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

Shakarian, looking forward to hearing all of your stories today. Let’s kick things off with a hypothetical question – if it were up to you, what would you change about the school or education system to better prepare students for a more fulfilling life and career?

If I were able to change anything about the education system, it would have to be the approach that educators take with students. Before becoming a CEO, I was a substitute teacher and worked with kids of all ages and I noticed a huge shift in the way they treated me compared to other teachers on the halls, and that was because I used a respectful approach and treated them like humans rather than an animal I’m trying to teach a trick to. Teachers tend to use the “I’m not one of your friends” approach and while there is nothing wrong with it, that doesn’t mean that you should throw your respect for the students out of the window. I’ve noticed that students operate better in positive circumstances rather than negative and I noticed the motivation from working with the students and helping them with their school work and it impacted them so much that they would say things like they need more people like me in the school. To make a long story short, I feel like there needs to be more positivity from the teachers, it is a school, not a boot camp, not a prison yard; the kids will work with you not for you, but you have to work with them.

Shakarian, 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?

I am Shakarian Bradley, Founder and CEO of Velour Modeling Troupe and The Shirts Off Our Backs Foundation. I started my business simply due to having my safe place taken away. I was once part of a student organization which was similar to my business and it was like a safe haven. Whenever I would have tough times, I knew that going to practice would cheer me up and keep me going, but once it went through a change, it felt like all of the life was sucked from it and it just didn’t feel safe for me any more; it started to do more harm to my mental than good, so I sought out to create the safe place I once knew and open it to all walks of life so that they can express themselves freely without judgement, laughter or harsh criticism.
I feel like everyone deserves to be unique and we as people shouldn’t try to strip that away from people to create uniformity in what is supposed to be a form of expression. I strive to push for academic advancement within the youth by proving programs for studying, tutoring, classroom sessions and fun days for motivation. The academic rates have been declining as of recently and although I’m just one person and young, there is much I can do to make a positive impact on that and turn things around.
At Velour, we have modeling practice, where we focus on technique, pose, confidence, uniqueness, and just trying things out to find our niche. I allow the models to truly “let loose” on the runway to really allow them to find themselves and grow into their personas. In doing so, fashion shows never look robotic, and you will see a different personality or story on AND off the runway by each individual model.

With The Shirts Off Our Back, we do community service by picking up trash in the neighborhood, passing out food to the needy and holding clothing and food drives to donate all proceeds to local homeless shelters. With both of my organizations, I strive to make not only my college community better but my hometown as well, because everyone deserves to have good things in life.

Any stories or insights that might help us understand how you’ve built such a strong reputation?

I would say my confidence, my resilience, and my positivity. When someone is confident in their craft it really shows. You can see the passion in their eyes for what they do and the steps they take to grow and get better. I’ve had multiple people want to work with me simply because of my confidence and my “never give up” attitude. I have never given up on anything in my life because if it’s worth fighting for, why not fight until the end? I want to see positivity and growth in the community and I’m willing to fight for that. My positivity has brought me a long way; despite what I go through on what seems like an every day basis, I still manage to bring joy to others and make their day brighter because what good would it be if I came around with a dark cloud? Everyone has bad days but you can’t let it define you or your entire day, or the way you treat others. I strive to uplift others and never make them feel inferior, less than, or unimportant, and that’s why people are drawn to me and my business.

Can you share a story from your journey that illustrates your resilience?

I have many stories that I could tell but I’m going to keep it related to the interview for my memory’s sake.
Our very first fashion show was in April and we had been practicing and working hard to prepare for it. With outfits and choreography and positioning being a breeze, it left me with other concerns; finances, food and a venue. Fundraisers had not been going well, nobody wanted to donate anything, venues were either not responding to booking requests or costed an arm and a leg, it was very discouraging knowing we worked so hard to put this show together and would possible have to cancel it; at this point we are a month away from the show. The last resort was ticket sales, and when I say that was the turn around for us! My models and I worked extremely hard to sell tickets so that we can get everything booked, however we had to compete with my former organization because they had a show the week after ours which made things a bit difficult due to difference in proximity and familiarity.
One of my models, A’Kendia Alford, made a donation out of nowhere which really helped with getting all of the expenses taken care of and I am thankful to God for her!
I was able to find a venue with a very low rate and everything I needed for the show to be a success so I quickly booked with them and knew that the show was a go!

I felt like a train wreck the day of the show as I realized I had not had any of the 3 outfits I needed. I had to scrummage through the closets and use my sewing machine to create pieces for the show that was just a few hours away. Also, there was supposed to be catered food but the restaurant went up in price so I had to home cook all of the food the day of the show. It felt like things just kept coming and coming, but at the same time things were working out in God’s favor, but saying I was TIRED after all of that would be an understatement!
God did not allow me to give up on this show at all and I’m glad because it brought so much joy to the models and the audience members and I truly cannot wait until the next show!

Contact Info:

• Website: https://Velourmt.square.site
• Instagram: https://Instagram.com/velourmt

Image Credits

Instagram:
@Pj_legacyart

@photosbynoasage