We were lucky to catch up with Damaris Griffith recently and have shared our conversation below.

Damaris, thanks for joining us, excited to have you contributing your stories and insights. Coming up with the idea is so exciting, but then comes the hard part – executing. Too often the media ignores the execution part and goes from idea to success, skipping over the nitty, gritty details of executing in the early days. We think that’s a disservice both to the entrepreneurs who built something amazing as well as the public who isn’t getting a realistic picture of what it takes to succeed. So, we’d really appreciate if you could open up about your execution story – how did you go from idea to execution?

Most of what I do is inspired by pop culture – when I started Echonyx, I was working an office job…maybe not in the traditional sense of what most people think, but the dress code was still the same as what you would expect from any other. I am a nerd, and being in those professional environments requires you to mask a bit, which became difficult as more and more of my hobbies became part of my day to day.

So I wanted to create fashion that referenced the media and popculture I enjoy(ed), without being blatant or inappropriate for the workplace. Yeah, I like Sailor Moon, but I can’t go to work with Sailor Moon’s face on my shirt, so how do I make something that can be worn in the workplace, but still fills my need to be a little geeky in my life.

At the same time I had a friend who was in business of a similar realm. She absolutely changed my life, giving me guidance on how to run things, where to find information, she loaned me books on fashion design and manufacturing. She taught me what a tech pack was…so I began designing, and bought the designs to her. She fronted the costs for my first samples, and we went from there.

Great, appreciate you sharing that with us. Before we ask you to share more of your insights, can you take a moment to introduce yourself and how you got to where you are today to our readers.

Echonyx, specializes in creating unique items that are both functional and fashionable. Our product line includes satchels, wallets, crossbody bags, tote bags….and soon we will be implementing everyday fashion pieces such as cardigans and dresses. I spend a lot of time researching and perfecting each design.

I found when looking for fashion myself that many anime, cartoon, or pop culture products on the market tend to prioritize novelty over quality, often resulting in items that don’t withstand regular use. My goal is to give people a luxury experience and product for things outside of the normal fashion market.

Any insights you can share with us about how you built up your social media presence?

There are so many guides that say “post at this time of day” “use these hashtags” etc etc….my following did not start growing until I stopped listening to those and started posting whenever I wanted….those guides are for people who already have a social media following, in my experience. The minute I decided to just go with the flow, post any time of day (because timezones exist) and post content that was engaging by my own standards, my audience started to grow.

Can you open up about how you funded your business?

The options we have for funding businesses now is incredible. To me, it is very important that every product released is crowdfunded. Why? Because if people do not want it, and I can’t guarantee it will sell, I cannot invest into it. The goal with funding these projects is to make sure that everything released is something people *love* and something I can guarantee will help to fund the next project, versus something that will not have an audience’s support behind it and won’t be able to help fund the next designs.

Contact Info:

• Website: https://echonyx.com/
• Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/echonyxshop/

Image Credits

all product photos done by @jeaniewphoto on instagram