We recently connected with KEARA CAREY and have shared our conversation below.

Alright, KEARA thanks for taking the time to share your stories and insights with us today. So, naming is such a challenge. How did you come up with the name of your brand?

EBM WAS NOT ALWAYS EBM. MY COMPANY WAS FIRST NAMED IMPRESSIONS. FIRST IMPRESSION LAST IMPRESSION WAS THE CONCEPT OF IT ALL. JUST WHEN I THOUGHT THE NAME FIT I DECIDED I DESIRED SOMETHING MORE. PLUS SOMEONE ALREADY HAD THE NAME. PEOPLE ALWAYS WANTED WHAT I HAD ON SO I DECIDED MY BRAND SHALL BE ENVIED. I STUDIED FRENCH SO I WANTED TO BRING A LITTLE OF MY CREOLE SIDE & CULTURE TO MY NAME. ENVY BY MUAH TRANSLATES TO ENVY BY ME. MOI IS THE CORRECT WAY HOWEVER I TOOK THE KISS APPROACH MUAH. THATS HOW MY BRAND WAS BORN AN EYE BETWEEN THE LIPS.

KEARA, 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?

Envy by Muah is a self motivational brand that displays women empowerment. Using a mixture of colorful fabrics, and bold prints, the brand aspires innovation. Bringing creative ideas to the eye of the beholder, EBM strives to add a touch of detail that everyone desires. EBM is vivacious and stands out among others. The prints are uniquely chosen based on the mix of colors. Some strong characteristics of the brand relies heavily on the use of color, prints, and textures that are oddly placed together. When designing for the brand EBM’s ideal woman is not afraid to try new things, but aspires to be envied with want. She is full of adventure and travels frequently on much needed vacations. As a woman she is driven to explore fashion loves color and is passionate about her career towards the arts. She expresses her persona through style and confidence.

Through the Envy by Muah brand the goal is to meet every consumer’s desire, while remaining true to myself. In each piece I look to showcase confidence, attitude, indifference, comfortability, the garment is flattering and insinuates the woman’s body, and most importantly it has to exhibit envy. I seek to make each woman feel like she is on top and assure that her garment is one of a kind pattern.

At the moment I have focused on designing dance wear for dance teams on the high school and collegiate level. I always have a solution and options for any issues that arise before presenting to a client. Communication is an asset to my brand in which I include my client from idea to production into the final look. Not only does EBM design for women and dance teams. I also am a stylist for photo shoots, visual sets or any event that you may have.

My biggest accomplishments in life is looking back at where my brand first begin in the industry to now 3 years later designing for some major HBCU’s and being recognized for my talents. This is only the beginning and there’s so much more in store.

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

MY SOCIAL MEDIA AUDIENCE IS AS REAL AS THEY COME. MY FOLLOWING GREW THRU NETWORKING EVENTS THAT I ATTENDED JUST TO GET MY NAME OUT THERE. FROM THERE I REACHED OUT TO DIFFERENT DANCE TEAMS OR WAS REFERRED BY ANOTHER AND I BUILT A RELATIONSHIP WITH THE INDIVIDUALS WHO MAKE UP THE TEAM. THE BEST ADVICE I CAN GIVE IS TAKE A CHANCE AND DO NOT BE AFRAID TO MAKE THE FIRST MOVE. IF YOU DO NOT TRY YOU FAIL. DO NOT FALL FOR THE GIMMICKS OF BUYING FOLLOWERS LET ALL OF THEM BE GENUINE PEOPLE. KEEP ALL THE CONTENT YOU CREATE TRUE TO YOU OR YOUR BRAND AND DO NOT KEEP UP WITH THE JONES. ITS NOTHING WRONG WITH TRENDS JUST DO. IT LET THEM DEFINE YOU.

What else should we know about how you took your side hustle and scaled it up into what it is today?

SO I DROPPED OUT OF COLLEGE TOWARDS THE END CAUSE THE BOX I WAS BEING CONFORMED TO DID NOT SPEAK MY AESTHETIC. I MOVED BACK HOME AND STARTED WORKING AT HOBBY LOBBY. I USED THE MONEY I MADE TO INITIALLY START MY BUSINESS. I CREATED PIECES THAT I WANTED TO WEAR AND MADE THEM AVAILABLE TO THE PEOPLE. SHOUTOUT TO MY GIRL ZHANE. SHE REACHED OUT TO ME WITH A PROPOSITION OF DESIGNING HER TEAM UNIFORMS. AT FIRST I WAS NOT GOING TO DO IT HOWEVER I LOVE A CHALLENGE SO I SAID LETS GO. FROM THERE TEAMS STARTED COMING TO ME ABOUT CREATING THEIR DANCE UNIFORMS. I SAID YOU KNOW WHAT THIS IS THE MARKET THAT DOES NOT HAVE A LOT OF BLACK OWNED DANCE WEAR DESIGNERS. I CREATED A LINE OF SKETCHES AND BEGIN SELLING THEM TO TEAMS. I STARTED MAKING MORE MONEY ON THE SIDE THAN MY INITIAL JOB. I HAD PLANNED TO LEAVE HOWEVER UNFORTUNATELY THE WAY I LEFT WAS NOT MY IDEA. MY GRANPA PASSED AWAY AND MY FAMILY COMES FIRST SO I TOLD MY JOB DO WHAT YOU HAVE TO HOWEVER IM GOING TO GO SUPPORT MY GRANNY AND PAY MY RESPECTS. I THANK GOD EVERYDAY THAT SINCE I LEFT I HAVE BEEN BLESSED TO REMAIN FINANCIALLY STABLE.

Contact Info:

• Website: WWW.ENVYBYMUAH.COM
• Instagram: @ENVYBYMUAHLLC
• Facebook: WWW.FACEBOOK.COM/ENVYBYMUAH