A few months ago, Dallas local Janice Tsang decided to sell her personal collection of designer handbags and sunglasses at a flea market. After working in luxury retail for over seven years, her collection was quite extensive and boasted names such as Versace and Salvatore Ferragamo. Her motive for selling these valuable possessions: to generate funding to launch her own business and to test her selling abilities in a significantly different market than she was used to.

Just six short months later, Tsang, 34, set up shop at The Dallas Flea on November 3, where she hosted the grand opening of her first entrepreneurial venture, My Rolling Closet. Just as the name describes, My Rolling Closet is a mobile fashion boutique. This is the fashionista’s answer to the food truck. My Rolling Closet brings vintage-inspired merchandise with a touch of modern ready-to-wear to the DFW market, appearing at different local craft shows, fairs, flea markets, and private events.

“I don’t care about brand names anymore; I just want my business, so I had to think outside the box,” says Tsang, who studied fashion design at the world famous Insituto Marangoni in Milan and holds a Bachelor’s Degree in Fashion Merchandising and Marketing from Texas Women’s University.

Tsang made a few thousand dollars in only five hours at the flea market in April where she sold her designer possessions. She realized the flea market was an area in which she could excel and would be a key platform for her future business plan with a little innovation and uniqueness.

“I always wanted to have my own business. My first idea was a coffee shop, then a food truck, then I wanted many different things… but I never thought about a fashion truck,” she said.

Tsang gained initial inspiration for her business after attending a flea market in McKinney at the beginning of this year. She noticed a booth that changed her perspective of what could be done in the setting of a flea market. Everything was clean and organized, and the merchandise – while very affordable – was still of great quality. The booth stood out in the market; it was unique, and Tsang was intrigued.

“I thought, ‘I could do the same thing. She’s like twenty-something-years-old… I could do this too,’” says Tsang. “But then I thought about the trouble it would take to load, unload, build a tent, and reload every time.”

That’s when Tsang turned to Google to do more research. She landed on a YouTube video about a fashion truck called The Fashion Mobile, a mobile boutique based in Minnesota, and she immediately saw room for opportunity. “That was in March, and I went Google like crazy ever since to begin researching and planning the launch for my business,” says Tsang.

The trend of mobile businesses has become increasingly appealing and significantly more popular for entrepreneurs investing their ideas in start-up companies. Many industries have explored and discovered how mobile businesses can considerably reduce overhead costs. The trend of mobile fashion boutiques began spreading in multiple cities like Los Angeles, Chicago, New York, and Boston around 2010. Today, there are even a few mobile boutiques already on the road in the DFW area including LuxeLiner, Trend Zen, and Couture in a Can.

“This truck gives me a platform – a stage that I can go up and show people that this is my style, this is what I like,” says Tsang. “You can come up with anything you want. So this is what I really want to show people about, my truck. It’s my dream.”

Tsang describes the ideal customer for My Rolling Closet to be the same girl who would shop at Anthropologie. “Somebody that likes on-trend fashion, but at the same time, enjoys something timeless, something vintage,” says Tsang who buys the majority of her merchandise from vendors in California.

In addition to flea market and fair settings, My Rolling Closet also caters to private events. On November 7, business partners Holly Heines and Kat Radeloff hosted a holiday boutique shopping experience in Southlake to launch the pair’s interior decorating business, Blue Nest Designs. My Rolling Closet was one of the event’s nine vendors.

“I had never before seen a mobile fashion boutique, and I was instantly excited about having Janice and her truck at our event,” says Heines who discovered My Rolling Closet through Facebook. “I was so impressed with the information on Janice’s Facebook page, including her sketched design of how she took an empty truck and creatively turned it into a beautiful, welcoming mobile boutique.”

This was first event Tsang participated in since the launch of My Rolling Closet at The Dallas Flea the week before. With two interior designers as hosts for the event, Tsang was sure to get detailed feedback on the renovations she made to the 2002 Chevrolet Workhorse she purchased on Craigslist.

“I was blown away at the detail she had lovingly put into the design of the mobile boutique. She had stunning feminine wallpaper covering the walls, hardwood floors, racks and shelves of fun clothing and accessories, a custom-made industrial style counter and even a changing room,” says Heines. “She styled the boutique to perfection. Once inside, it was hard to believe I was actually in a truck!”

Tsang is proud of her design. It embodies her creativity, her style, and her personality. Those who are closest to Tsang in her personal life can attest to this.

“I love watching her light up whenever she talks about her business and the people who have shopped with her,” says Tsang’s mother-in-law, Dovie Williams. “She takes pride in what she has created and is so sincere about providing a great shopping experience for others.”

Yet these are characteristics that have always been intrinsic to Tsang. Working in luxury retail for several years, she has learned the importance of customer service. In her transition from high-end fashion to a mobile vintage boutique, Tsang sees the difference between a job and a dream, but notices the crossover of two seemingly different worlds.

“I’m used to selling to high-end clients, and it’s helped me learn the value of customer service. To me, it’s just a job. When I take off my suit, I’m a completely different person,” says Tsang. “But my truck is the real me. It’s who I am.”

While this is still just the beginning for Tsang, she is excited and motivated for her future with My Rolling Closet. “I really want a career. I want something that’s my own. Something that I’ve worked for,” says Tsang before recalling a quote from Steve Jobs:

“Your time is limited, so don’t waste it living someone else’s life. And most important, have the courage to follow your heart and intuition.”

Visit My Rolling Closet’s Facebook Page to find out more and see where you can next find the mobile fashion boutique.