We caught up with the brilliant and insightful Janei Dortilus a few weeks ago and have shared our conversation below.
Alright, Janei thanks for taking the time to share your stories and insights with us today. What did your parents do right and how has that impacted you in your life and career?
Since my parents are from Haiti, they’ve always sacrificed things in life to ensure that I will have the life they were not fortunate enough to experience. They taught me how important it is to be independent, goal oriented, and hardworking due to their cultural background. Growing up, I’ve always known the benefits of entrepreneurship. Seeing my family work so hard to be successful in a new country encourages me to make them feel like their sacrifice to move to the United States wasn’t in vain.
Janei, love having you share your insights with us. Before we ask you more questions, maybe you can take a moment to introduce yourself to our readers who might have missed our earlier conversations?
SheVogue Looks is a black owned boutique. I started this brand my junior year in college as an additional source of income and I’ve been in love with entrepreneurship ever since. I’m most proud of my styling services and how I’m able to make transformational outfits within a college student’s budget,
What’s a lesson you had to unlearn and what’s the backstory?
I had to unlearn that entrepreneurship is easy. While having a business is often glorified, I don’t feel like business owners talk about their failures as much. Being that I started my business in college, I really relied on making sales to have more income. There’s been times where I’ve went days and weeks without sales and I’ve found myself discouraged. I had to remember the importance of perseverance and that the best things in life are worth fighting for,
Any stories or insights that might help us understand how you’ve built such a strong reputation?
Being a social media influencer definitely help build my reputation within my market. Often times, I create content on my various social media platforms promoting my business and styling some of the products I sell. I believe this tactic made it easier for people to look at my videos and see a full visual of an item before they purchase it.
Contact Info:
- Website: Shevoguelooks.com
- Instagram: Instagram.com/shevoguelooks
- Twitter: Twitter.com/shevoguelooks
- Youtube: https://youtube.com/channel/UCuTh3Vxsrw5i-CD6XyYmDYQ