Alright – so today we’ve got the honor of introducing you to Cynja Johnson. We think you’ll enjoy our conversation, we’ve shared it below.

Cynja, thanks for joining us, excited to have you contributing your stories and insights. We’d love to go back in time and hear the story of how you came up with the name of your brand?

The name of my business was given to me by God Almighty himself! The (Fe) in FeNomenal comes from the iron element on the periodic table. This idea is derived from the scripture Proverbs 27:17 which says, As iron sharpens iron, So a man sharpens the countenance of his friend. God helped me to understand that my business doesn’t just sell clothing but, it will build a repour with customers and clients helping them to achieve their desired personal style. We help sharpen them through effective strategies that allow them to be fashionably correct and prepared everywhere they go. We don’t just have clients we make friends and family after each sale. For the word Woman, we cater to all women inclusively, despite body type or culture. We aim to make a difference in the fashion community one customer/client at a time!

Awesome – so before we get into the rest of our questions, can you briefly introduce yourself to our readers.

I began my journey in the fashion industry at a young age. As an adolescent, I began styling myself with my mother’s assistance and approval. During my childhood, instead of my mother being the primary person to pick my clothing for school and social events, I picked my outfits myself and astonished my mother at how I could be so young and have a pretty good sense of fashion/style. This progressed into me styling my mother, family members, and friends. I had been operating in this powerful gift as long as I could remember. Over the years my passion for fashion grew and became something that I felt that I needed to cultivate greatly. I went to college after high school for different subject matters, but none of them really connected to me like fashion. So, after many jobs, college and technical certifications in May 2020 during the pandemic, a time when things were not moving and all businesses were moving to ecommerce and curbside ordering, I stepped out on faith and opened my online fashion store named FeNomenal Woman Clothing LLC. I sell women’s clothing and offer personal stylist consulting services as well. I had a very rocky start. I had a mentor that literally dropped me in the process, I had to start completely over with my business because when I launched, I didn’t have the clothing that my targeted audience would purchase. So, my sales were very slow or just not at all. I thank God for my support system, my family, my church leaders and awesome sisterhood who helped me to overcome depression and having a strong desire to give up on my dream. When I relaunched, I revamped my entire business strategy. I had to learn the basic principles of marketing and how to be appealing to my targeted audience at all costs. God spoke to me again about furthering my education but this time in fashion and business so that I can gain the knowledge and have the accreditations and apply all the wisdom/knowledge I had gained to my business to strengthen it and make it 10 times better than before. I began to change my photography, my merchandise that I offer to customers, the personal stylists services that we offer, the prices of the items that we sell, and the marketing strategies in which my customers are engaged with. With these changes my team and I were able to acquire more sales which increased the relationships built with more customers. This process also helped my company to stand out in that we offer clothing that is only modest but is also builds up the everyday woman in the way that they are able to look amazing affordably and simplistically. We could offer couture or high-end items and there is nothing wrong with them, but we show ladies how to take what they already own by way of personal styling and also what they purchase from us to style themselves in a way that they never thought they could. We believe that the beauty that a woman naturally possesses is enough. We help build confidence where ladies step out of the box and exceed their limited expectations and comfort zones that hold them back from the outcome that they truly seek. I am most proud of the way that my business has progressed despite the opposition and disappointments that I’ve faced. I am truly learning how to overcome all obstacles that come to block the greatness that God has for me and those that are attached to my company. Through perseverance and endurance in prayer for my business, I have seen my company catapult to heights that I know that no one but God could have helped me get to. I’ve seen the customer base and engagement of my business with other businesses, churches, and other platforms increase to where I am being asked to help be a vendor for businesses and I’m being asked to mentor other entrepreneurs on how to start, run, and maintain their business with great success and integrity. The greatest thing that I really want potential clients and followers to know about my brand is that we are a Christian brand that seeks to build others help show the love of Jesus in all ways possible through the selling of garments and style consultation. We want to be a vivid example of what being a servant truly means.

We often hear about learning lessons – but just as important is unlearning lessons. Have you ever had to unlearn a lesson?

One lesson that I had to unlearn is that being an entrepreneur is easy. Looking at social media you learn tricks of the trade that make you believe that being an entrepreneur and owning your own business is easy and doesn’t take a lot of work. I had to learn that every aspect of business takes blood, sweat, and tears to run effectively. Asking for help is not a crime but you have to know who to ask that will give you wise counsel to help you and not cripple you in your process of growth as a business owner. No matter if you are starting a business or you’ve been in business for several years, all work that you do to build your empire is rewarding work because as your business grows, you get the opportunity to enjoy the fruit of your labor. I had to learn to stop looking at the false narratives that people post on social media platforms and realize that hard work, ingenuity, and trusting the process makes for a successful business and business practices.

Can you share a story from your journey that illustrates your resilience?

I once had a business mentor that I connected with, and it didn’t work out so well. I had the pleasure of connecting with a very successful business mentor and took their class. The experience started out pretty well but over the course of time the mentor was very dismissing and failed to communicate with me. The meetings via Zoom became few far and between. But that did not stop the payments from being collected. So, I paid almost $1k to this person for their help and I paid for their VIP package that included all amenities that they offered to help their mentees to be set in the boutique game and to be better perficient in how they start and manage their business. I launched my business and had the wrong type of clothing for my targeted audience and didn’t get any sales when I launched. I was told that the clothes were wrong and that I didn’t put any effort or thought into my photography (which was professionally done) and told that I needed to start over. I received no help at all with the process of starting over although I was told that they would be there to help. But nothing was done at all. I became very discouraged and wanted to give up. But, with assistance from family and my support system, I didn’t give up, but I had to do my research and study my targeted audience to see what they liked and what they were looking for and began to offer those items and my business began to turn around. It also helped that God gave me strategies of how to take the clothes that I purchased and revamp the design and style of them so that how they are offered would be better appealing to my customers. This was a hard lesson but a very necessary one. This situation taught me a lot about myself and what truly matters. When you are called to something, no matter what comes to oppose you moving forward in it, you have to move forward at all costs. Because you were not only called to do this, but you were born for this!! With that kind of predestination, I can’t just let anything deter me from doing what I am supposed to be doing. Resilience is something that resides in us all it just needs to be stirred up!!

Contact Info:

• Website: www.fenomenalwomanclothing.com
• Instagram: @fenomenalwomanboutique
• Facebook: @FeNomenalWomanClothing
• Other: @cjhavnfunn20 (TikTok)

Image Credits
The Photo Firm/Tanya Rawlins coleColors LLC/Steven Coleman FeNomenal Woman Clothing LLC Drina’s Hair Studio/Andrina Wilson