Fashion Meets Founders

Speaker 1: [Music] the core wardrobe really is the secret to getting dressed because once you have the core wardrobe you can one create unlimited amount of outfits with just those pieces and then you can adding fun special pieces that is the secret to getting dressed and it really is less is more hi I'm Melanie bar welcome to the shiled experience with Melanie you're here because you want to EXP experience the life and business that you crave join me as I talk to women who have successfully built it the career and business that they love we dive into the topic of how they built it and talk about everything from Having the courage to make career leaps to the details of how to lead effectively create successful teams Implement strategies for growth and Infuse Tech Innovation magic happens when we focus on the part of ourselves and our business that brings us joy so let's Dive In thank you for joining us dilia you started your career at Versace in men's wholesale then at Barney's New York at the buying team did you always know that you wanted to go into fashion and what

Speaker 2: Drew you to it what drew me to it is that it's fastpaced it seems so exciting it's everchanging and the thought of moving to New York City to pursue a career in fashion seemed dreamy yes so when I was in college actually being surrounded by my sarty sisters and different peers and they all had multiple Majors that they were pursuing and also careers I needed to figure out what I wanted to do I came up with I'm going to move to New York and work in fashion and so that's what I did after lots and lots of networking and consistently connecting with people on LinkedIn having conversations with them to ask about what are your roles and responsibilities C and cons of your role so that I could try to figure out I want to work in fashion but which part of the industry and what company would

Speaker 1: be right for me and I love that you said LinkedIn because sometimes I think that platform can be overlooked as far as making connections and meeting the right people when you want to make a career or business leap I literally attribute my career to that because it is a phenomenal networking platform for professionals so for me to be able to go on there and find people I made a list of all the companies that I would be interested in working at and then I would connect with them and if they would accept me it's so much better to have a warm connection at a company instead of me going on the Barney's HR page and just submitting my

Speaker 2: resume Not only was I learning so much about the industry and each position and getting to meet people in the industry when I'm living in Virginia you also have an actual person that you've met that can forward your resume potentially when the time is right when You' ready

Speaker 1: to get a job I love that you did that because it's the same when you are finding clients too you know you want that warm introduction and not necessarily to always go through the traditional path so I think that's good advice for finding a career or finding

Speaker 2: clients I agree it's all about meeting people and connecting and figuring out how does it make sense to work together

Speaker 1: tell us about the pivotal moment when you decided to make your leap like we say it she built it and launch your business what did that moment feel like for

Speaker 2: you so it was very organic and it was less of a I'm going to launch a business and it was more of a I'm going to start a blog to have a creative Outlet because when you're working on the buying team that can be very analytical the creative part and getting to go out into Market is a small percentage of your job and so that allowed me to continue to work on my favorite aspects of the job and also share any knowledge that I had about how I got into fashion and what is it like when you're in it so had the blog still had the full-time job my mother and co-founder ended up starting a blog as well that then we combined and brought to life you video and audio and created the motherdaughter business called the style that binds us so it was never like the we're gonna start a company and it was just kind of more this organic thing that happened and evolved and then I said to Mom we are going to Fashion month it is my dream to get to go to London blond and Paris Fashion Week starting in New York and at Barney's it could take me years to climb the ladder and who knows how long that's going to take so why don't we just go instead of

Speaker 1: waiting for my time I love that you didn't wait you just went for it and you're so right sometimes we get stuck in a job or doing something for our business that we think we want to do but it's missing that little piece of us so it's so great that you started the blog to make sure that it was you know that you were being your whole and true self

Speaker 2: and also sometimes depending on the company culture it could be with your mental health just depends but instead of me being deia 100 % Barney and there's a whole psychological thing about associating yourself with a company and that role well what happens if you leave your job or whatever ends up happening so that allowed me to separate myself a little bit I could have my own thing and also have this job so I do feel that that can get you to a healthier place instead of leaving if the environment isn't exactly what you were hoping for or you're getting a lot

Speaker 1: of nose or whatever that may be I love it such good advice you work with Brands to craft their wholesale directed consumer and marketing strategies what is your approach to working with clients and how does your approach help them

Speaker 2: improve their business yes exactly so when I left Barney I was reflecting on my time there what was my favorite thing about working there one of those things was discovering emerging Brands launching them and closely partnering with them helping them to grow I've seen the successes and the failures I know the pros and cons of wholesale I know the ins and outs and I was the person that people were trying to pitch and get inv run up if their dream was to be sold

Speaker 1: at Barney or Burg I know what my goals are and what I'm looking for so I felt like I could really help Brands to avoid expensive mistakes and heartaches how many times did my vendors call me crying on the phone over something that happened yes and it's a hard industry it's a very tough it's a tough industry of course so I wanted to really help Brands so whether they want to pursue wholesale or with their direct to consumer and marketing how do they get the message out how do they create a brand identity that is unique to them how do they stand apart from their competition how do they get the sales that they're looking for so whatever it is that they're trying to do if I can help and I have the knowledge and information that is where it works really well with my Consulting clients

Speaker 2: and it's great that you do that for clients because getting the clothing made is hard enough and then you add on the strategy and the sales because a lot of people go into clothing because they just want to design and create but there's the whole other side of sales and marketing and actually selling the products too and this is not something that is taught in school for artists for designers this whole business part and the marketing part they just learn how to design but then the whole business part of it I feel like that's a huge Miss at these schools they also have to really you should spend 20% of time creating and 80% of time selling and promoting and most often that is is very much flipped you are a motherdaughter duo in your company how does it feel to be able to build a company with your

Speaker 1: mother it's lovely it's being an entrepreneur it's the journey there's so many ups and downs and to get to experience it with her is really special so I'm thrilled that we got to do that and we're on this adventure together I

Speaker 2: have an eight-year-old daughter and I can only imagine it would be so much fun

Speaker 1: yeah even just last night she says I don't never want to live without my mom and I'm like well I hope you always feel like I mean I know she won't always that way and I want her to go fly and do everything in her life but it would be so much fun I would think and you know

Speaker 2: someone that you could be honest and real with I'm sure that has to be

Speaker 1: helpful oh yes and you know they've got your back I mean it's not something where like if you go into a business with your friend or whatever maybe at some point the tables will turn and that relationship can sour and that does happen but when it's family you're in it to win it you're stuck together for life

Speaker 2: I will be honest I love clothes but I'm the wor Shopper you support women to take the stress out of getting dressed how are

Speaker 1: you able to do this so Mom is a personal stylist and so what she does when she works with her clients she does a closet edit so you figure out what to keep what to give away or donate and then you get a Core wardrobe the core wardrobe really is the secret to getting dressed because once you have the core wardrobe you can one create unlimited amount of outfits

Speaker 2: with just those pieces and then you can add in the fun special pieces that is the secret to getting dressed and it really is less is more so it's not always having the biggest wardrobe in closet isn't necessarily even the goal so that is how she works with clients to take the stress out of

Speaker 1: getting dress I love how you both bring your unique strengths to the business so your mom is the stylist are you more on the marketing brand strategy side

Speaker 2: exactly right so I business is both B2B and B Toc so the B2B part is the behind the scenes me Consulting with Brands and then Mom working with women in their closet she also works with Executives to create a core work wardrobe public speaking all that and then also Brides wedding styling and then the media portion of the business is all the fashion related content through our podcast newsletter website social media

Speaker 1: all the things I love how you bring in your strength to combine them together

Speaker 2: so much fun thank you right it's interesting because we had separate careers and then we smooshed them together to kind of create this fashion ecosystem I love it so much fun you have

Speaker 1: a passion for speaking about fashion and judging competitions what inspires your

Speaker 2: drive to do this I'm insanely grateful for the people who gave me their time when coming from Alabama living in Virginia going to college and I was trying to break into this industry and from day one I was thrust on the inside of this very exclusive opaque sometimes you can't sit with us Fashion World and I wanted to share the information and access that I had with others that started with the blog and then me talking about how I got into fashion what is it like when you're in it and that then led to the style that binds us magic happens when we focus on the part of ourselves and our business that brings us joy what is one way that you make sure to find and live your joy each day I have a list so paying attention what is it that makes you happy and so when you do maybe you have a moment and you're like oh what should I do how should I feel the time but just know the things that make you happy and then make sure to incorporate them in your day and so if you're someone who like me I feel like I always need to be productive I always need to be doing something so I would maybe listen to a business podcast while getting ready over listening to music because listening to music I'm not learning anything but it makes me very happy I love love love music so maybe sometimes I do need to switch give myself permission to listen to music and kind of dance around the apartment and get the mood set for the day so just figure out what makes you happy incorporate that into your day and the same thing with your business just think about like what are your favorite things about your job that's what I did when I was at Barney and then could you or how could you create a company that allows you to do all of those favorite things because you might not be able to do that at your job or there's the whole thing of an entrepreneur so you still work at a company but you can kind of be an entrepreneur within the company so it's going to look different for everyone I

Speaker 1: love that and I love that you gave yourself permission and space to dream oh gosh sure I'm such a big yes I love it I love it you kept learning but you also kept that dreaming open your energy is infectious and it's going to carry you through You're Building such a fun business I'm so happy for you and your mother thank you for joining us today please tell our listeners how and

Speaker 2: where they can find you yes so I'm IIA folk the co-founder of the style that finds us we have a website we have all the social channels along with the blog links to the podcast YouTube channel stth bind.com is a great

Speaker 1: Hub thank you for joining us today I'd love to hear from you reach out to me at hello Sheil it.com on our Sheed website or at Sheed on social thank you to my editor Rich draino who always makes us sound good until next time let nothing stop you from experiencing the life and business that you crave [Music]