Fashion entrepreneurship looks so glamorous on the outside, but anyone who has their own fashion business knows that it can feel overwhelming and lonely. So many decisions are on you and it feels like you’re alone in the challenges and insecurities you face. In reality, though, I think you’ll find that you’re in good company and share similar stories with so many other fashion business owners in your same situation. It is important to not only work on your business’ health, but also your mental health and mindset. Here are 10 How Fitting podcast episodes featuring the relatable and inspiring stories of 10 different fashion entrepreneurs to support your mindset and sustain your mental health as a fashion business owner.
HF#48 with Ashley Alt of Valt
In this episode, Ashley Alt shares her story of how getting dressed helped her feel more like herself after a time of difficult mental health, and how she’s now started a fashion brand, Valt, to help other women do the same and find joy in dressing up. We talk about how Ashley discovered the power of getting dressed, how Ashley’s writing career helps her communicate the deeper meaning of fashion, and how to be vulnerable as a brand in order to create community.
HF#46 with Sharae Averhart of MoraRae Studios
Sharae Averhart, the designer and business owner behind the plus-size petite fashion brand MoraRae, shares how through all her experience, she has learned to approach fashion design with compassion, empathy, and problem solving. Through her story, you’ll hear about the role fashion has played in Sharae’s journey of self-love and how Sharae learned to be confident in her designs and style work despite criticism.
HF#41 with Lucy Murray of Luluna
A stressful job and complete hair loss led Lucy to start sewing – and then start her own fashion brand. In the episode, Lucy gets vulnerable about her own story that led her to pick up sewing as a hobby as well as her journey towards being a sustainable fashion brand. We also chat about how to maintain your mental health when your hobby becomes your job.
HF#38 with Marquita Chanel of L’Vena Collection
Marquita Chanel is a master of staying true to who she is while balancing building a brand, running a business, and a day job. She shares how she overcomes the fear of putting her work out there to sell and how she curates an image that makes a statement with her handmade jewelry and refashioned vintage creations in L’Vena Collection.
HF#29 with Kimberly Borges and Miriam McDonald of PWRWMN
Best friends and PWR WMN co-founders Kimberly Borges and Miriam McDonald share how they started a blazer company to “decorate the confidence” of working women – no matter what that work looks like – and to encourage women to wear their femininity with power and, of course, plenty of pockets. Kimberly and Miriam are so fun, relatable, and honest. The conversation gets real about where they got the courage to start a business in an industry they knew nothing about, having the confidence to call yourself a founder or business owner, and why they aren’t afraid to fail.
HF#27 with Julia Navarro of wear cOLor
Julia Navarro built her brand, Wear Color, around her life motto. She’s created a business that fits her creativity, strengths, and values as a result. Julia shares her insight on how to balance personal creative passion with business data, define success for yourself and your brand, and more in this episode.
HF#19 with Bria Evans of 31|25 the Label
Bria Evans, the owner and designer of 31|25 THE LABEL, joined me in episode 19 to share what she’s learned about running a fashion business, staying grounded in her purpose, and how she’s giving herself grace in the process. She has so much great advice on setting up a business for future growth, why it’s important to have hobbies that don’t look like your work, and giving yourself space to learn and grow as a solo business owner.
HF#17 with Alessandra Corona of River Left Sleepwear
Founder and designer of the sustainable sleepwear brand River Left, Alessandra Corona, shares how her personal search for the perfect nightgown snowballed into a full-fledged fashion brand and how that sometimes-messy process has stretched her knowledge, grown her network, and even landed her in major publications less than half a year after the brand launched. In this episode, you’ll hear how Alessandra gained the confidence to learn new things for her business and how to ask other people for help on things you don’t know.
HF#9 with Emily Harris of Mrs. Emily
Ever going deeper about our relationship with our clothes (and with our work and ourselves), Emily Harris challenges traditional fashion culture and encourages women to discover and protect the truest version of themselves with her brand Mrs. Emily. In our conversation, Emily talked about the lies that fashion culture tells us and what she is doing to debunk those myths, what fuels her as an entrepreneur, and the silver linings of slow growth.
HF#4 with Katrina Bennett of Katrina Z’Chori
Katrina Bennett is a Fiber Artist, Fashion Designer, and the owner of Katrina Z’Chori – a brand of handmade wearable art. In our conversation, you’ll hear why storytelling is a big part of how she communicates her brand as well as what she does for herself during slow times in her business to be ready for future growth.