The Successful Fashion Designer

After Melissa experienced what she thought was a heart attack while working in the corporate fashion world for over 10 years, she knew she needed to make a big life change. For over two years, she's been working as a freelancer and running her own design agency. She uses her industry network and cold pitching in email to get new clients (including a $15,000 contract from one email!) and in this episode, Melissa shares it all. YOU WILL LEARN How to transition from corporate to freelance fashion design work How to use free resources to educate yourself and build your own business Strategies to get new clients using your current network Using email to pitch and land clients The 4 podcasts Melissa listens to that helped grow her business What you need to do before cold emailing any company or person to offer your services CLICK HERE FOR MELISSA'S PITCH TEMPLATE GUEST INFO & RESOURCES http://www.melissamendezdesignstudio.com/ http://www.womencraftingsuccess.com/ https://www.smartpassiveincome.com/podcasts/ h

If you want to break into the fashion industry, it seems logical that you’d need to go to fashion school. But what if that’s not for you? There are creative ways you can approach opportunities to get your foot in the door. Bjorn shares exactly how to get an interview, and what he’s looking for during that first meeting. These are things you can do on your own (without a fashion school degree) to secure your first opportunity. YOU WILL LEARN: The value of internships and building relationships What to include (and not include) in your portfolio Why Illustrator skills are mandatory – but what other skills you need to survive The skills learned in school vs what’s required in the real world How to better prepare yourself for a job while you’re in school How to create opportunities if you don’t have a fashion school degree Why a curious mind will take you far How to get in touch with Bjorn for guidance (thank you for this generous offer Bjorn!) GUEST INFO & RESOURCES https://www.linkedin.com/in/bjornbengtsso

Trying to make it as a new fashion brand is insanely cutthroat. The competition is fierce and there are hundreds of thousands of designers fighting to be the next big thing. Luckily, there are some simple things you can do to make sure you're miles ahead of the competition. This is part 2 of a two-part interview with Rochelle Behrens who owns The-Shirt.com, a succesful startup fashion label. She shares her best advice and some of the strategies she used to get her brand off the ground...and fast. You will learn: * Why you may not want to get VC funding to launch your fashion label, but other places where you can easily get money * The single most important thing you must do before going into production so you don’t fail before you’ve even started * How to figure out how much product you should buy so you’re not stuck with tons of inventory you can’t sell * The simplest way to to get loads of amazing press coverage, even if you don’t have any connections * The number one thing you’re not doing that will easily

Rochelle Behrens launched her label, The Shirt, almost seven years ago after she saw a gap(e) in the market for properly fitting and fashionable button down shirts. The problem she wanted to solve? It's called "the gape", and some of us know it all too well. After years of working in politics in Washington, DC, Rochelle became frustrated and felt unprofessional in the ill-fitting shirts available in the retail market. So, she ditched her career in politics to pursue a more fashionable one of her own. Not only did she launch a succesful label, she was able to patent the technology. And if you know anything about patents and copyrighting fashion, you know this is no easy task. I'm absolutely thrilled and honored introduce you to her. In part one of this two part interview, she generously shares her insights on breaking into this competitive industry, the challenges of selling online, and the keys to her success. In a competitive and brutal industry like fashion, you know that designers can be very tight lipped