Last week I had the pleasure of being interviewed by fellow lady bosses from Streddo– an LA-based consultant company that offers free resources for emerging brands and designers. Amazing! I’m so impressed with how this company supports up-and-coming brands.
Streddo’s podcast Fashion Insiders features a variety of experts who share advice for running a successful fashion brand, a MUST-LISTEN to every emerging and growing designer and fashion entrepreneur. “With an intelligent and fool-proof approach to all aspects of the industry, ranging from social media marketing to overseas manufacturing, each episode is led by seasoned fashion experts such as designers, manufacturers, buyers, stylists, technology experts, lawyers, photographers and much more,” describes the Streddo team. Legit.
I sat down with my gal pal Communications Operations Manager Claire Berngartt, Director for Brand Development & Ecommerce Lauren Franks and Streddo’s Creative Board Chairman Heidi Kujawa. We chatted about my experience as a graduate of FIDM/Fashion Institute of Design & Merchandising for a frank discussion about the choice to attend fashion college.
Full disclosure: I do work at FIDM and wouldn’t if I hadn’t loved my experience, so obviously my opinion is pretty biased and favorable toward FIDM. Secondarily, I should mention that this interview is not endorsed or promoted by FIDM– the opinions expressed herein are totally my own. Disclaimers aside– it was truly an honor to be in the presence of such well-spoken, intelligent, witty and driven women! And can’t wait to share a couple more episodes on the topic of social media best practices in the very near future.
This opportunity is truly a testament to the power of sharing your work with those nearest and dearest to you. Claire and I have spent time together here and there (our sig others went to college together), but this never would have come about had I not been sharing updates about my new site Social Media Republic on my personal social channels. Yay, networking via social media! And– thanks, Claire. 🙂
Check out the episode below– and leave a review on iTunes to help support the ‘cast. I think the Streddo team is even running a little contest for those who leave a review between now and February.
Subscribe to Streddo’s “Fashion Insiders” Podcast
Twenty years of fashion experience in 20 minutes.
Mani O'Brien
Storyteller and Virgo
LA-based social media marketer and brand journalist Mani O’Brien spends her downtime raising a small human and ranting on this blog. Here you’ll find frequent cursing, a self-indulgent analysis of her 30-something existence as a wife, mother, Millennial, digital marketer and astrology-obsessed feminist.More Stories
Second Glance
With all of the distractions that we face every single moment of these overly informed, visually over-saturated, social media/Internet-driven modern day lives, it’s hard to stay focused.
When it comes to creation of any kind– whether it’s art/writing/design/fashion/music… I think a good rule of thumb is to attempt to make it worth the second read, a second glance, a second visit, a second listen– worth a second second in a world in which time is everything.
Personally, this theory translates to my everyday life decisions. Don’t do anything that’s just not worth your precious seconds. Here’s to staying true to yourself, and to having integrity in everything you do.
“Be daring, be different, be impractical, be anything that will assert integrity of purpose and imaginative vision against the play-it-safers, the creatures of the commonplace, the slaves of the ordinary.” -Cecil Beaton
Image via: Tang Yau Hoong
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10 Emotional Stages of Anyone Who’s Ever Had to Move
Congratulations! You’re moving into a brand new home. Let the decorating ideas begin. If you can survive the move first.
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Another Year, Another Fucking Blog
I’ll admit that I’m a failed blogger. And yet I can’t help to do it, so here we are. I don’t know how in my 33 years of living (especially during the 17 of which was under the roof of my late-poet-father) I’ve never heard this quote by William Faulkner until recently – “If a story is in you it has to come out.”
The phrase sums up the reason I’m here, typing this. Writing literally haunts me. Call it compulsive or whatever. I’ve journaled consistently since I was eight years old and writing to me is the equivalent to my coffee or alcohol consumption. I suppose I could live without writing, but it would take a convulsive detoxing process. Just kidding about the alcohol thing (I think). The point is, I can’t help but write. It’s a bit of a curse, really.
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