We recently connected with Kerry Rampersad and have shared our conversation below.

Kerry, appreciate you joining us today. Are you happier as a business owner? Do you sometimes think about what it would be like to just have a regular job?

Being a business owner is such a liberating feeling, however I am not only a business owner I work full time. My company is a seasonal company which last about 1/2 the year. So, let’s just say it’s best of both worlds. Being a business owner is hard work, people say all the time I hate working for people it’s so much work we’ll try working for yourself lol. It takes more discipline because if you don’t get it done who will? You work harder as an entrepreneur long days and sleepless nights. There have been many times I wanted to just give up and say why am I doing this but every time I complete a project I know why!! Most entrepreneurs would say it’s most gratifying feeling when you’ve accomplished the work you have set out to do for yourself. It’s the most ultimate reward. When a passion fuels you it’s enough to power the world.

Kerry, before we move on to more of these sorts of questions, can you take some time to bring our readers up to speed on you and what you do?

My name is Kerry Rampersad, and I am the owner of Vibez and Vision. My journey has been oh so nontraditional. Teen mom, who immediately started in the corporate world and later went to college and received my Bachelors Degree in Marketing and a Master Degree in Business Administration. Although I work in corporate my passion and fire to be an entrepreneur never diminished so I took a jump and went for it.

Vibez and Vision is a company that makes Caribbean Carnival costumes for the Atlanta Caribbean Carnival parade and currently have expanded to the New Orleans market which we are extremely excited about. 

I had the opportunity back in 2016/2017 to model for an Atlanta Mas Band and then started assisting them with costume making. I took a great interest in the craft and received the opportunity to be their guest designer one year. In 2018 I decided to branch out on my own and create my own dream team. My best friend and I came up with the name Vibez and Vision it described the positive energy we wanted to exude and the vision that would unfold through my costumes.

I take pride in not outsourcing my work, not only do I plan and execute the logistics of the parade day, but I create the costumes and reproduce them as well, which I have a great team who assist with the reproduction in house. This does become a challenge as it’s tedious work to recreate these costumes. The challenges of being a costume designer is finding jewels and feathers at a reasonable price that you can get in mass quantity in a timely fashion! Distributors discontinue items or there are delays which can be super stressful to redirect and make it work. But it’s all in a day’s work. Discipline is key because one thing you don’t want to happen is not being able to produce the costumes by carnival day so with this work come sleepless nights and long days! Let’s just say January to May can be exhausting but so liberating when we are done. 

I also take pride in the customer service we provide. It’s super important to me to make sure that each person gets the quality and service they paid for. This is not just a costume they receive but an experience! 

What stands out to me the most with the work I do is transforming people’s self-confidence. When they put on their costumes it’s a sense of freedom and a becoming that shines through. Even with my models who have the opportunity to see the costumes before the public they have told me how amazing my designs have made them feel. That alone is fulfilling to me and warms my heart that I made many women of all shapes and sizes feel beautiful, confident, and free!

My love for my culture, my creative passion, and my fire inside to be and entrepreneur drives me to continue to make costumes and be in the industry. We are excited for the years to come and our new traveling journey. 

How’d you build such a strong reputation within your market?

It was super fun building our reputation, the newbies as we were at the time came out the gate swinging. My goal was to not just have a brand but build a family that would go to the Caribbean functions which we call band launches where each band as we call a troupe who participates in the carnival present their costumes for the first time. At these events it’s a party first then the costume showcase. At any time, I would have 8-12 team members present all wearing the Vibez and Vision brand T-shirt’s and we would be the hype of the party dancing laughing and just enjoying life while marketing the brand and having a great time. It all ties back to our name Vibez and Vision. We definitely wanted to bring the Vibez and that we did. We gained momentum by people seeing that energy at each launch we attended. Not only was it fun but built a bond. Many friendships have been birth from Vibez and Vision.

Okay – so how did you figure out the manufacturing part? Did you have prior experience?

Before 2017 I had no prior experience of costume making. I learned a lot from others mistakes and making some of my own. As each year passed by, I gained more in skill, efficiency, and quality. We take pride in manufacturing our costumes from scratch in house. I draw out my designs and then begin the research on what jewels and feathers I can find that will be available in bulk as well as providing great quality. The challenge of producing your costumes in house is that it can be very time consuming so working full time while doing this is very much a challenge for me. Long days and sleepless nights. But the beauty of creating my costumes from scratch is the pride I take in touching each piece and seeing the mass of people wear them knowing we completed this task it’s very fulfilling. It also sets us aside from a lot of the competitors as others outsource which come with a plethora of possible challenges you lose control of completion.

Contact Info:

• Website: www.Vibeznvision.com
• Instagram: www.instagram.com/vibezandvision
• Facebook: Www.Facebook.com/vibezandvision
• Youtube: https://m.youtube.com/@vibezvisionmasband5344