We recently connected with Courtney Warner and have shared our conversation below.

Courtney, looking forward to hearing all of your stories today. Almost all entrepreneurs have had to decide whether to start now or later? There are always pros and cons for waiting and so we’d love to hear what you think about your decision in retrospect. If you could go back in time, would you have started your business sooner, later or at the exact time you started?

To be honest I understand everything happens for a reason, when I started my brand I believe I was 22 years old still trying to figure out who I was but I still knew what I wanted out of life. I sometimes wonder if I’d started my business a bit earlier would I be in a better position than I am now or would I be more successful. If that just happened to be the case, and I did start earlier and became more successful? I’m sure that I would’ve missed out on the experiences that helped me grow. I learned so much within the little bit of time that I spent in the creative community, so with everything I learned I apply to myself and my business, so I’m not sure if things really would’ve lasted or been the same had I started earlier or later than when I had.

Courtney, 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 initially started this business by teaching myself how to hand sew clothing so I can fix my holes in my clothes whenever I had down time from work.

I worked as a retail associate at a fashion store in the mall close by and I just absolutely LOVED putting different styles together for customers.

It has been a dream of mine since I was a little girl to own my own studio one day so that I can always create and have freedom of self expression, so working that kind of job planted the seed in me that I could really do this on my own.

So I eventually ended up using a bit of money from one of my checks to purchase a mini sewing machine, the bigger ones were too expensive and at the time I just wanted to see exactly what I was capable of.

Soon I made my first pair of bottoms and everything pretty much took off from there, I was making all kinds of different designs and pieces all based off just my imagination, it didn’t even have to be wearable just a concept or possible idea of something was enough for me!

I evolved from dressing clients for $15 an hour to forming my own business policies and prices for my services in a matter of 2-3 years and learned so much from others I worked with along the way about how to manage my business and who and what to include.

Social media became my BESTFRIEND when it came to growing and networking, I met so many other creatives through so many social platforms and it assisted so well when it came to visual projects.

My main services were Fashion design (custom sewing), wardrobe styling and creative direction; I didn’t want to be defined, labeled or put into a box because of one specific talent I had being broader than the others, so I always made sure to switch it up from time to time.

I would go from making a custom for a client to then styling that same custom for a photo shoot, that I would also be the head visual director for or at least carrying out the visual structure and concept for said shoot.

Of course I came across my many issues while going through these experiences, like customs that didn’t fit or clients who may not agree with my fashion choices when it came to styling their looks.

The way I usually go about handling these situations is for one understanding that running a business means that you can’t necessarily take things personally all the time and that people are still human, and may not always see my vision or where I want to go in life, so in order to help them support me I have to be willing to treat them how I want to be treated as a service provider.

Keeping ideas like this in mind really help me connect better with my clients and a lot of times help keep them coming back for more assistance from me!

I think honestly that’s what separates me from other business owners, a lot of them claim to want a better connection with their customers/ clients but aren’t going the extra mile to show it.

That’s why whenever I am servicing a client I make sure that every bit and piece that’s connected to them is always included in the product or job that is being executed.

I wear so many hats that eventually I started branching off to newer and different horizons and that’s currently where I’m at in my business venture today.

I have decided to rebrand my business into a newer and broader space ultimately for creatives to come and set themselves free of the boxes they’ve been placed in.

There are so many people in our local area who are extremely talented but the ultimately give up because of the lack of support they receive from their peers, it’s pretty sad and I can totally understand how that feels since I went through it myself.

So what I want my current and future clients, team members, peers to know about my business and overall brand is we are always accepting to those who accept themselves!

My main goal is to create a space for those who don’t fit in because their to big to fit into small spaces, big ideas always need bigger spaces; so that is what I and my team are here to provide!

Let’s talk about resilience next – do you have a story you can share with us?

Well when I initially started creating and just designing pieces I would make little cool videos and attach fun and high energy songs to the videos to sort of catch the eye and vibe of potential clients.

The more that I started to grow on social media, the more attention I got on both positive and negative ends.

I started working with all kinds of creatives which eventually triggered my social anxiety and mental health issues, once I started receiving negative backlash on certain looks or shows that I coordinated it started to effect me in the worst ways mentally and emotionally.

I eventually had to take a step back and reevaluate everything about myself, because there was so much criticism with something that I myself just wanted to have fun with, and instead; turned into a stage of depression and embarrassment.

I paused everything to get back into a better state of mind and remind myself of why I started my brand and business in the first place; to express my inner joy into physical form so I can share it with others.

Knowing that I can create for the ones who genuinely enjoy my creations was enough for me and it was enough to break my out of my mental confinement to continue growing within my business.

I think that journey within itself is a form of resilience because believing in yourself unapologetically is one of the hardest things you can do, especially when you are going through mental health issues.

So although it was a lot of rocky roads and obstacles I encountered on the way, I’m proud of my evolution and overall growth that came to me and my business.

Learning and unlearning are both critical parts of growth – can you share a story of a time when you had to unlearn a lesson?

One of the lessons I had to unlearn was involving family, friends, associates in your business.

Now don’t get me wrong, having friends or family apart of your business can be the best thing for your for it when there are boundaries and certain policies in order, because then you will never have to worry about any disloyalty or unprofessionalism since there is an understanding between you all.

Unfortunately there are times when some people are just not ready to grow with you, and although you want to help them elevate or even branch off into their own venture ? Not everyone Is appreciative of what you do for them, especially when they don’t know what it took for you to get where you currently are in life.

So in my case I had too many situations where there was disloyalty and unprofessional involved in my business because of the people who I chose to be apart of it, situations like this caused for certain projects to be canceled, friendships came to an end, reputations were questioned etc.

So many things that pretty much could’ve been avoided if I went about certain things differently.

So the main thing I learned overall is to be mindful of who you choose to allow into your spaces and/or place of business.

Contact Info:

• Instagram: Omniii.3_
• Linkedin: Check out Courtney Warner’s profile on LinkedIn https://www.linkedin.com/in/courtney-warner-80b44988

Image Credits
Maliibu Miitch Sukihana Tybri Buddy Von Naquai