• Be creative in your style, don’t follow the crowd.
• Take time with your child by turning off your phone.
Connect:
www.twitter.com/lnexts
Carlyn runs the day-to-day publishing operation here at ideamensch and interacts with our awesome customers and entrepreneurs. She is likely editing this with a cat on her lap.