We were lucky to catch up with Vania Soucy recently and have shared our conversation below.

Vania, thanks for taking the time to share your stories with us today Earning a full time living from one’s creative career can be incredibly difficult. Have you been able to do so and if so, can you share some of the key parts of your journey and any important advice or lessons that might help creatives who haven’t been able to yet?

Being an artist is not for the faint at heart. But I don’t see any other way for myself. I can’t remember the last time I had a job. I really love what I do and that’s what makes me feel motivated to start the day. Ever since I sold my first piece ( a tote bag) I knew that I could make a living from that so I never stopped. I sold that bag to a friend, then some other people want to buy my bags, then I did a monthly market, then I joined another market that was bigger and eventually I opened a shop in my hometown Sao Paulo. It was really hard at that time and eventually I moved to NYC with no money and huge dream. In Brooklyn I tried selling my colorful bags but people weren’t very interested but I soon learned about the vintage market and how you could thrift to flip stuff. I then found a place where I bought clothes by the pound and started reworking them. And those sold well at a flea market. I was up-cycling but didn’t even know! I kept doing that obsessively and one day my dream came through: I opened a tiny shop in Williamsburg, BK. From there I moved to a larger space down the street. My store was called Lavai Maria and I had amazing clients from all over the world. Christina Ricci once bought 2 dresses from me! Due to crazy high rent cost I wasn’t able to stay there and now I sell at local markets in NYC. In 2020 I started teaching people how to up-cycle clothes that are modern and attractive. Wardrobe School was born

Vania, 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?

I grew up in a colorful happy country: Brazil. I’m a daughter of a seamstress and grew up watching my family sewing. My mother had 16 siblings. I’m absolutely obsessed with fabric, trims, embroidery, clothing design, thread and everything you can find in a sewing studio. I think that passion had brought me here and my customers feel that when they see my creations. I like to dress people so they get great compliments and have a happy moment with their loved ones.

When it comes to teaching I’ll just repeat what my students say: I am encouraging and I avoid perfectionism at all costs because we must get things done and out there to feel accomplished. Also because English isn’t my first language I explain things in a different way without industry jargons and that makes it easier form them to understand. And above all, my passion for sewing and up-cycling is contagious.

My goal is to get other creators out of their stuckness ( is that a word?). I see many people with passion and great talent but they are so scared to move forward. I think the world will be a better place when we have more small business creating cool stuff that we can buy from each other instead of the big companies. I want to create an army of up-cycling business owners. I was able to build my business from zero several times without even speaking English so I think anyone can do that too

Have you ever had to pivot?

I’ve had to reinvent myself many times specially when I left my family and friends to try a new life in NYC but I think the one that was the most challenging was in 2020. My husband and I went to stay in Vermont for a while and there I didn’t have my bases. No customers, no markets it was all snow and lockdown times! I quickly started doing videos online and created Wardrobe School. It was probably the best thing I’ve ever done. Not only I built a new business that’s 100% online but also I created this amazing community! So many followers that became friends and specially my membership the Remakers where we have monthly calls and it’s my favorite time of the month. Watching the members develop their skills and get courage to go out there and sell their stuff is priceless to me! I learn so much from them as well. I love making clothing and see my customers happy wearing them but It’s been the most rewarding to watch the larger impact I create with Wardrobe School. It goes further- More people up-cycle, more people learn about sustainable fashion and everyone wins!

Any resources you can share with us that might be helpful to other creatives?

Back in the 90’s when I had my business in Sao Paulo I had to rely on word of mouth to reach customers. I got featured in Vogue Brazil, and other magazines and newspapers and thought that was enough. I never tried any marketing!

In 2015 I started learning about online marketing, the difference between branding and direct response marketing, and all of that. It changed my perspective so much! Granted there was no Facebook back then but still there were ways to do marketing but I knew nothing about it and wasn’t interested in it either because I thought that my work was good enough and customers would come to me.

Now the algorithms can drive you nuts but it’s amazing how you can reach people that’d never know about you! I have clients and students from all over the world and I know that if I run ads anytime I can reach new people everywhere.

Contact Info:

• Website: www.wardrobeschool.com
• Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/wardrobeschool/
• Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/wardrobeschool
• Youtube: https://www.youtube.com/channel/UCiMsRXH4l7WMyFioEqsBXjg
• Other: Where to shop my creations online (coming soon): www.vania.nyc