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

Lan , thanks for joining us, excited to have you contributing your stories and insights. Can you talk to us about a risk you’ve taken – walk us through the story?

The biggest business risk I have taken in my 19 years of being an entrepreneur is opening my Atelier. The TOL Bespoke Atelier is a luxury custom dressmaking store located in Columbia Town Center. Honestly, I did it afraid. I knew it was going to be a life changing risk; either negatively or positively. It was a scenario in which if it failed, it would be a big financial mess for me but if it succeeded, it will be a very huge turn around for good for my career so when I wanted to do it, I told myself I was going to succeed at it.

It took me one year to put everything together because it was just me and my husband, I didn’t have any investor or any business loan, I was 100 percent bootstrapping but I did it with a mindset of “I am succeeding at this”! It was a huge step of faith that can be likened to jumping of the cliff and hoping the parachute will open.

Here’s the backstory, after being a fashion designer for 19 years, and seeing that I am not getting any younger, I started thinking about my retirement and I realized that I couldn’t continue to play small, I knew I had to do things differently and bigger. And also run business in a very well structured manner and build a business that can be sold when I decide to retire. So I took the risk.

It was hard, it took very hard work, “sweat and blood” like they will say. There were days when I will forget to even eat and don’t forget that I was raising my son who was about 18 months when the process started. I had him with me 80 percent of the time during this process.

I remember trying to get investors and I couldn’t get any. In the words of Nelson Mandela “ it always seem impossible until it’s done”. Maybe they thought I was just day-dreaming. When I did it and they saw it, then I started getting calls from people saying they wanted to invest. So the risk taking process was a lone walk; it was just God with me, me, my husband and my now 24month old son…lols. God is with me always so I didn’t feel lonely and I was confident that with God’s help, I will succeed at it.

The outcome; sometimes I walk into my atelier which is located in a high brow area “ Columbia Town Center”, filled with my team, the Luxury ambience, the inventory, e.t.c and I can’t believe I got here.

Lan , 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 Lan Akinade, I am a child of God, wife, mom and of course, a multi-published fashion designer of 19 years. I started the business of fashion in October 2004, I knew very early in life that I wanted to be an entrepreneur and as a teenager, I tried my hands on several businesses before eventually realizing that fashion was my passion. I have my Bachelors Degree in Animal Science and my professional certification is in Management. I didn’t practice what I studied in school for one day! I am a lover of God, I love to pray a lot. I love music too; Christian worship songs are my favorites. I am also very big on family, I must tell you that one of the hardest thing to do is to raise an awesome family while building a successful business but I want to be an example that it is possible and also teach others how to find the balance.

I am a customer dressmaker; DMV’s foremost custom dressmaker. I specialize in Bridal, evening and special event dresses. My dresses are luxury garments made to the highest level of craftsmanship and every dress we make is one of it’s kind. Be it wedding dresses, bridesmaids, mother of the bride, red carpet dresses, etc.

What sets my brand apart is the dynamic and unpredictable creativity we evoke. We offer timeless yet trendy pieces. We don’t jump on trends, we innovate designs that remain a masterpiece even with the passing of time.

I am proud of so many things but what tops the list is opening my luxury custom dressmaking atelier in Columbia Town Center, I am so proud of my determination even when everything looked like it wasn’t going to work out.

I want everyone reading this to know that at TOL Bespoke Atelier, you will experience a PHENOMENAL BESPOKE EXPERIENCE that is second to none, that is why we are tagged “DMV’s Foremost Custom Dressmaker”.

We often hear about learning lessons – but just as important is unlearning lessons. Have you ever had to unlearn a lesson?

The greatest lesson I had to unlearn is that “your business will thrive in a familiar terrain and the people you know will support you”, that is absolutely incorrect. I had to relearn through experience that familiarity declines your value. So I had to keep business relationships strictly business and refrain from doing business with personal relationships.

I have seen people that I know pay double of what they wouldn’t pay at my store somewhere else, they have a sense of entitlement to wanting to get discounts at my business and won’t respect my prices because there is a personal relationship. That’s when I realized that most times, the greatest supporters of your business will be people you don’t know.

What do you think helped you build your reputation within your market?

Consistency and integrity. I get your clothes ready even before the time we agreed. I am consistent with what I do and put in the hard work. It is very hard but we are doing it!       

Contact Info:

• Website: www.tolbespoke.com
• Instagram: @tolbespoke
• Facebook: www.Facebook.com/tolbespoke

Image Credits
Visual access photography, Deonstringz photography, Shajuan Thomas, A father’s Lens Photography, and  Lizwin, Motive Plus photography