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

Hi LaShawn, thanks for joining us today. Risking taking is a huge part of most people’s story but too often society overlooks those risks and only focuses on where you are today. Can you talk to us about a risk you’ve taken – it could be a big risk or a small one – but walk us through the backstory.

I come from a corporate background where I was nice and comfortable being in an Executive Recruiter position for nearly 5 years! I was the best at what I did (and this is no exaggeration for when in sales your numbers are blasted all over the company for everyone to know where you stand. There’s no hiding). I interviewed, prepped and hired amazing talent for Fortune 500 companies, non profits, wealth management, PR firms and more. I thought this was going to be my life but I had this one little itch that wouldn’t go away… creating culturally infused fashionable apparel!

See while I was at the top of my career, winning challenges and rewards I also was working on photoshoot sets, modeling, sewing my own looks and designing what would become my very first collection (unbeknownst to me). As I loved my job and connecting people to their careers, I did not love the internal politics and jealousy that came with it. It was even more disheartening to learn that upper management (the people who were suppose to lead and be change makers for the department) were apart of the sorority style peanut gallery causing the most confusion and not wanting to ensure my success. My first taste of passive aggressive behavior was while working in corporate. They capped my ability to achieve my highest levels of success so eventually I decided to bet on me and start my own business, Sun Gods!

For years I would walk into offices and people would ask me why I was there and didn’t work within my talent for they all knew I designed clothing. I would wear my designs to work and had colleagues shopping from me. They knew I was great at what I did there but just saw something in me that shined brighter than being a recruiter. I saw it too but was fearful of taking the ultimate leap. The uncertainty of how far I would go, where the path would lead me, financial security and more was terrifying. I liked my two week paychecks that came like clockwork and provided ease to my life but my dreams of experiencing the ultimate liberation was important to me and could change not only my life but those who were around me so I had to jump! I planned my departure from corporate giving myself 8 months to transition. The work environment I was in was toxic so I was already winding down to move on. I completed all legal set up to incorporate by business, set up the e-commerce platform and website to house my designs for sale, perfected my business plan, completed the first designs of the collection and moved forward with opening my online store… hosting my first in store popup just a few months after quitting my corporate job. I was doing it! I became a business owner and this is what started my journey.

I will never forget August 2017. It was the biggest risk that changed my life…. forever!

Awesome – so before we get into the rest of our questions, can you briefly introduce yourself to our readers.

My name is LaShawn Kenley and I’m a creative Fashion Designer and small business owner from Washington, DC. I’ve worked within the fashion industry for over 10 years where my love for fashion began during my early teenage years yet was perfected as a skill while attending college at The University of Maryland College Park. Here is where I worked on movie and photoshoot sets, TV shows, infomercials and more to learn textiles, marketing and styling. I always leaned heavily into unique and flowy designs. Fabrics that were soft and allowed one to move and be their carefree self was extremely beautiful to me. This is what led me to create the apparel I do at Sun Gods for it combines all my favorite things in one – culture, spirituality, bohemian style and an elevated feel of chic! I’m very passionate about intentionally creating apparel that are statement pieces and sustainable to enhance the quality of our lives as well as economy! This is what led me into small batch slow fashion designs versus creating a fast fashion business. I wanted to produce gorgeous clothing that didn’t cause negative effects to the earth or mankind.

I’m proud that even through a scary pandemic we were able to stay true to our sustainable roots and grow as a business. It actually was do to our sustainable foundation that we were able to maintain as well as assist other local businesses with their apparel production needs. This grew another layer to our business which allowed us to sale directly to our customers and to other businesses as well.

Over the years we’ve gained a lot of media recognition and worked within amazing enterprises such as The W Hotel, the National Museum of African American History & Culture and The African Center Museum in Harlem, NY. We also were highlighted in magazines and various media such as Washingtonian, Washington Life, InStyle, WWD (women’s wear daily), BET and Fox5 News.

As much as I love all the recognition of the brand one of the best accomplishments is building a strong connection with our tribe! Those who shop our brand are conscious consumers who seek to purchase quality unique designs that will be legacy statement pieces in their closet. A wardrobe they can pass down to their children and children’s children. I also truly love that our DC location and national popups provides a space for them to commune and enjoy good vibes for self care. This makes me feel extremely fulfilled.

About Us:
Sun Gods is a slow fashion Bohemian Afro•Chic) women’s apparel brand that handcrafts exclusive boho afrocentric designs for the wanderer at heart. The fabrics of our clothing are specifically sourced to connect our unique shoppers to their diverse cultures using a bohemian aesthetic. True advocates of all things sustainable, we create custom and ready to wear designs in small batches to remain exclusive to our customers we loving call “People of the Sun”.

Let’s talk about resilience next – do you have a story you can share with us?

Bring in business is tough! We hear that but don’t truly know what it means until challenging times come our way. I’ve had to overcome operating a fashion business that creates both custom and ready to wear apparel during a pandemic where you couldn’t see people in person for fear of getting infected with Covid-19. When 50-60% of your business is custom designs this means you can’t fully operate for you can’t physically see/touch the person you need to measure. It was challenging for sure! We had to pivot to virtual consultations and show people how to measure themselves or have a friend or family member measure them.

We also couldn’t have people come to our popups so the monthly foot traffic we were used to receiving drastically decreased. We had to solely rely on email marketing, social media marketing and Instagram Lives to sell our designs. We made it work and were able to push through. In business, finances are always a challenge. Some months are amazingly great while others can be slow to where you may have to cut back spending. The economy really throws a wrench in operations when not running at its best capacity for it affects the shopper which then affects the business. When unemployment is up and inflation occurs, it makes everything expensive and changes the consumers spending habits. This then affects a business drastically, making us have to find new ways to find new consumers or market to current consumers to entice them to shop.

These are the daily problem solving scenarios every business owner will go through as they strive to achieve scaling and consistency for the company.

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

A lesson I had to unlearn was that I don’t charge based on a hourly rate. I charge based on value.

This was a huge lesson for it totally changed the outcome of how I priced my designs and charged for business events and speaking engagements. When coming from the corporate industry where I was working a 9-5, they teach you that everything is based on an hourly rate but as a business owner you have to charge based on your value to actually get what things are worth. Your work can totally change someone’s life… they way the think, feel and move throughout the world. That is much more than an hourly rate. The right outfit can land you a job, connect you with your future spouse or best friend, inspire you to travel, create a memorable moment in time and more.

There’s no way you can simplify that down to an hourly rate. You MUST know your value and how that value will add to the person who is purchasing from your business.

Contact Info:

• Website: https://www.sungodsofficial.com/
• Instagram: https://instagram.com/sungodsofficial
• Linkedin: https://www.linkedin.com/in/lashawn-kenley

Image Credits
I actually took all of the apparel photos. The photo of me was taken by photographer Erin Douglas.