We caught up with the brilliant and insightful Amber Hall a few weeks ago and have shared our conversation below.
Amber, appreciate you joining us today. We’d love to go back in time and hear the story of how you came up with the name of your brand?
At the very beginning when I was dreaming of being a fashion designer a friend at the time wanted to partner with me and we combined our names some way and came up with Sayco brand. I laugh at that now… Ultimately that didn’t happen I started the process on my own and through combining my own name together Anic’ Productions was created and that was my line name for years. In 2018 I decided to take a break from fashion and focus on other things. When I finally committed to coming back in 2022 I knew it was time for change. I didn’t want people to be confused about my brand who I was or what I represented. So in 2022 I rebranded and came back 100% my self and with that the brand Amber Nicole was born.
Awesome – so before we get into the rest of our questions, can you briefly introduce yourself to our readers.
My Name is Amber Nicole, I was born and raised in Columbus Ohio. I started my fashion design journey officially in high school designing my own prom dress as well as another students. While I wasn’t seeing I was drawing and conceptualizing garments. In 2007 I created my very first collection under the name Anic’ Productions. I consider myself a body positive Designer. I created for all sizes but my focus is and has always been plus wear. I want people to know that I’m a verse designer, I don’t just have one viewpoint of designing. I created from where ever my heart leads me. Over the years I’ve shown various different fascists of myself. From swim wear, lingerie to formal gowns to men’s wear. My goal as a designer is to make who ever my client is feel seen, heard and fulfilled when they wear my garments.
How did you build your audience on social media?
To be honest I’m still not at large numbers. I am growing my social media slowly and everyday it’s something I have to remind myself to work on. Initially I wasn’t into social media as much as others especially when it turned into content creation. I’m not the person to be in front of a camera all the time, but that is what people like to see. They want to see you, your processes and how you do things. So work on it everyday. Even if it’s a small clip or a get ready with me. People want to engage with you, you just have to show them how.
Can you talk to us about how you funded your business?
Well honestly I didn’t have the capital all saved, I didn’t aquire a loan to start either. I was a 25 year old single mother who had a dream for a long time. So when I was ready I started finding myself. My mother donated funds to my dream and few of my aunties. I started my brand making multiple trips to the fabric store on paydays. That’s honestly how I got started. I didn’t have grants or loans. I am a self funded brand. I will say please educate yourself on those grants, as my brand continues to grow the assistance of a grant at this point would be beautiful and it would definitely help me continue to grow my business, and equip myself with the materials and equipment you need as a designer to help you grow and perfect your craft.
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