Start with your hobbies, do you like to fiddle with rocks and stones? I know one girl who loved to collect rocks and since she had so many rocks lying around she started making them into jewelry. Which led to her opening up her own jewelry line. My uncle Penti liked to sit and widdle. He started to widdle spoons and then people started to ask him if they could purchase his spoons. So that became his business. His wife Hannah loved to weave rugs, so she ended up with a rug business. If you don’t currently have a hobby, think about what you like to do. Do you love talking? Believe it or not, this is a talent. My son would never be caught dead up on stage talking to an audience, I, on the other hand, put a microphone in my hand and I’m all over it. Probably one of the reasons why I’m doing this podcast. I actually always thought everyone loved to be up on stage until I had a son and found out that not everyone likes to do what I like to do. So if you like being up on stage what about being a speaker or actor or a sales representative? Maybe you love a good party, what about being an event planner? Do you love to travel? You could be a travel planner or travel writer. Perhaps you love to cook what about a career as a caterer, a chef, or a food truck operator?
There are so many possibilities out there. You just have to find out what you love to do.
If fashion is your passion, there are many roads you can follow.
As a business owner in fashion, I pretty much held every position you can think of in the field of fashion. Business owners, wear many hats. So, if you want to start your own business, just know, you’ll have to spread yourself thin between various fields that go into making a business. I had to know my accounting to read the bottom line. I was a salesperson so I could teach my staff how to sell my goods; a fashion and product designer, a real estate developer, a retail store layout designer. You name it, I did it.
Let’s take a look at just what positions are available in fashion. I want you to see that within a certain field, there are many available. So, if you like a certain field, but you don’t necessarily like a certain position within that field, keep looking because there are plenty of other jobs out there within that same field. For instance, in the fashion field, you have fashion models, boutique owners, chain store owners, sales consultants, trend forecasters, stylists, digital media fashion specialists, data analysts, product developers, fashion writers, style show coordinators, fashion photographers, CAD designers, technical designers, print designers, fabric researchers, sustainability officers, authenticity experts, fashion psychologists, merchandise planners, creative directors, fashion pubic relation coordinators, retail buyers, fashion designers, pattern makers, graphic designers, art directors, market researchers, window display visual merchandisers, sourcing specialists, costume designers . . . I could go on forever. If you don’t like a certain position but you like the field that it is in, there are so many more opportunities . . . so keep looking. If I just mentioned a fashion career that you liked and you would like to look more into what it entails, I will put a link on my website that will tell you more about it. Click here for more information on these various fields of fashion.
So start with what you love and then decide where you want to take your passion. That’s the best way to make sure you will be successful.
And sometimes you won’t get it right the first time. You may try something and figure out, this really isn’t me. At that time, it’s time to move on. After I sold my company in the fashion industry, once my non-compete clause was over, I thought I would jump right back into the fashion industry. Then I thought, maybe I should try something new. I was having trouble getting my bed sheets to stay on my bed, and thought “AHA! I’m a designer, I can make bed sheets that actually stay on your bed!” So I did and I even got a patent for them. Then I started researching fabrics. If you knew what you were sleeping in, you would have nightmares. Most bed sheets contain toxins. If they say things like, non-iron, permanent press, or non-wrinkle, that’s formaldehyde in your bed sheets. Formaldehyde is a cancer-causing carcinogen. So I decided to only make bed sheets that contain NO harmful chemicals. Then I found a place in Xinjiang (located next to Tibet) that handpicks cotton. When you handpick cotton, you end up with extra long fibers. When you have bed sheets with extra long fibers in them, there are fewer connections in the fibers, which means less pilling. Also, extra-long-staple cotton fabric breathes keeping you cool when you need it and warm when you don’t.
So there you have it, I now have bed sheets that contain no toxins (whereas 75% of other manufacturers put toxins in their bed sheets). DeBora Rachelle bed sheets actually stay on your bed. And they are one of the most luxurious fabrics in 100% cotton on the market today. If you’d like a set, check out www.DeBoraRachelle.com. Use coupon code BFT15 and you’ll receive 15% off your first order just for listening.
I also designed a patented duvet cover (called Zip Zip Flip). I’ll talk about this in future podcasts. With these products, I learned a lot during the process and had fun doing it. But believe me, once I designed a sheet set, I wasn’t totally in love with the idea of staying with bed sheets all my life. After all, it is just a square piece of fabric. And I missed the draping, design, the creativity that goes into making evening gowns. So I pursued licensing the bed sheets to another company that does have a passion for bed sheets. It’s a win-win for both of us.
You have to love what you do. You have to have a passion for it in order to be successful in it. Then have the confidence in yourself to go after it. If you don’t believe in yourself and go for it, it will never happen. No one else can do this for you. You have to do this yourself. There will always be nay-sayers. If I would have listened to what other people said, I wouldn’t be where I am today. Granted some people will offer sound advice, but just know everyone is different, what works for one person may not work for another. If a person has a passion for what they are doing that eliminates half the battle of being able to succeed in what they are doing. There were plenty of times I didn’t listen to my own intuitions and I could just kick myself for all the opportunities I lost out on.
I’ll never forget the first time I decided to invest in stock. I went into a stockbroker thinking ‘he knows what he’s doing.’ However, when I got there he talked me out of investing in the eBay stock I wanted to invest in. I figured he was the expert and so I purchased the Dell stock he was so adamant about. Well, the Dell company fell apart and tanked. The original owner, Michael Dell, took back the company buying the stock that I had invested in for pennies on the dollar. Meanwhile, the eBay stock doubled, then tripled, then split — it was one of the highest performing stocks that year. Do I regret investing with that stockbroker? No, not really, it taught me a very valuable lesson, to go with my own gut, believe in myself, because if you don’t, it very rarely ends up good. And, this set me up for my next win.
Right after that, I wanted to invest in some residential land that I thought one day would go commercial. My husband was very adamant that I don’t do that. I did it anyway. That’s another nice thing about having your own company, you have your own money to spend the way you want to spend it. So I had my company buy the real estate. My husband kept saying, if you make anything on that house, I’ll kiss your butt in public. I put renters in that house and never spent one penny. The tenants paid for the mortgage payments and anything that went wrong with the house (such as changing out the water heater). The property did eventually go commercial, and I put it on the market. I got back 4x what I had paid for it. On top of that, it only took one day to sell. My husband still owes me that kiss. It’s definitely not the biggest transaction that I have ever done, but it’s the one that gave me the most glory because it was the one that others said I would not be successful in.
You are what you believe you are. If you believe in yourself and see yourself in a positive light, others will see that emotion come through and see you in a positive light also. If on the other hand you constantly put yourself down, others will see that as well. They will think if you hate yourself, then must not be worthy and chances are, they’ll treat you like you treat yourself. If you’re positive about yourself and what’s going on around you, you’ll begin to see your surroundings as a better place and in a different light. Everything rubs off. An ancient Chinese philosopher and writer named Lao Zhu once said, “ Change your thoughts change your life.” I’m a firm believer in this —- if you can change your thoughts, even if it’s about yourself, your life can take a whole new direction . . . change your thoughts, change your life.
And I’ll be right here every week trying to help you achieve your dream. I want you to be successful in what you do because if we all get to lead the lives we want to live, enjoying our work like its a vacation, imagine what a wonderful world this would be. Everyone happy, everyone loving life, everyone doing what they love to do. I cannot think of anything better — can you? So get out there and make your dreams happen by doing what you love. And I’ll be right here with Business Fashion Tips, trying to cheer you on.
BusinessFashionTips.com publishes a new podcast on the first Tuesday of every month before 5 am. So you have time to download it before you commute to work or while you’re getting ready to start your day.
The Business Fashion Tips podcast is designed to be informational and motivational. It’s directed towards entrepreneurs, small business owners and college business, management, and fashion students. It’s meant to inspire, educate, and empower others to take the plunge into business and thrive.
I’ll be tossing in important points about fashion designers, what they contributed to the business and fashion world and why they’re important. If you think about it, nothing reveals more about a person than their mood, their attitude, and their personality than what they are wearing. Everyone is involved in the fashion business from one aspect or another. From a business standpoint, some of the world’s most coveted brands are fashion designers and I don’t know of one business that doesn’t want to become a coveted brand. That’s what business is all about. Establishing your brand, making yourself known and trusted to the world, so they buy your products and become loyal followers. So whether you’re into technology, food products, a service, or clothing, our podcast in some fashion will pertain to all of these in some way, shape, or form. Fashion designers are visionary brand makers.
They are original thinkers who left an incredible mark on our world. And they all use the same template; which is our body. Can you think of a harder product to design for than that of a moving form like the body? Fashion designers have to create a garment that moves with us. Whether our body is running, sitting, or standing, fashion designers have to deal with it all. What can be harder than a moving template?
I have to admit, I’m amazed at many products, like flash drives for instance. Look at how small technology is getting. These products don’t run walk or move or make it difficult to work with, but they sure are incredible.
For fun, I made a little 4 question quiz for you to take. It’s on our website at either businessfashiontips.com. Each question is worth 3 points. Collect up to 130 points under one email address by December 15, 2022 and I’ll send you a free gift by the end of the year. Feel free just to take the quizzes for fun. Just to see what you’ve learned from that podcast.
If you have any questions you’d like me to answer regarding business or fashion, leave a voice message at the end of the episode notes below, and I’ll be happy to answer as many questions as I can. Who knows you may even be on my next podcast. Thanks for listening, I’ll talk to you next week.
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