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

Kai, thanks for joining us, excited to have you contributing your stories and insights. We’d love to hear about the things you feel your parents did right and how those things have impacted your career and life.

My parents gave me space to express myself creatively and do things that interested me. Growing up, I was always in an extracurricular activity, like art club, taekwondo, track & field, etc. and anytime I wanted to go to another activity or leave one they supported me. In highschool, I was in a lot of clubs, like I was one of the most seen faces in the yearbook. One of the things that took most of my time was rehearsals for school plays/musicals. My parents always picked me up, supported me financially for extra things, and was at every performance. They were honestly my biggest supporters and loved seeing me be apart of something. Even when I turned the basement into my sewing room, they supported me, as long as I kept it clean. I remember when I first even started my clothing business in 2020, my parents were telling their friends to shop with me and support me. As from everything I just said, I always felt supported to do things I was interested in, even while I’m away in New York they are still cheering me on, they have played a part in keeping me going.

Kai, 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?

My name is Kai McPhee and I am a 20 year old stylist, content creator, and designer based in nyc. I first started as a content creator at 18, I was stuck at home in the pandemic and I saw people blowing up on tiktok and I thought, I can dress pretty well, I know I can gain some traction, and it’s just been up from there. When I was about 1 year into content creation, I was extremely blessed to be in my position and to make a living off of this but I still had a passion for styling. When I place myself in a room full of clothes, my brain starts going crazy, like I get so many ideas at once and all these visions on what I could do with the pieces. Right now I am currently assisting for shoots and lead stylist but I want to get to the point of building my own clientele and being the lead stylist. I also make clothes as well! I’ve been sewing since 2020 and I’ve been teaching myself and learning so much about the process of creating clothes. I first started my clothing brand in 2020 but I wasn’t pleased with it so I decided to scrap it, now it’s 2022 and I have totally rebranded and I want to do it the right way and release my clothing when I feel 100% about the clothing I will be releasing. I think the main thing I learned by doing all of this at once, is learning how to prioritize my time. All my time is valuable and I’m always working, when I’m passionate about an project or just anything I’m doing, I will put my 100% out because people are always watching me, I never know who is going to see my work and decide that they want to work with me. I’m my happiest when I’m creating and I can’t wait for the years to come to see what I do, create, and experience.

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

How I built my audience on social media was just posting the content. Anytime I had an idea, I decided to put it out because someone else could be having that exact idea but they will get the credit for it because they did it first. I also was extremely consistent, I was writing up content ideas every week and putting time aside to make the content. A main thing I would say that really helped was standing out, I don’t like being like everyone else, I hate it. So I would create content that I felt like was different.

What’s the most rewarding aspect of being a creative in your experience?

The most rewarding aspect of being a creative is literally creating. I get so excited when I have thought of an idea that I want to do. I was literally in the fabric store yesterday smiling from ear to ear after I made up my mind on what I wanted to make. Seeing something that you created is definitely the top 3 feelings for me; that’s why I keep creating. I don’t feel like myself if I’m not creating, it’s so many things that I want to create and I’m going to try them all! I want to get back into photography, learn how to play the guitar, get back into illustration, learn how to make music, just anything and everything!

Contact Info:

• Website: https://beacons.ai/knawtkai?fbclid=PAAaaeFk83Q_H7Rg0Tpm1u858DoSSbA5QNwhBin8741PvSdNBkHka41qkoyA4
• Instagram: https://beacons.ai/knawtkai?fbclid=PAAaaeFk83Q_H7Rg0Tpm1u858DoSSbA5QNwhBin8741PvSdNBkHka41qkoyA4
• Youtube: https://youtube.com/channel/UCIu6cdkGuSGaf9m9BP8EmPw
• Other: Tiktok: https://tiktok.com/@knawtkai

Image Credits
@cameronnelyse @melinaleft @pca32