Beathea’s boutique, Croix, which means “cross” in French, op
ened its doors on Black Friday this past November on Marion Street. Beathea says she wanted to create a space with a French-Caribbean theme that reflects her mother’s heritage.
“It was something that was always in the plan, and it was all about timing,” admitted Beathea. “I knew I wanted to have a boutique near the others so they could balance off of each other.”
The Chicago native said fashion and entrepreneurship run in her blood, literally. As a child, Beathea grew up in California where she learned the business from her mother, Takara, who designed clothing, jewelry and modeled. Upon graduating from Southern Illinois University with her B.S. degrees in health care management and dental technology, Beathea started her own modeling career as a print and runway model for Ford Modeling Agency, nationally and internationally.
“It’s just in my blood. It’s all I’ve ever known because of my mom and her experience in the fashion and entrepreneur industry,” said Beathea. “She taught me how to be an entrepreneur.”
At age 30, Beathea decided to quit modeling because she wanted more consistency in her life due to her hectic traveling schedule. In 2002, she moved back to the Chicago area and eventually relocated to Oak Park.
With her science background, Beathea recently decided to launch a line of natural hair care products. Little Miss Fuzzy Head, available at Takara and online on Amazon, made its premiere in September. Beathea said she developed the moisturizer/leave-in conditioner as one who’s worn her hair naturally for 10 years and searched for a natural hair care product without chemicals, yet performed the functions of those products.
Beathea says her “happy hair fusion” character appeared to her in a dream.
“Her character is inspired by one I’d like to develop for a children’s book,” Beathea said. “I woke up in the middle of the night to jot down ideas about the product, and I started to draft what she looked like on my computer.”
Along with her natural hair care product line, Beathea works to promote Croix, which is also a style studio where she advises customers on what pieces work best for them, while also providing exceptional customer service. With a different and less expensive price point than other boutiques, Beathea says her store is fiscally conscious, yet fashion forward and offers great quality. The boutique owner added that she wants to offer customers similar items that they may see in major fashion magazines, but are unique at the same time, in price and style.
“The ‘Croix woman’ is a fashion conscious lady who likes to pair higher end items with less expensive ones that are fashionable and bring the items together to make it work,” she said. “For example, she can pair a $200 pair of pants with a $50 Croix top and look like $1 million.”
