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The Creators of LA: Boutique Owner Whitney Bickers

For the last 10 months, self-taught photographer Megan McIsaac has been traveling the West Coast in an RV — a 1977 Toyota “Dolphin” — and gathering portraits of friends and creative types she met along the way. Now settled in Los Angeles, with a Mamiya c330 camera, McIsaac decided to document the community that’s inspired so much of her work: Tumblr. This is part of a series of photographic profiles.

Whitney Bickers

Whitney Bickers is the mind behind Echo Park boutique Myrtle. I first met Whitney when I photographed her springtime tomboy lookbook and fell in love with the colorful items in her store — jewelry and clothing from independent women designers, vintage clothes, even stationary. For the fashion obsessed, Myrtle is a perfect playhouse to spend an afternoon in. 

What has been the most challenging part of opening your own shop? 

Sometimes owning a business feels like a never ending series of new problems. Commercial real estate especially stands out as a whole new world for me. Ultimately though, the most challenging thing is just having patience. It’s very easy to come up with some grand ideas, but it takes time to implement them, especially when you’re on a budget. And to build a business that is organic and going to last requires a lot of customer feedback and trial and error.