We caught up with the brilliant and insightful Kahlelah Goodine a few weeks ago and have shared our conversation below.

Hi Kahlelah, thanks for joining us today. 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?

I am hoping to build a legacy of recognition. In my business, we are dedicated to recognizing the underdog: the one who is talented but overlooked. When my time is up and the Lord calls me home, I want for people to remember that they were seen, heard, welcomed, and genuinely loved by me. I want for my family to be financially covered, and for my children to carry on the business name if they so desire.

I want to leave a legacy of fashion inclusion. There are so many talented individuals who do not have access to platforms for the visibility they deserve. I want people to remember me for my love of the fashion industry, my respect for apparel designers, and my overall admiration for anyone who takes a chance on themselves to begin something from the bottom.

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?

I am a Fashion Business Consultant helping independent fashion designers connect with and market to their target audiences & customers. I help my clients increase their revenue and scale for growth. My umbrella company is LELAH G INTERNATIONAL, a fashion & lifestyle brand catering primarily to the fashion industry, while infusing personal & professional needs to welcome all clientele. My services include wardrobe styling for magazine editorials & photo shoots, event management & production, apparel brand management through my co-ownership of Designers of Los Angeles (www.designersoflosangeles.com), model training & development, and self-booking as a model or host/commentator.

I am also the host of our Designers of LA docuseries, currently in production.

I built this business out of my love for the fashion industry, and my understanding of how talented creators can start something, and suddenly end it. Many of our community members thrive in artistic expression, oftentimes more than being within a controlled corporate setting. Several people in underserved & underrepresented areas are talented in art and fashion but are unknowledgeable of how to access mass viewership; and then become overshadowed by major commercialized brands. There are no particular ‘’designer agencies” like there are modeling agencies; managers protect models while smaller designers enter the fashion industry unseen, unguarded, and unprepared. This often stagnates new designers and causes a revolving-door rotation in styles and trends; not too many creatives have lasting power. Lelah G International (along with Designers of Los Angeles) serves as a protective shield and platform for small indie brands to grow and gain increased visibility, bringing fashion entrepreneurs closer to their target demographics to influence a high “customer-to-patron” conversion rate.

Can you tell us the story behind how you met your business partner?

I’ve known Faith Rudder, founder of Designer of Los Angeles (DOLA), since around 2007, or 2008. I was one of her first models when she grew from a self-taught seamstress to a clothing designer. We were introduced by photographer Tatianna Lavin who was updating her portfolio with a lookbook shoot for Faith’s line “Dhakmani.” From our first meeting, we continued to work together: I always made myself available for all of Faith’s runway shows., photo shoots, any anything else she was working on. When I moved to the east coast for a few years, she trusted me enough to ship her swimsuits to me for Fashion Week placement. We had always maintained a great relationship over the years, and it was tried and proven across the miles.

I moved back to California in 2020, right before the pandemic shut the world down. It was also in the middle of the Designers of LA docuseries production. Fortunately, that did not stop the crew: by adhering to the COVID guidelines, DOLA continued to film. And in 2021, Faith asked me to join the cast as the host of the wrap-up episode, and eventually to partner as Chief Operating Officer of the organization.

Can you tell us about a time you’ve had to pivot?

My temporary residency on the east coast marked a major pivot in my life! After losing both my car and condo in Van Nuys, CA I moved back in with my family when they lived in Moreno Valley, CA, and my career slowly spiraled downhill. By no longer living in Los Angeles I couldn’t make it to several gigs and events, and work was scarce in the Inland Empire, so I faded into the background, worked only a few times a year, and became 100% immersed in raising my nephew during his high school years. I even lost my contract traveling auto show, so I had lots of time on my hands and very little money. It was then that I decided to let go of being a fashion model, and flip from being a model manager to a runway trainer and designer placement manager. It was a very rocky beginning, and a long road trying to discover my solid place in the industry.

Not too long after living back with my parents, we went to South Carolina (my dad’s home state) on a circumstantial move and experienced the biggest culture shock to date: it was worse than the racism on my college campus. It was the hardest life transition because I slowly moved from being the jetsetter I saw myself as, to being focused on home and my nephew’s growth & maturation as he enrolled in college in our new home. The move from the fast-paced big city to the slow-moving small country town was devastating, depressing, and for a while I totally lost my place in the fashion industry. To keep myself going, I applied everything I did in Los Angeles to South Carolina, and searched for designers, models, and fashion show & local media platforms. I took a leap of faith and ventured out, introducing myself to people who were involved in fashion in some type of way. While living in the south I was determined to do everything and meet everyone I could in order to maintain some kind of relevance.

I am indeed thankful for the work I did and the relationships I built in South Carolina, but moving back to California saved my life.

Contact Info:

• Other: https://linktr.ee/lelahgintl