Reflection on a Brand in the Making

This post serves as a reflection for this really cool class I took once. The class is called Business Story Telling and Brand Development and of course just like you guessed it is all about branding. Through out the Fullsail EBMS program, you constructed a business plan and in this Branding class is where I found the meat and potatoes of mine.

As my business is still in the making I won't divulge too much information. However, I was able to come up with my company name and logo in this course. I also was able to start building our brand identity. A lot of people don't realize that the story behind the brand is almost more important than the product itself. For example, if Johnny Cupcakes didn't make people fall in love with who he is I'm not sure he would have become as successful as he is today.

After learning how important personality is in branding, especially when it comes to the fashion industry. I have started to pour my heart and soul into my business concept, when people see the company culture they will know that it was built with passion and sprinkled with a little bit of Ruby all over. I hope you all tune in because I can't to see what you all think of my brain child that will be unveiled soon enough!!

TED.com: High School Training Ground

The TED speaker I chose to focus on is spoken word artist, Malcolm London. I found his piece, “High School Training Ground” and it resonated with me. While this topic is far from my usual topic of fashion and celebrity events. I still thought it was important for me to feature such an amazing talent on my blog.

Malcom London is young poet and activist from Chicago. He gained his claim to fame when he won the Louder Than A Bomb award in his hometown. Outside of competing as a spoken word artist Malcolm is a member of UCAN’s Forum on Youth Violence Prevention and a educator with Young Chicago Authors. So, it makes sense that a lot of poems are on education and how it has changed, and what we have to do continue to build our young people up.

The poem, “High School Training Ground” that I found on TED was recorded at a TED talk on education. The poem is all about how Michael feels that hig-school is a social training ground. The high school is separated by social class, pretending to be levels of academia(i.e, Honors Vs. Regulars). London also went on to point out that the high school is the breeding ground for adolescent insecurities, whether they stem from school or at home.  The 3-minute performance spoke volumes to how Malcolm feels about the inner city education system. His point of view didn’t seem negative, he mentioned that the teacher’s are over-worked and underpaid but he followed with an outcry for change.

Malcolm London on the state of the education system, “I hear education systems are failing, but I believe they're succeeding at what they're built to do — to train you, to keep you on track, to track down an American dream that has failed so many of us all.” (TED.com)

To Rent or Not to Rent?

Hey Fashionistas!!
As the holiday season approaches fashion lovers everywhere have two things on their mind. One, finding good deals on all of their holiday shopping and of course finding the perfect outfit for all of those holiday functions! However spending time in the mall preparing for the holiday's is now becoming a thing of the past. In fact actually committing to a holiday dress is becoming a little ancient as well. With awesome rental websites popping up all over the place, shopper's can rent something for themselves or allow everyone on their shopping list to rent what they actually want. Some of my favorite rental sites are listed below, take your pick!

Exploring the Fashion Business and NYC: Stoll

Fashion Center

       I started my NYC fun at Stoll, a knitting company right in the garment district. I loved this company because it seemed to handle pretty much every aspect of the knitting business. When you walk in you see a lobby/showroom where you can see everything from the knitting machines to clothes. On your left as you walk through the door you can see some of the company’s knitting machines through a glass window, which was expected because after all Stoll’s main priority is to sell knitting machines. As you continue to walk through you are greeted by a pretty cool and pretty large knitting machine, where we are told that various types of knitting are able to be made. If you walk past the knitting machine you can see Stoll’s sample line, this line of clothing is meant to serve as an example of trends and all that you can do with knits. Each garment was very well made and very soft, and just all around beautiful; if I could of purchased something I definitely would have. On each garment there was also a tag that told you how much time it took to knit the entire garment and to my surprise the dress that I liked most because of its cool details only took nine minutes, which was the shortest time I saw on all the garments in the showroom.
After we walked through the showroom we were taken downstairs where there was a classroom, a sample library, and a production room. In the production room we got to watch a Stoll employee do a little knitting on this extremely fast machine, which was interesting to see because I have tried to use the knitting machines we have at school and it was not easy. I just remember thinking that to keep this large machine on track it must take a lot of hard work, because I know firsthand that losing a stitch while your knitting can really mess you up. After we watched the knitting demonstration our tour guide explained to us why they have a classroom; students come for a two day boot camp on how to knit, these students are either fashion students, industry professionals looking to sharpen their skills, or just people who enjoy knitting. After that we were given free rein in their sample library where we saw everything from fabric swatches to full garments. Then to end our trip we were shown a few of the pieces from Stoll’s modern nomad and unisex collections, and I loved every piece! We were shown sweaters that turned into vests and bags, as well as sweaters that could be made slender for a woman or wider for a man. All of the clothes were pretty cool and actually perfect for a college student because you could wear each item a different way and save money. As you can see Stoll is not just a knitting company but an entire manufacturing/branding machine. In one building there is an opportunity for you to learn how to knit, find out what the current trends are for knitwear, buy a knitting machine, and even have your sample garments made up for your next fashion show. I definitely know Stoll will be my first and only destination if I ever pick up knitting as a hobby.

Writing a Business Plan in the Fashion and Beauty Industry

Lori Greiner: The Queen of QVC

(Entrepreneur.com)

Lori Greiner, got her start with one patent idea and soon turned herself into the QVC queen. She now holds patents for over 400 different products which are constantly featured in Town&Country, and Woman's Day Magazine. One of her silver safe-keeper's was even included on Oprah's Favorite things list. Lori has been featured in Forbes and on television programs like Bloomberg who can't get enough of her success story. But, she isn't just happy sitting at the top of the pyramid she feels it's her duty to give back to budding entrepreneurs, which is part of the reason she has now become a part of the Shark Tank panel.

Lori Offers the following advice to young entrepreneurs when it comes to creating a business plan and pitch:

1. Be confident, and likable, know your product inside & out. Be prepared & try to practice and be ready for any questions that could possibly come your way about you, your product, or your business idea.

2. Be prepared, enthusiastic, know your idea inside & out, have all the facts, be polite & respectful-be someone people would want to work with. If you're not passionate about your product or idea, no one else will be.

Personal Style Files: Spicing up Floral

So, I woke up with a super busy day ahead of me. I was given the oppurtunity to go to an exlcusive industry panel on campus, and I had a interview at a live venue, and work in between. I had to figure out how to look professional, while showing my personality, since my interview was at an artistic venue. And, of course I wanted to be compfortable so I could go back and forth to work. The following picture showcases the outfit I came up with. I wanted to make this simple floral dress a little more edgy so I threw on my favorite denim vest and some Chloe+Isabel jewelry. 

Dress: Macy's

Denim Vest: Thrifted

Wedges: Macy's

All Jewelry: Chloe+Isabel

Glasses: RayBan

Interested in Becoming a Model?

Modeling opportunity at Full Sail University for Male and Female Models!! All experience levels are 

welcome. Contact me for more information.