We’re excited to introduce you to the always interesting and insightful Akilah Skukura. We hope you’ll enjoy our conversation with Akilah below.

Akilah , thanks for joining us, excited to have you contributing your stories and insights. What sort of legacy are you hoping to build. What do you think people will say about you after you are gone, what do you hope to be remembered for?

Honestly, it’s not really something I’ve given a lot of thought to. I’m a small-town girl, I grew up right outside of Memphis in Arlington, TN — back then it was a more rural area compared to the city. Growing up in a place like that forced me to use my imagination a lot and I’d often imagine myself as this huge Fashion Icon working in NYC. I fell in love with curating an image of myself and like many people, fashion became my first form of expression. I didn’t know much about the industry back then but as I got older my love for fashion grew with me and so did my skillset. I’ve had a lot of hustles in this space — personal styling, photography, reselling — pretty much anything I could do to find work. The more I worked in the industry, the more challenges I began to face. If you work in any industry long enough you’ll start to see its ugly side. Once I had that exposure, I immediately begin to wonder what I could do to make things better for other women in this space, specifically women of color, who have historically been underrepresented in this space. So for me, when I’m asked about what my legacy might be, that’s not for me to decide, I think that’s a decision that will be made by the world I leave behind. Right now I’m focused on the work that needs to be done. An estimated 92 million tons of textile waste is created annually by fast fashion practices. I spend my days trying to convince people something can be done about that and guess what? We can still look good and feel fabulous as we work towards a more sustainable and equitable fashion industry. And who knows? Maybe that’s what my legacy will be. I can only hope that by the end of it all people know my story and realize that underneath all the glitz and glam I was here to serve. I was here to disrupt and make noise. I love fashion because it has a tremendous effect on people’s lives and their identities. It’s something we all love and if it can put me in a position to change lives, even if it’s just one person, that’s enough for me.

As always, we appreciate you sharing your insights and we’ve got a few more questions for you, but before we get to all of that can you take a minute to introduce yourself and give our readers some of your back background and context?

My name is Akilah Skukura and I am a stylist and entrepreneur based out of Nashville, TN. I am the owner and operator of Glamoore Image Consulting — we help small business owners create and grow their brands utilizing a unique offering of tools and resources carefully curated to assist our client’s through the many stages of brand and image development.

I’ve always had a deep connection to fashion. It’s never just been about the clothes for me; I see it as more of an art. When you create a look, it’s more like putting together a collage. The right look says a lot. You’re taking a feeling, and then expressing it without words. I remember going to yard sales and thrift stores as a kid and anytime I found something cool for 2 or 3 bucks it filled me with joy. I’ve never gotten over that feeling. The joy of finding value in something that has been disregarded is still with me today. I like to play around with styling pieces from different decades, using them to tell a story. I love that feeling of freedom that comes with dressing up. Being able to take all of these different pieces and then put them together into something special and new is a very personable skill and I believe it’s a skill worth teaching to people because everyone deserves to look and feel good.
I want my work to remind people that you don’t need a lot of money to look good. You can shop sustainably and still walk into a room and shut it down. I’m proud to be one of the many people in this space teaching sustainable fashion practices, I feel it’s an important step in our fight to save the planet.

Are there any books, videos, essays or other resources that have significantly impacted your management and entrepreneurial thinking and philosophy?

A book that significantly impacted my life is Seat of the Soul by Gary Zukav. It was recommended to me by a co-worker and honestly, it could not have come at a better time. I had just graduated from College and things weren’t going exactly as I had hoped, and I was a bit discouraged. Reading this book gave me a new perspective and really helped strengthen my mind. The book teaches the power of intention and responsible choice. Two practices I now apply not only in my day-to-day life but also in my business.

How’d you think through whether to sell directly on your own site or through a platform like Amazon, Etsy, Cratejoy, etc.

After graduating college I worked numerous retail jobs to support myself and my dream. Retail does not provide a schedule that is easy to work around, so in an attempt to take back my time, I started reselling. I had a Poshmark account for years that I begin using more frequently after being nudged by family and friends to get rid of some of my older clothes. I began to purge my personal wardrobe and it felt great. Those items would eventually go on to make up my first collection of pre-loved clothes for reselling. I would tell people about my new adventure and they started asking me to sell their stuff too. I like Poshmark because it gave me my first marketplace when I was just starting out. One thing I thought Poshmark was missing was an in-person selling experience, but years down the line I would discover Whatnot. It is a live auction app that allows you to interact with your customers and sell in real time and I love being able to interact with my clients. I go live every Thursday at 7 p.m. CST selling modern and vintage clothing and accessories.

Contact Info:

• Website: www.glamoore.com
• Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/glamoore_/
• Other: poshmark: https://poshmark.com/closet/glamoore whatnot: https://www.whatnot.com/user/glamoore

Image Credits
Cam Krooks Akilah Skukura