Two sisters, one vision. These two young women, Denneza and Patrice Olivier, have finally come into their own when it comes to solid business follow-through. After considering opening cafes and other businesses for several years, they finally settled on the idea of opening a sandal retail store.

Sandalias Apparel Ltd, located at SimpliCity Mall on upper Murray Street, Woodbrook, is the first phase of what they hope would one day be a fashion empire. It was only established in November of last year by the two siblings.

Elder sister, Denneza, was a radio announcer and was involved in the performing arts. She even secured a one year gig with the band, Rukshun, as their female lead singer from 1997 to 1998. Always ready for another challenge, she became certified in Event Management and dabbles in nail art technology.

Her sister, Patrice, acquired a First Degree in Agri–Business Management and her Master's Degree in Industrial Innovation Entrepreneurship and Management. "I do the business side of things."

Affectionately touching each other as their petite frames shared one chair during the interview, they divulged the details of how they got to this point.

The vision for the business was actually born out of a vision, so to speak, and it's a vision that allows for 31-year old Denneza to now work a day that's 10.00 a.m. to 6.00 p.m. "I really wanted to do something different from the regular 8-4 job. I felt that it wasn't enough; I was going around in circles. One night I dreamt that I was in a bank signing cheques and the name on the cheques was "Sandalias". When I got up, I knew that that was what my business was! I kept telling people that I have a business called, Sandalias and they were like, 'You don't have any business!'" but I stuck to it." Laughingly, she said, "When I told my boyfriend, he told me to go for it, joking that in years to come, we can live off of my salary!"

Denneza and her 28-year old sister, Patrice, researched all aspects of their new venture, interviewing craftsmen, retailers and visiting online links. "I found out that Sandalias meant 'sandals' so we started from there and tried to find out everything we could.'" said Denneza.

Patrice supports the business using her knowledge from her educational background, and as she's experienced with writing business plans, she helped to prepare theirs.

Of the line of sandals, the Oliviers say, "While the finished style of the sandals might not be original, the concept is unique in that you can use different strings to create different looks and to match with several outfits. From one string, you can get 10 different looks and it can take just one minute to tie one style. So you can change the strings any time you want. We just wanted to create, working with colours and make it our own." Denneza stated. Patrice demonstrated several looks on me and I was amazed at how one string could look effect such trendy styles – and how quickly they were done

In an effort for total research and development they, used 'test pieces', wearing their sandals at first and asking friends and relatives to wear them and give them relevant feedback.

"Julian of Full Line Enterprises helped us a lot, giving us many ideas and a lot of advice about treating with the sandals.

"So far, the sandals, which are for women of all ages, have been so well received and the entire process has been a learning experience. There has been some tears and some arguing between us but it's all good now."

The sandals were featured in the December 2011 issue of Maco People, and according to the entrepreneurs, "the sandals have generated rave reviews from customers who have selected the sandal as a must have for Carnival".

Both sisters seem to truly be each other's support system and their closeness is evident as they'd finish each other's sentences and one would prompt the other to relay details of the accomplishments.

On January 28, they launched their Carnival line of the brand at their store and challenged their customers to find an additional way to tie the string; the lucky winner won a pair of sandals.

Their short-term goal is to design a line of clothes, sandals and accessories for men and children. "By December of this year, things will be different. We want to keep things fresh because we want our customers to feel that they have one of a kind. We stay true to our culture, it's who we are."

Their email address is sandaliasapparel@gmail.com and you can find them on Facebook at Sandalias Apparel or Sandalias Gals.

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