When you walk through the doors of Purpose Boutique, you find a fun-loving and dedicated group of people who have come together with a unified passion: to make a difference in the world through styling. Within minutes you feel that you have just met a good friend who is ready to offer style tips.
It all started when owner Christie Johnson dreamed of combining her gift for style with a greater purpose. She dreamed of opening a boutique focused not just on styling but also loving, serving and giving generously to people in need. The summer of 2013 was the time to open the boutique she dreamed about.
Thousands of miles from friends and family, this was an unlikely time and an unlikely place. Johnson was a Navy wife in Bremerton with two babies. But she knew that Purpose would become immeasurably more than all she could ask for or imagine. With her husband, Flip, Johnson launched the first Purpose Boutique and immediately watched it grow faster than anyone thought possible.
Soon more team members joined, bringing diverse skills and passions, unified by a shared purpose. As the business grew, so did the vision. The team realized that Purpose could take loving people through styling and donating to another level. Purpose had been called to give, grow a business, shop and manufacture, differently.
So the team started researching and collaborating with a handful of brands and businesses with a similar calling. These brands empower disadvantaged people and provide them with dignified work producing beautiful jewelry and accessories. The boutique now carries their products and proudly calls these people its “empowerment partners.”
Says Christie Johnson, “We are also teaching women around the world how to do business. We are natural givers and that is all that business is: an exchange of resources. Women everywhere do that naturally!”
Purpose continues to grow, now with stores in Bremerton, Silverdale, Kirkland and the newly opened boutique at Point Ruston. As her story continues to unfold, Johnson notes that with each new store she has said, “Let’s just go!”
She says she holds tight to the simple truth that how you shop can truly change a life. She uses her gifts and talents to see broken lives renewed, the oppressed set free and customers educated on the power of their buying choices. She realizes her story is unlikely, but she’s passionate, driven and just “crazy” enough to actually make a difference.
LEAH GROUT
For additional information:
Purpose Boutique
5105 North Main St, Ruston
253.292.0508
purposeboutique.com
Also located in Bremerton, Silverdale and Kirkland