We recently connected with Lenese Calleea and have shared our conversation below.
Hi Lenese, thanks for joining us today. Can you talk to us about serving the underserved.
BGDC Serves African American Youth in major cities through education, mentoring, events and resources. We focus on teaching entrepreneurship in the creative industry and paying success forward. I’m originally from the south side of Chicago. Where these is a lot of youth crime and low graduation rates. When I was growing up, I really wished I had a resource and a united community that could help me through the challenges, I was faced with. When I got to college I was the only black girl in my classes and all of the other students were so much more advanced than me because they had fashion classes in elementary and high school. The schools I attended did not have the budget for creative programs. I created this community with a purpose in mind, which is to level the playing field for young creators. We host quarterly fashion brunches to bring the creative community together to share stories. We host yearly vision board and manifestation parties. We run clothing and fabric drives every year. We also have a mentorship program that we run for no charge to the youth ages 6-24.
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.
Despite being 34 years young, Lenese Calleea has accumulated 2 decades of expertise in design, garment construction, and apparel production. Earning a BFA in Fashion Design. Lenese has evolved from a young skilled seamstress and adolescent entrepreneur to a designer, apparel industry expert, consultant, and budding Creative mogul. Lenese started her own brand entitled Calleea Vatein, creating Jackets, Jumpsuits & Jammers for the creative entrepreneur’s lifestyle. Her pieces are strategically designed to embody Classic, Color and Confidence. Lenese relocated to New York in 2014, to pursue a Master’s in Fashion Management & Merchandising. Lenese is the creator and curator of BlackNFashion Podcast, a medium dedicated to the growth & enhancement of Black designers, merchandisers, stylists & their subsequent entrepreneurship.
Lenese is the CEO of LC Apparel Consulting and Founder of The Black Girlz Designer Club Nonprofit. She lends her knowledge to the next generation of designers via her services, courses, and mentorship packages. Her mantra: Bringing Dreams to LIFE. In 2020, Lenese was able to scale her business to $700K in revenue and went from working independently in her home to a commercial space with 10 employees in 7 months.
Lenese also hosts New York Garment District tours, workshops, and master classes in cities around the USA. She continues to be a resource to designers at varying degrees of the journey. Lenese is an advocate for education, unity, and inclusion for Black Creatives, in fashion. She has completed product development and production for over 220 emerging brands in the last 3 years.
What do you think helped you build your reputation within your market?
I believe what has helped build my reputation in the Black N Fashion space and the fashion industry is my authenticity, my transparency and my anti gate keeping mentality. I love to help others and see people conquer their dreams. I think exposing people to education and resources propels and inspires then to do more, create more, seek more, create opportunities for others…..and the biggest one of them all is solving peoples problems through intentional, innovative and interesting products and services.
Can you share a story from your journey that illustrates your resilience?
My family and friends call me the bounce back queen lol! I have been knocked down so many times from being fired, to not receiving recognition and accolades that I deserved. I move to NYC on a dollar and a dream at 25 years old. I had no savings, no job….just acceptance into a masters program, that I thought would change my life. (that was absolutely false…but that’s another story lol) . I stayed with a friend in a room (this friends is actually the BGDC Treasurer and apart of our E-board), where we shared a bed in an apartment with 2 other young women. I looked for a job everyday until I found one. It took me about 2 weeks of nonstop applying and interviews. Shortly after about 3 weeks later I found an apartment and then 1 week later after going back home to get my things from my apartment in Chicago to move into my NY apartment…..I was robbed. My things weren’t even in my Brooklyn apartment for 3 days and then boom….gone, not recovered and I hander even gotten a chance to get renters insurance. However I did not let this get me down, I was a single black women living alone in a new place….of course I was a target. However I was alive and I have a voice and power….I got out that lease, found me a safer place to live and continued on instead of running back to Chicago, which seemed like the best thing when it all unfolded.
Contact Info:
- Website: https://lenesecalleea.com/pages/black-girlz-designer-club
- Instagram: @BlackGirlzDesignerClub
- Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/profile.php?id=100063919037819