How 2 entrepreneurs use fashion, marketing to help small businesses in Philadelphia

PHILADELPHIA (WPVI) -- From the fashion industry to business marketing, two entrepreneurs in the city's Fishtown section are helping small businesses in a fun way.

Meghann Bezdikian and Brigette Fuscia are the founders of Boxed Sourcing. Their company's goal is to provide a curated assortment of promotional merchandise to fit the needs of their clients in Philadelphia and beyond.

Fuscia says just because you need a pen does not mean it needs to be a regular pen.

"Working with Meghann, I knew we had a great synergy together," said Fuscia. "Meghann is also from a creative director background, and I'm more product and marketing, so it was a nice mix for both of us."

Fuscia says the company she worked for ended up closing their east coast location when she began taking up freelance work six years ago. Until the idea of Boxed Sourcing came to fruition.

"Each project is different, each client is different and bringing our fashion background into the industry...we were excited to bring a new take on everything and see what we could do to impact the industry," said Bezdikian.

The duo has more than 20 years of experience in the fashion industry and has helped over 100 small businesses in Philadelphia alone.

Amid the COVID-19 pandemic, their efforts have even helped businesses in the area.

"Coming from the fashion background, we do know what it's like to be under stressful time constraints and production turnarounds that need to be fast-paced," said Fuscia. "This type of situation, which was new for all of us, really called for that type of quick thinking."

Bezdikian added, "Everyone was still trying to figure out how to get their name of there and we thought promotional products is a great way of doing that. We worked with our clients and our factories to drop-ship the products straight to their clients."

Their creative ideas have been very beneficial during virtual events and remote work Bezdikian says, where clients looked to build engagement, interest, and company branding.

As it relates to Women's History Month, the duo says they are excited to operate in a space that has not had a very diversified track record.

"Promotional products is an industry that has been around for a long time, but it has been male-dominated," said Fuscia. "We are finding that in Philadelphia in particular, most of the entrepreneurs we are working with nowadays are female-owned businesses."

Bezdikian says they are just excited to be apart of female empowerment in Philadelphia.