I took a second to answer some of my most frequently asked questions. If you have a question, feel free to email us here and I’ll be sure to get back to you when I’m able!
Frequently asked questions
Where are you from?
I was born and raised in the Washington, D.C. metropolitan area. So a little bit of Washington DC and a little bit of Northern VA. Although now I live in Brooklyn, New York.
How did you get your start in fashion?
My start in fashion was a bit unconventional at the time. It wasn’t until I was about to graduate college that I realized I wanted to work in fashion journalism. And there was no huge blueprint as to how someone got their foot in the door. I knew that I was a little bit behind from my counterparts who entered into college already knowing what they want to do and had utilized before years networking and interning in New York. So I got my start by creating my digital portfolio, which would eventually become known as TheBlondeMisfit, so that I could show editors that I could write and report stories and put a personal touch on journalistic articles. From there, I pitched myself a lot and received a lot more no’s than yes’s. But the yeses that I did receive were intentional and allowed me to get my foot more and more in the door slowly. I always tell people that this is something that I think we see more nowadays, as people find that there is no one way to get to your end destination. But back at that time, it was still a very unconventional route to start your site, be sort of a blogger, and then try to get into magazines and fashion houses versus the other way around.
Did you study fashion?
A Howard University, I did not study fashion, I was an English and Greek double major, so there was no fashion involvement. But I always loved fashion and interned for a few smaller women’s lifestyle websites while I was in school. Howard is the ultimate fashion school. And I would always get fashion inspiration being around other people, whether it was going to class or going out on the weekends, or even just being in DC, and seeing how people used the political landscape to determine their fashion choices. And so I did not study fashion, which I am actually very thankful for. And I wrote an entire piece on if I think you need to study fashion to work in the fashion industry. I will say that if you decide, later on, you want a more formal education, absolutely pursue it. But don’t think that education will deteriorate your success.
What are the biggest challenges to running a fashion media brand?
Some of the biggest challenges to running a fashion media brand are keeping up with all of the constantly happening changes. There are always things happening on social media or in the world or in the culture you have to consider when you’re thinking about things such as your editorial calendar, what you want to put out, how often you want to put out, etc. Also, being a black woman who focuses on black and brown voices, the work can sometimes feel very exhausting. Feeling like you are saying the same thing over and over again. And nobody is listening is something that we know to be very true and it’s very tiresome.
But you know, you also have to get up and keep going and keep fighting because then there are moments of hope that shine through and assert why you’re doing what you do. Another thing that I have also discussed, especially on TheBlondeMisfit podcast, is financial startup costs. I did not have an investor or anyone who was able to put up money for my brand. I worked nine to five jobs and worked freelanced and did other things because I took that money and then poured it back into my site. Now that I’m a little older and wiser, I know about certain things from a financial spread person perspective that I should do differently moving forward. But I have always believed that you have to be willing to sacrifice something of your own to make your brand work, whether that is time, whether that’s resources, whether that’s money, or in most cases, all three. So I would say the challenges can be monetary, finding a work-life balance, and ensuring that you are taking care of yourself, mentally, spiritually, and emotionally.
What is your favorite thing about your job?
My favorite thing about being my editor in chief is defining my own rules; I have a powerful vision of what I want my brand to be and the influence I want it to have. I’m very intentional about what I do and what I want to do. I can walk away from opportunities if I know that they don’t serve me or the bigger mission of my brand. It’s also enjoyable to get to work with other brands that are maybe bigger but also see the power and authenticity of the voice and the business. It’s gratifying to know that even though there are hundreds of thousands of bloggers or media brands, or whatever exists out on the market, there are very few If none who are doing exactly what we are doing. And that is exciting.
Are you a full-time entrepreneur?
If you are thinking of a full-time entrepreneur as someone who clocks at a minimum of 40 hours, I would say yes. I still have a day job, which I have for multiple reasons. First, I am not at a point financially where I want to walk away and do my work with TBM full time. I know that that will happen, but I also know that there are moments that I’m just like, you know what I need to keep going and keep pursuing and keep building. People don’t think about, especially when you work somewhere else, the access to resources and networking you may not have if you’re an entrepreneur.
For example, I know for a fact that I’m going to have facetime with different people across the company when I work for somebody else. I know that there are opportunities for job training and resources and workshops that I can take full advantage of because I’m an employee there. And those are things that I can bring back into my business. And that makes me a stronger business and brand. But those are things that I might not have access to right from the jump because of whatever barrier that may exist. It does get exhausting. I have also written about this before about being a full time creative and a full-time corporate person working two full-time jobs, on top of going to school and everything else in life. Read my tips over there and listen to that episode of the podcast for some of my tips on juggling the two.
What are your tips for someone trying to get their start in the fashion industry?
For someone trying to get their start in the fashion industry, my tips would be to learn resiliency and eat, sleep, and breathe it. There is something to be said about someone who can continuously get up after constantly being shot down. And someone very determined to make something work, even if it doesn’t come as easy to them as it does to someone else. TBM has not been the easiest thing in my life, but it is one of the most rewarding things that I wake up, and I do.
It is something that I would do for free and have done for free for years because I believe in the brand mission. And it’s essential that whether you decide to start your own media brand or you want to work in house as a designer or you want to write for someone else, or whatever the case may be that you adopt this mentality of doing what you need to do to make it happen. Unfortunately, because of social media, there is a lot of mediocrity that gets praised on the web, but I challenge everyone to be a student of their craft and seek to perfect it as much as they can always be learning. And always strive for more.
How do you deal with rejection?
Rejection is tough, especially when you have moments where you feel that you did everything correctly. And for whatever reason, it just didn’t work out. I have learned to be someone who welcomes rejection. Because in that rejection, there is refinement — I can say for a fact that not everyone has had access to me, my time, my resources, or my energy. And even if I wasn’t the one necessarily to say no, at that time, I’m thankful for that rejection because it pushed me in the direction of where I needed to go. When you deal with rejection, especially when you’re building your brand, you need to have moments of reflection and rest moments.
Too much rejection can make you feel like you’re in the wrong job in the wrong fields and the wrong career. But rejection without reflection is a recipe for more disaster. Take a second to think about why it happened the way that it did. Look for the pros and cons but identify areas of opportunity to grow. I have seen firsthand that places that rejected me years ago are now knocking on my door. And I don’t say that in a way to be boastful. If I allowed rejection to get me down, I might not have continued to build so I was then in a position where they wanted to work with me later on.
Of course, the bag is different, and the fees are more costly, but that’s because it requires work to build. It requires work to build, but once you build, you can also charge for that growth. So always accept rejection. Always accept feedback, and always challenge yourself to grow and learn from every situation.
