Alum Opens Boutique on the Jersey Shore

Fashion marketing & merchandising graduate Skylar Peterson ’26 turns a lifelong passion into a thriving small business

Key Highlights

• Sacred Heart University alum Skylar Peterson '26 opened Pixie LBI, a boutique on Long Beach Island, N.J., weeks after graduating in May 2026
• Peterson studied fashion marketing & merchandising at the Jack Welch College of Business & Technology and credits SHU experiences, including sorority leadership and business coursework, with preparing her to launch and run the shop
• Pixie LBI offers gifts, apparel, candy, and on-site custom embroidery, and has quickly become a family-run operation with strong community ties on the island

Sacred Heart University alum Skylar Peterson '26 opened Pixie LBI, a boutique on Long Beach Island, NJ, just weeks after earning her degree in fashion marketing & merchandising from the Jack Welch College of Business & Technology (WCBT).

Peterson, who graduated in May, launched Pixie LBI as both a business venture and a tribute to her two grandmothers, Angela Peterson and Rosemarie Romano, whose love for Long Beach Island shaped her family for generations. The boutique carries a curated selection of gifts, apparel, candy, and stuffed animals, with nearly everything available for custom embroidery on-site.

For Peterson, a love of fashion began long before she arrived at Sacred Heart. As a child, she dressed up in princess costumes, collected jewelry, watched Project Runway, and found inspiration in the Fancy Nancy picture books. That early creativity eventually grew into an interest in fashion as a career.

“I always wanted to be involved in something creative,” Peterson said. “As I got older, that love for fashion carried over into my own personal style, and I was always experimenting, layering, and finding new ways to express myself.”

Peterson discovered Sacred Heart’s fashion marketing & merchandising program during one of SHU’s Admitted Student Days. She attended an information session about the program and was drawn to its creative opportunities, including SHU’s Fashion Club, study abroad options, and the ability to build a strong foundation in business.

“Once I realized I could actually build a major and a future around it, there was no question in my mind,” Peterson said. “It was exactly where I belonged.”

While working at boutiques during her summers away from Sacred Heart, Peterson became interested in the stories behind small fashion businesses. A sophomore-year project on fashion entrepreneur Rebecca Hessel Cohen, founder of LoveShackFancy boutiques, further inspired her to envision opening a storefront of her own, one that would be creative, personal, and centered on connection.

“I wanted to create a little pink house by the beach that could spark the same joy my grandmothers brought into our lives, a place where families could make new memories the same way mine did,” Peterson said.

What started as a solo vision transformed into a shared pursuit, with Peterson's family being an important part of making that vision a reality as her parents and siblings pitch in to keep things running.

“I think the most rewarding part has been staying true to my vision and watching it come to life,” Peterson said. “It has not always been easy building systems from scratch without a formal team of employees, but it has brought us closer as a family because we are figuring it all out together.”

Opening the boutique so soon after graduation meant moving directly from college life into the demands of running a business. Peterson moved to Long Beach Island and lived in the back of the storefront, spending her days ordering inventory, budgeting, marketing, merchandising, connecting with the community, and keeping the shop running. Peterson also taught herself custom embroidery immediately after graduation, giving the boutique a distinctive edge. Within weeks, she completed 500 to 600 embroidery orders in a matter of days.

“Honestly, it was a big adjustment going from the last few months of college, which were full of fun and celebration, straight into putting my head down and putting in the hours to chase a dream of mine,” Peterson said. “One of the hardest parts was simply learning to believe in myself and push past fear or self-doubt instead of letting it hold me back.”

Peterson credits her time at Sacred Heart with laying the groundwork for her entrepreneurial leap. Through leadership roles in her sorority, serving as a Welch Mentor for the WCBT, and returning to campus as a pre-fall business program leader, she developed the time management, leadership, and communication skills she now uses as a business owner. Courses in accounting, design, and organizational management also gave her practical tools to apply outside the classroom.

“I cannot thank Sacred Heart enough for every experience that shaped me into who I am today,” Peterson said. “Sacred Heart taught me resilience, determination, and hard work through every single experience and surrounded me with confident leaders who pushed me to do more, believed in me, and stuck with me through this entire process.”

Looking ahead, Peterson plans to launch a Pixie private label featuring original clothing and accessories, along with themed window displays that reflect the boutique's signature sense of wonder.

“There is so much I want to continue building with Pixie now that we have our first summer behind us,” Peterson said. “One of the biggest things on my list is launching a Pixie private label, designing our own clothing and accessories, which has been a dream of mine for a long time.”

For students and recent graduates who hope to turn their own passions into businesses, Peterson encourages them to take the first step even when they do not have everything figured out.

“Keep putting yourself out there and know that you do not need all the answers to get started, and you certainly do not need to be perfect at anything on day one,” Peterson said. “The only way to fail is to never try.”

Pixie LBI can be found on Instagram and TikTok at @PixieLBI.