Mothers have been their children’s influencers long before the dawn of Instagram and TikTok.
Mindi Linscombe, a mother of four, sets examples for more than just her kids thanks to her bridal boutique on Colorado Springs’ north side.
And now, Linscombe is widening her sphere of influence with recent additions to her entrepreneurial endeavors in consulting, podcasting and philanthropy.
Linscombe opened her bridal shop, Something New Boutique, with her husband, Jordan Linscombe, in 2008 after disappointing experiences searching for her wedding dress, ranging from extravagant stores with dismissive staff to rundown shops with kinder employees.
“I’ve always loved celebrating people. I feel pretty good at working with others, you know, being a teacher. What if I create what the market needs in Colorado?” Mindi Linscombe said.
“And so, I decided to create something that would be a beautiful environment with the friendliest people.”
She started with 900 square feet and one employee — her mom.
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“She helped me because I couldn’t afford an employee,” Linscombe said.
In the more than 15 years since, Linscombe has expanded her business into a 10,000-square-foot space with nearly 20 employees where panels of windows let in streams of sunshine in a shop filled with racks of wedding gowns, prom dresses and other formal wear.
Among the rows of dresses is her Brooklyn Grace collection — a line of dresses Linscombe named after her only daughter, 5-year-old Brooklyn Grace.
“We all are waiting for that moment when she realizes these dresses are named after her,” Linscombe said. “But she has not realized it yet and so it’s kind of cute.”
Brooklyn loves visiting the boutique, Linscombe said, especially when it means breaking out balloons and cake to celebrate a customer.
“She thinks she’s going to work here one day, which is great,” Linscombe said. “… I want all my kids to dream big. So I always tell them you can do anything, you could be anything. Whatever your mind actually can imagine is what can happen.”
And for Linscombe, she always imagined Something New being a brand beyond a bridal shop.
That’s why she started the Something New Foundation and Something New Show this year in addition to the consulting she offers bridal shop owners.
With the Something New Foundation, the store’s philanthropic arm, Linscombe intends to grow the brand’s giving to include a scholarship fund and development opportunities for women and young ladies. She uses a portion of each dress sale from the Brooklyn Grace collection, in addition to the brand’s partnerships with Compassion International and Children’s Hospital Colorado.
Linscombe hopes to extend her mentorship and impact beyond the business, philanthropy and bridal worlds with her Something New Show, which is meant to encourage people to live a life worth celebrating.
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“I have guests from all over the country, super successful guests from all different walks of life, talking about their story and … what they had to overcome to become successful,” Linscombe said. “It’s been a very meaningful project for me.”
Another meaningful step was hiring her friend, Karen Sanchez, to be a stylist for mothers and mothers-in-law at the bridal shop.
“Moms are some of the more tender customers that we care for and I’m sure you can imagine why there’s a lot of emotions around the wedding coming up,” Linscombe said.
“But they didn’t necessarily always connect with a stylist that perhaps wasn’t a mom or hadn’t ever carried those burdens before.”
As a mother and grandmother with a background in the fashion industry, Sanchez is not only a support to customers but to Linscombe, because Sanchez owned her own women’s clothing boutique in Houston.
“She’s a very smart woman and a very smart businesswoman,” Sanchez said.
“She surrounds herself with people that she can glean from. … She just gleaned from my life experience… and we also have the same faith and so I’m able to share with her and guide and direct her in some of those areas.”
And the area of faith for Linscombe is no slight one. As a Christian, her faith is what drives her.
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“I believe that God put me here and all of us here with a purpose to help others,” Linscombe said.
“And so, if I can use my little pocket of knowledge and influence to help others then I feel like I’m using the time he gave me well.”
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