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

Scarlett, thanks for joining us, excited to have you contributing your stories and insights. Parents can play a significant role in affecting how our lives and careers turn out – and so we think it’s important to look back and have conversations about what our parents did that affected us positive (or negatively) so that we can learn from the billions of experiences in each generation. What’s something you feel your parents did right that impacted you positively.

ReynaMonroe is named after my parents. Not only would there be no me without them but i’m not sure if i’d be who I am without them being who they are.
I believe my parents weren’t intentional about me growing up to be who I am and what I am mean by that is they weren’t forcing me to draw or forcing me to create they instilled certain values and morals in me but they allowed me to grow up as who I am today.
We traveled a lot. Traveling opened my mind at a young age, I don’t think they know how big of an affect that has played in my life.
Since before I could walk I was going on road trips down south with my pops, and very young my mom was taking me to Guatemala. I’ve had the privilege to learn & experience different cultures. As a kid they dressed me in faux fur coats, fashion and traveling has always been a part of my life.

What my parents did right was allow me to blossom, they gave me direction but as I got older they didn’t stifle me. They were just young and living how they knew best, and I got to grow up watching them, explore with them. learning and growing with them. I got to see all the positive changes they made which was super encouraging to me, and I believe it’s what has helped me stay positive in life. After High school I went to Brazil to study abroad thanks to my parents. In my early twenties I moved to NY, and a few years later got to back pack thru Europe. Getting the opportunity to meet different people, witness different cultures has made me appreciate the beauty in fashion. The feel that fashion can bring to people is what has inspired me, and thanks to my parents i’ve been able to move around different parts of the world to get more in tune with my artistic side. Thanks to my parents support i’ve been able to do things I want to do. what my parents did right was allow me to grow and be free to become the person I am today.

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

I’ve always loved fashion. Shoes, accessories, hairstyles. I’ve always loved the whole look.
In high school I wanted to be a stylist but there wasn’t a degree for that, so after making my prom dress by hand because I had no prior knowledge I decided that i’d dress people in my own designs by getting a degree in fashion design.
It took me a few years to complete my journey. And it took me almost a decade to start my own business.
In 2013 when I completed my journey at Columbia I started doing custom, but that was never my plan, it fell in my lap and I just went with it.
The lack of discipline and being afraid stopped me from pursuing what I really wanted to do.
Sometime in 2021 I decided I had enough of not doing enough and I started my research. In the fall of 2022 I launched my first line ever, a mini swimsuit collection.
It wasn’t the right season but it was the right time because thats when I got it done.

RMSwim is a novelty swim collection, it’s for all the ladies who want swim pieces to be apart of their fashion wardrobe.
This collection is made to take on your best travel destinations. For those getaway girl trips, celebrating milestones, Your honey moon in the Caribbean. These swimsuits are picture perfect, pool side, on a yacht, near or in the clear blue beaches. Warning- you will receive a ton of compliments.

The best part of RMSwim is that I did not use the standard industry patterns, I created my own. I spent 2 months creating my own fit and silhouette to be inclusive to women who wear “standard” sizes but may have a fuller body.
Typically women with larger breast have a hard time finding a one piece swimsuit that fits them everywhere, (if you don’t need the extra room you may need to size down) but i’ve created a pattern that will be inclusive to women often times forgotten; because women with fuller bodies want sexy one piece swim suits too. RMSwim has made a swim-line that is sexy, fun, it feels good, it looks good, it has room where it needs to have it and it is snatched at the waist.
It’s reminiscent of shape-wear but feels good on, and a bonus is, it doesn’t get baggy coming out of the water.

Im proud to have created a line that I love, that is fun, modern and sexy, that i’ve created different levels of sexiness with each swimsuit for different types of women.
That I took my time and created a pattern to include more body types. & that although I wanted to get it done I did not compromise on the quality.

What sets RMSwim apart is that i’m a firm believer in taking care of our mental health. I know that may seem crazy with me being in fashion. But anytime i’ve had a bad day i’ll sit in those feelings for a while and then I decide to get up get dressed and treat myself. And when I look in the mirror i remind myself of who I am, or what i’ve done, or simply just tell myself everything will be ok and that I like what I see in that mirror, inside and out.
Im a firm believer that sometimes getting dressed in something we love can boost our moral. I created a line that should be taken on a trip. I also believe sometimes we need to get away. Sometimes the cure or the restart we need is to take a trip to clear our minds, to totally let go of whatever is happening at home even if its just for a couple days. Eat good. See new things. And Put on our favorite garments.

What I am most proud of is that this time i followed thru. This time I planned it out, did the research, save some funds, and executed.
Being an entrepreneur is not for the faint of heart, I did not realize owning a business would make me more of a business owner than a designer, I didn’t know this is how this would go when I was in college. I thought i’d graduate, design a line and just like that i’d have customers and I could just focus on design. It’s not like that at all, but I am proud that i’m not letting anyone mainly myself get in the way of what I am trying to build. I am proud that fear will no longer hold be back, I am proud that as I continue on this journey it’s getting easier for me to just do and not worry so much about how perfect my images look or how captivating my captions may be. I am proud that i’m building confidence thru fear and i’m getting comfortable with being uncomfortable.

What i’d want anyone reading this to know is that you should not feel bad about living your life how you want to live it, (positively of course) go where you want, be who you want to be, go for the job you want, let go of whatever isn’t good for you, do more of what you love to do, take that trip, its ok to have sad days and sit in those feelings. Love on the people who love you and care for you. Tell people you love them. It’s ok to be vulnerable. and when you don’t feel your best, put on one of your favorite outfits and treat yourself, even if its just for ice cream. Preferably on a beach somewhere wearing your favorite swim piece.

Be fierce. Be confident. Be se sexy. Just Be!
RM

Learning and unlearning are both critical parts of growth – can you share a story of a time when you had to unlearn a lesson?

This may sound crazy, but things don’t get done on their own. I’ve had to unlearn not putting in the work wont get me anywhere and that being consistent was not enough, I had to be persistent. I had to actively pursue what I wanted & put in all the work needed to get it done.

In 2017 I hosted my first and only ReynaMonroe fashion show; it was a true success. I was so excited that it went well that I wanted to start my fashion brand but didn’t have any knowledge on starting a business much less how I would maintain it. So I just went for it, I made an eight piece summer dress collection. I bought the fabric, made the samples, & started the website. They were going to be made to order pieces because at the time I could not afford to get them produced by a manufacture. Because my fashion show went so well I thought as soon as I posted about launching this RM collection that I would immediately make sells.

I was wrong

I made a couple post prior to launching, as teasers letting my followers know I had something in the works coming out soon.

The day I was set to launch I made ONE post….. and nothing.
No one reached out to inquire, no one bought a dress. Absolutely nothing happened. and I did nothing. I didn’t follow up, i didn’t market. All I did was one post after making a few dresses, and hoped that would be enough.

It wasn’t and I quit.

I learned from that experience that I have to put in the work, most importantly I have to want to put in the work. and I simply was not ready at that time to do so. I wasn’t tired of being tired of doing the same thing yet. and I wasn’t disciplined enough to just figure it out and do it. I had to unlearn that being comfortable would keep me complacent.

I remember in 2019 I was dating this guy and he asked me what my plans were for my business in the future. I gave him the big picture. Then he told me “in 2 years I’m going to ask you where you are at in the process.” when he said that I knew I didn’t have much time to get started, a light bulb when off in my head, and I realized in order for me to get to that big picture of meeting my success I have to plan and take the steps needed to get there, which I was not doing at that time, I only had the thoughts of what I wanted. What he said stuck with me for the next couple of years, I didn’t start right away but I knew that I didn’t want 2 years to go by and he ask me where was I in the process and my response was nowhere. I got caught up with life, but in 2021 it finally hit me. In April of ’21 I knew what swimsuits I wanted to launch. I started with a photo-shoot that I was not happy with, and realized I was starting backwards. I paused, and started to do some hard research, after having a conversation with a friend who told me I needed to focus and PLAN IT OUT. I researched my research. I was reading, I was on YouTube, I was on Clubhouse. I was watching documentaries. I was on zoom calls, getting any info I could use towards my business. By the end of 2021 I felt I had enough information to move on to the next step. I could no longer allow fear and the lack of discipline to be the excuse I gave myself to not get it done and not get it done to the best of my ability. After so much research and saving money I found my manufacturer, and that was the next part to my business journey.

Can you talk to us about manufacturing? How’d you figure it all out? We’d love to hear the story.

ReynaMonroe Swim was produced by a start up full service Manufacture Company in Los Angeles. I think working with a manufacturer is always a risk, I had done enough research to tell me that. But where there is no risk there is no reward. I found a list of manufactures through the CFDA website, and I got that website through a YouTuber. Prior to that I could not find a manufacturer at all, at one point I even went to LA and walked the fashion district and went into buildings hoping I’d have some luck; that did not work for me. On the CFDA website I used their filters to look for a manufacturer that fit best what I needed produced. And that was a company who produced swimwear, and they had to be full service.
After inserting the filters I was left with about 11 manufacturers to choose from, most were in Los Angeles. I sent everyone the same email, inquiring about the process and an estimate of what this would cost me, and what the time frame would be. Some were already fully booked, some did not have a lot of experience in swimwear, and some were out of my price point. The manufacturer I chose had only been in business for a little over a year. It was important for me to visit them in person, make sure they were legit, that the working conditions to their employees seemed fair and that they would fit into my price point.
They were out of my budget but they were the best fit for me so I gave them and myself the green light.

The biggest lesson I learned although I’m happy with the manufacturer I chose is that I would probably use a separate pattern maker to edit my patterns moving forward. There are two packages you can buy from a manufacture to produce for you if they are full service. One is full service, where they pretty much do everything for you, you just show them a sketch or tell them your idea and they make it come to life. (I already had my design and pattern, but my pattern needed work.) The other service was mainly them just producing the garment which meant you have to have either have your patterns and samples or your tech pack ready for them.

Next time I would find a pattern maker that specializes in swimsuits, and then use the same manufacturer to produce my products and the reason being is because although I make my samples and patterns I’d like to work with a pattern maker that specialized in plus size as well, I want to be able to tap in to a niche that I feel is underserved, & id like to include plus size next.

Even with all the research I did, my research really only gave me an idea when it came to the process of working with a manufacturer. I learned as I worked with them what was happening and how it would happen.

One of my biggest challenges was that I expected the manufacturer to change my pattern size, (they did basic editing but I wanted them to change the sizing to be more inclusive to thicker women and that was very different then what we agreed upon when I contracted them) this was my mistake. Originally when I met with them I had my samples and patterns, my patterns needed minimal edited which they did and they made a couple samples before going into production, that is what we agreed to and what I was paying for. But after they made the second sample I realized I needed my silhouette to be more inclusive to women with fuller bodies. Although I made the original pattern/design it was still from a basic slope industry pattern which meant it was made for “standard” sizing. The manufacturer told me they could do the changes I wanted, but it would cost me more money, money I did not have.
I spent a little over 2 months making these new patterns to be inclusive to women with fuller bodies; I pretty much had to go back to the drawing board. I went from wanting to launch in the spring of 2022 to now reworking my patterns in the spring of ‘22. I could have just left them as is, but ever since I got into the fashion game I knew I wanted to include more body types in my collections. This was really important to me, even if it meant pushing back my launch date. I had a difficult time reworking this new fit/silhouette, I was working 16 hour days almost everyday, I was doing model fittings about once a week with different fit models, or whenever they were available, of course that meant I also had to sew the samples, I believe I made over a dozen new samples, I was not quitting until they were made just right. In June of ’22 is when

Next go round I will make my samples and patterns again but I will hire a swimwear professional pattern maker to edit them before going to the manufacturer. That way when I got to the manufacturer they just have to make the sample for me to give the ok and quickly move on to cutting and production.

Contact Info:

• Website: ReynaMonroe.com
• Instagram: ReynaMonroe
• Facebook: ReynaMonroe Luxe

Image Credits
Teighlor Meghan Mary Bri