ROBIN
name: robin
age you feel: 21
occupation: entrepreneur, i have 3 businesses
hobbies: shopping, hiking, doing youtube videos
CAREER
TGM: you said you're an entrepreneur, tell us about your first business venture
R: my first business venture was when i was in college, i started an online e-commerce shop called vintage expresso. i only sold vintage clothing. and i liked it, but it was just one of one, everyone wanted this one piece and when it would sell out i had nothing to sell. so i thought to myself, why not change the business model. so i created a market place where we house a bunch of independent labels and then we get a commission from it. it's a very successful business for me
TGM: how did you choose to pursue that
R: the vintage part was very special to me because my grandmother passed away and she was very wealthy and she left me with all this beautiful jewelry, and i said why not sell the less sentimental items and keep the rest. so i started to sell that on my site and it did very well
TGM: business savvy! so what about the women empowerment agency
R: i've always been very charitable. i was a pre-med student at syracuse university and during that time we were required to volunteer a certain number of hours. that stuck with me. i loved helping others since i was in high school. helping someone else made me feel like i was fulfilling one of my purposes. even though i didn't go to medical school after graduating, i knew that i would pursue that on my own. so me and my business partner decided to create this thing where we did an interscholastic tour, we went into schools in underserved communities and put on these big events for little girls where we brought powerful women to come speak to them
TGM: you know we love that! now tell us about your latest business, the studio
R: i just opened it! so its really new. it was created partly for my business so that we have a space where i could shoot content for my website. i partnered up with some guys i know and opened up this space. knowing the importance of a social presence we created a team that could provide services to other brands who are looking to grow in that space. the studio will also serve as a space for photographers to shoot their own content
TGM: where would you like to take your entrepreneurship in the next couple of years
R: the business model for my online marketplace is like an etsy, an amazon... an ebay. so i'd like to make it that big! basically be a one-stop shop and have that many products for anybody to buy. and in regards to my women empowerment agency, it's not a not for profit, so i'd love to get more people who are like myself involved in it. those who want to give out of the kindness of their heart. dedicate some of their time. and that would allow us to take this all over the country
TGM: what helps differentiate you and your businesses from other people doing something similar, like the other marketplaces
R: that's a good question! so what's going to start to happen at the beginning of fall, is that we are going to start offering branding consultation services for the brands who sell in our marketplace. we want to help them with everything from pre-production to manufacturing. for our customers we're going to start offering a styling service. it's an added value that we feel people will appreciate and it will help differentiate us from other websites
TGM: what's one piece of advice you'd give yourself on the first day of your first job
R: {laughs} to myself? i'd say - be patient. the reason i say that is because i want things to happen fast, but i'd say be patient and let things happen like they're supposed to
TGM: what's the funnest part about being an entrepreneur
R: just being a creative, coming up with ideas is the best thing ... and then learning! reading books and articles that teach me to be a better business woman. i can't go to sleep sometimes i'm reading so much
TGM: tell us the hardest part about being an entrepreneur
R: learning to let the team that you hired do their job. i always want to do it myself because i trust me! so learning that you cannot do it alone and putting trust in others
TGM: if you weren't pursuing these things, what would you be doing
R: i'd be a doctor! i know it sounds random but as i mentioned that's what i went to school for... i always think to myself 'you can always go back'
TGM: are there any things you learned as a pre-med student that were transferable to what you're doing now
R: i'd say that even if i was a doctor i still wanted to have my own practice. so the entrepreneurship mindset has always been there. and i'd also say that as a pre-med student i was not scared to put in the time for the education, same with growing my businesses
TGM: what's one piece of advice you'd give a young woman who is starting her own business
R: how you do one thing is how you do everything else... so even if the job is for free, if you give it your all it will translate into everything that you do after, it will multiply into something else
STYLE
TGM: there's a fire in your apartment and you can only save three items, what are they
R: the very first piece i made, which is a jumpsuit, i found this white crazy fabric and i was like you know what? i want to make this into something i can wear. its so special to me. the other two would be this LV bag and my cartier ring which i never take off
TGM: name your favorite stores to shop at
R: i hate shopping at actual stores, but if i had to choose i'd say zara. i do all my shopping online, and tend to shop on asos
TGM: what's one thing you'd pass down to your future daughter
R: my first pair of louboutin shoes! i know it sounds bougie BUT! i was actually in paris so they are significant to me because of that trip
TGM: if you could do a collaboration with any makeup brand, which would it be
R: probably tarte
TGM: and what are three names from the line in this brand collaboration
R: slay, flawless and werk!
TGM: whose closet would you raid if you had a chance to
R: rihanna
TGM: if you could sit in the from row of a NYFW show, which would it be
R: i like DKNY and or kanye west
TGM: describe your style in one word
R: fly... {laughs}
JUST FOR FUN
TGM: what's your favorite smell
R: my chloe perfume
TGM: your favorite song to be seduced to
R: some old pretty ricky {laughs}, i'm kidding! i'd say maxwell - whenever, wherever, whatever
TGM: you win a trip around the world, what's your last stop
R: thailand
TGM: tell us the top five apps on your phone
R: snapchat, instagram, vsco, youtube and pinterest
TGM: who's your favorite person to follow on social
R: skye townsend, she's hilarious
TGM: rih is featuring you in a song, what do you name the track
R: twins, because we both have the same first name
TGM: your memoir just dropped, what do you call it
R: diary of a dope black woman
TGM: you're breaking up with drake how do you do it
R: i wouldn't! {laughs}
TGM: favorite cartoon cereal combo
R: spongebob - all time fav and frosted flakes cereal
TGM: you're doing a ted talk, what is it on
R: the importance of giving back
TGM: hollywood is calling, who do you cast to play your role and what is the genre
R: well i get told i look like jada pinkett often, so i'd cast her and the genre is drama!
LETS GET PERSONAL
TGM: when was the last time you had a good cry and what was it about
R: i had a good cry when i lost 20 thousand pictures from my phone. i lost all these great photos, including of my dog when he was still a puppy. it made me so sad
TGM: what scares the shit out of you
R: spiders, i cannot even see a cartoon, i'd die
TGM: what makes you feel vulnerable
R: seeing homelessness and seeing people in a state where they can't support themselves
TGM: name something about yourself that you love
R: my personality
TGM: name something about yourself you're working on
R: being a good wife to somebody one day
TGM: name something about yourself you've made peace with
R: my flaws, i know who i am ... finally
TGM: being on social and having a big following, what's one misconception you feel people have about you
R: that what i post is all i do, that i'm not out here doing other things... i dont put my entire life on social media, i just put what i want them to see
TGM: what's one thing you want the world to know about you
R: that i'm a real honest genuine person, and i always used to say 'i wish i could meet everyone in the world because their whole perception of me would change' - because a picture does no justice
TGM: you have a post-it, write your 12 year old self a note
R: don't get stuck on one vision. i wanted to be a doctor at that point but i did not know that this would happen with my career, so be more flexible and open minded
TGM: you have a post-it, write your 80 year old self a note
R: you did good girl!
TGM: what was the hardest part about moving across the country to los angeles from dc
R: not being with my family. i'm an only child but i love my parents. my mom is my best friend. being away from them is really hard, but she comes out here to visit so that helps
TGM: finish these sentences... i love ___
R: God
TGM: los angeles is ___
R: home
TGM: my family is ___
R: love
TGM: all i want is___
R: success
TGM: my girlfriends are ___
R: dope
loved Robin? follow her on:
IG: therobinb
website: www.shop-vx.com
