Shelley Sarmiento stands in a bread truck, stuffed with clothes inside. It’s Christmas time and a man steps up into the truck and looks around. He begins chatting with Sarmiento, telling her about his need to find a Christmas gift for his wife. Sarmiento laughs, asking him for a picture to help him find the right size. He does, and after a few moments, pulls out four $100 bills and hands them to Sarmiento, telling her “I’m going for a coffee next door, surprise me.”
For Sarmiento, described by her friends as a “fashion genius,” these are her favorite moments in the Little White Fashion Truck.
“Some of the things that happen in the truck are just phenomenal,” said Sarmiento. “The truck is such a curiosity to people from the outside and it has such a story behind it.”
Sarmiento is the founder of the Little White Fashion Truck, a brand of mobile retail trucks. Beginning eight months ago, the truck has taken off with local Maryland residents and has recently launched a second truck in McClean, Va, with plans to expand the chain.
If there is one thing Sarmiento is, it’s passionate. She’s passionate about her two teenage daughters, she’s passionate about fitness and she’s definitely passionate about fashion.
“The success of the truck is 100% from Shelley’s passion and commitment,” said Stacey Mona, an investor in the Little White Fashion Truck. “She’s so talented and the hardest-working person you ever will meet.”
Growing up near Baltimore, Sarmiento says she worked in high school to earn a sports scholarship to the University of Rhode Island, where she studied civil engineering. After graduating and starting work, Sarmiento made a career turn, realizing that her real interest was in fashion.
“I’ve always had this real interest in the fashion industry, although, growing up, fashion wasn’t something that was readily available,” said Sarmiento. “But it didn’t take long for me to realize that what I was putting on to wear to work was more important to me than the actual work.”
Sarmiento began her fashion career as the co-founder of White House Black Market. After building and expanding the 140-store brand, it was sold to Chicos seven years ago. Sarmiento says she then returned to school, attending the Fashion Institute of Technology. Because of her experience she says she stood out in school and was offered an internship at Victoria’s Secret.
“I was basically the world’s oldest intern at Victoria’s Secret,” she said. “I went from making like $100,000 a year to nothing. I figured I was there to go to school anyway, so why not immerse myself in the experience.”
She eventually joined Victoria’s Secret as a production manager. Sarmiento also graduated from FIT, and was then asked to come back – this time to teach. The commuting to New York from Maryland became draining and one day, while waiting in line for a grilled cheese from the Grilled Cheese Food Truck, she came up with the idea for a mobile fashion truck.
“I remember standing in line watching this food truck making money hand over fist with just cheese and bread in this rickety old truck and I began thinking, ‘you know, I could put clothes in that truck and make money’,” Sarmiento said.
The Little White Fashion Truck was born. After purchasing a former bread truck online, Shelley stuffed the truck with fashions that are less than $100. The clothes reflect Shelley’s style – a little bohemian, a little rocker chic and trendy.
The women who work for Sarmiento share her passion for positivity and practicality. Her “fashion drivers” includes two employees that help Sarmiento balance her busy life. Sarmiento remains positive, even looking at the paperwork of the mobile retail industry as a chance to partner with the community. Even returns are a chance to fix problems in Sarmiento’s eyes, although she proudly says that there have only been three returns, all of which Sarmiento has driven to personally to fix.
“I’m willing to do whatever it takes to keep that truck running and affordable,” Sarmiento said. “You can’t be a sissy to work in the truck. How many women know how to back up an 18 foot bread truck in a great outfit and heels?”
While the majority of her life revolves around the brand, Sarmiento also counts fitness and family as her two biggest joys. She’s completed four Iron Man Triathlons and the slim blonde says she likes going to the gym. She frequently talks about her two teenage daughters, her “proudest accomplishment”, and lovingly discusses her fiance, Derek St. Holmes, the lead guitarist and singer for Ted Nugent.
Although her life is “crazy”, she lights up when she talks about what’s next. With Little White Fashion Truck now officially running in both Severna Park Md. and McClean Va. areas, it’s the South Sarmiento has her eyes on. She plans on having a third truck in Nashville, a fourth in Atlanta and a fifth in Charlotte by the end of the year.
“I’m not at all surprised by the success of the truck because I think anything Shelley does spreads like wildfire,” said Mona. “She knows how to get it out there in such a great way. I had no doubt that it was going to be successful because she puts her heart and soul into it 24 hours a day.”
With the expanding business comes new opportunities. In addition to a reality TV show, Bill Townsend has chosen Sarmiento as a case study for one of his next life-coaching books. Sarmiento says that she’s also thinking of writing her own book, and definitely wants to take the opportunity to speak at local D.C. universities. Eventually she plans on slowing down and retiring at her ranch in Nashville. But as for now, Sarmiento is happy just seeing her Little White Fashion Truck making an impact..
“The truck culture is a funny, funny little world,” she said. “I’m hoping to create something that makes people feel good. If I drive Little White Fashion Truck down the street and I make someone smile, then it was worth it.”
Kendal (Gapinski) Kloiber 