We were lucky to catch up with Katorra Enoch-Longshore recently and have shared our conversation below.

Katorra, looking forward to hearing all of your stories today. Let’s jump right into the heart of things. Outsiders often think businesses or industries have much larger profit margins than they actually do – the reason is that outsiders are often unaware of the biggest challenges to profitability in various industries – what’s the biggest challenge to profitability in your industry?

Having gone through and still going through the volatility of a unpredictable market when it comes to being an influencer ,understanding what customers and companies want from you and also holding true to your core values has been challenging. The one thing that I have done consistently, is to honor what I feel is my value, without compromise. Whether it’s my time or the resources that I am sharing or information or my image I’ve always done projects or collaborations with businesses I respect. While its hard to put a price on those things when it can become subjective to who will benefit from it you should set a standard for yourself. When you set a standard of expectations, try to stick to it and understand when it’s time to evolve shift or change to remain agile and competitive, there is no one size fits all model. Try to remain authentic and present so that you can navigate through without losing or compromising your brand/business .

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

I got involved in fashion first, as a lover of all things beautiful that you adorn. Simply put I just love clothes. My journey as a stylist began when I was in college and I gained weight and I found that there weren’t very many full figured, plus size, fat wear, whatever you wanna call it clothing that was also cute. I started to scour through stores, fast fashion brands, whatever I could get my hands on that fit well, and looked great,. Wearing the looks in a style that appealed to a lot of people who may have had the same struggle, is how my following grew on social platforms. I began to build a following on Instagram from posting my looks of the day “lotd “and really promoting body positivity. It’s been very rewarding journey. I’ve received so many messages from women who say that I have inspired them to stop covering up their bodies, to enjoy their self expression in the form of fashion. It’s also provided me a very niche lane for influencing that promotes full range of sizes and looks for women who look like me. Ultimately, if I’ve been able to help the world be more inclusive, that means a lot.

How’d you build such a strong reputation within your market?

Being , true to who I am, and understanding my why has been a critical point of reflection in my business journey. I want to be seen as a black woman, as a woman who is full figured, capable, educated, loved, etc. At the crux of it authenticity in a world where people can manipulate and present false narrative’s, truths, ideas, concepts, etc. is really a novel thing to behold. Presenting authentically has empowered me to be, and remain resilient through the many challenges my business and brand have faced as an influencer and stylist.

Can you tell us about what’s worked well for you in terms of growing your clientele?

To be honest, finding an effective strategy for growing new clientele, has been probably the biggest challenge for me. In the influencing world you are subject to whatever is trending at the moment, and that may not be something that connects to your brand recognition. In the styling arena I’ve been a victim of doing too good of a job. I am a teacher by nature so I teach my clients how to shop smarter, think about their body, and what are the best shapes and silhouettes for them, so that they can be more informed. Subsequently, my teaching became so effective that clients found less and less use for a for me. Go figure. As a result, do a lot less styling than I do influencing. Influencing has become by the default my main source of income. How I attract new growth and clients now is to join as many social influencer platforms, as possible. Platforms like Aspire and Obviously do most of the work in finding you potential clients, and it provides a more seamless process for building relationships with brands. Maintaining fresh and new content also contributes to provide growth and work ..

Contact Info:

• Website: https://styledforu.wixsite.com/styledforyou
• Instagram: styled_4u