New Orleans native turns to self-made millionaire!

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    NEW ORLEANS (WGNO) — From cocktail waitress to successful entrepreneur, a New Orleans native turned her fashion dreams into an empire!

“This is where it all started at twelve years old on my sewing machine” The CEO of Kleaux Kouture, Kari Cojoe told WGNO while she was sewing with one of her first machines.

Kari is a mother, a go-getter and the CEO of Kleaux Kouture. While she makes six a month now, her road wasn’t easy to get to the top.

“I was a cocktail waitress and I ended up losing my job so that was kinda like, a sign to me. I took it as ‘go ahead and follow your passion, go full force with it’.”

In 2012, she started selling clothes from her trunk and two months later, she ran her business from a small room in a plaza.

“I asked my dad and my sister. I used one of the rooms in their tax office because it wasn’t being used.”

“I said, well, that’s a start for you, Kari, but we have bigger plans for you” Kari’s dad,

Ronald Cojoe shared. “I hope you have bigger goals than just to be in this room.”

Well, her dreams were larger than life.

A year later, the designer had a place to call home. The designer sells authentic hats, festive wear and dresses just to name a few items.

Then, in summer of 2018 something amazing happened, Kleaux Kouture exploded and Kari’s sells went through the roof.

“That was from a bunch of influencers reposting me.”

Influencers like Supa Cent and Da Real B B Judy!

with the shout outs, this piece called the Sherri Set is what went viral taking her Instagram from 30,000 followers to over 100,000 followers and that was within less than six months!

Kari credits much of her success to her mom who also has a passion for designing.

“Not only is she my inspiration, she’s one of the main people in my support system” Kari said while fighting back tears. “I’m so grateful for that and so thankful for that.”

With a recently opened warehouse, she’s also thankful for her growth.

“You can expect some really big things in the future– the near future. Ain’t no stoppin’, keep climbing up!”

Kleaux Kouture is located on 5703 Read Boulevard!

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