We’re excited to introduce you to the always interesting and insightful Stella Ezenwaka. We hope you’ll enjoy our conversation with Stella below.
Stella, appreciate you joining us today. Alright, so you had your idea and then what happened? Can you walk us through the story of how you went from just an idea to executing on the idea
Classic Estelle is an African-owned fashion brand located in Nigeria, precisely, Port Harcourt city. The brand started off as an idea the first time I saw my mum wearing cooperates to work. Truth is, I’ve always admired people when they are all closed up in their dress but at the same time looking classy and bossy. But when I saw my mum for the first time wearing a cooperate black skirt, a buttoned-up white shirt, and a blazer, I made up my mind to follow this journey because, I fell in love with every single look. So it’s safe to say my mum inspired this idea and that brought me this far. Going forward, I nurtured the idea by attending a fashion school for about a year. After I graduated, I had already read, researched, and did some market surveys on what it takes to start a fashion company while taking the courses. But then, there wasn’t much money to start big, I started sewing and delivering from my home. It started off with earning little, but it gave me great joy that my skill and passion could yield a profit for me. I began to do more research, read books from my mentors but the book that inspired me the most was “What rich people know & desperately want to keep secret by Brian Sher”. I ate the book, trust me and after that night, I worked hard like never before, there were times I made clothes from morning till night because I needed to save up and start properly. Fast forward to 2021, I had already saved up enough, I employed 3 persons to work with me from home, our online pages were already set up properly, I started getting clients, and I was very excited about how I was able to get to that point, although challenges were there but I never allowed them to overshadow me. I persisted, and after a year I launched my website and a store. I couldn’t believe everything I dreamt of, the ideas I had, and all I always wanted to do would surface and get me this far. My team and my company have also expanded. Truth is, God did this, I’m super grateful to him and I know and believe that Classic Estelle will be a globally recognized brand.
Awesome – so before we get into the rest of our questions, can you briefly introduce yourself to our readers.
As a young woman, I wanted to make a difference in every thing I had passion for and fashion was top of that list. I grew up in the Eastern part of Nigeria where creativity in business was a key factor. Seeing the smiles a proper fabric can put on the face on a person when it’s properly tailored was a determining factor. I’ve always chosen quality over quantity, hence, why I carefully source our fabrics, and when this is infused into feminine fashion exudes confidence, class, finesse, and unending smiles.
Started out by falling in love with how my mum dressed to work and a few friends sharing creative ideas on fashion, this led to me getting proper training in a fashion school and this got me into the nitty-gritty of Empowering Women through Fashion because I steadily mastered the art of customer satisfaction.
As a service provider, I hope to aid my customers make a style statement that exudes Class hence the name CLASSIC ESTELLE.
Our outfits are comfy and for all body sizes, ages, skin tones, and cultures, and most importantly, We tend to create a style for every story…
Learning and unlearning are both critical parts of growth – can you share a story of a time when you had to unlearn a lesson?
Sincerely speaking, there were times I faced lots of challenges that I never knew I could come out from.. I understand that business comes with challenges but I wasn’t exactly prepared or should I say, aware of how frustrated and sad one can be at that moment. One of them was the challenge of not being able to meet up to some monthly goals as a result of the unavailability of some of our unique fast-selling fabrics, the shipping policies we were facing really got me off balance. The lesson I had to unlearn was, trying to be alone or shutting everyone out whenever things don’t go my way, I initially thought that was the best because I felt then, you’ll have enough space to think out a solution but the truth is, I became more frustrated, sad and tired of almost everything. On a Monday morning after prayers, I went into the study room and found a book written by “Brian Sher. Read it, I literally ate the book because it was as though the book wanted me to find it at that point and it was exactly what I needed. After reading the whole book, I got motivated, now, instead of enclosing myself within a space, I hung out with my friends and went on movie dates, I distanced myself from the problem…I was beginning to be my normal self. I realized that by bombarding myself with lots of thinking, not associating, and being in that enclosed space get my brain pressured and it won’t give me any solution. One night, when I got home from one of the movie dates, I was showering and woosh, I got the solution I’ve been longing for, just like that, I was able to partner with the most reliable shipping company and I was able to get a new fabric supplier and set rules… All these happened while in the shower, I was already happy and my mind was relaxed.
Sometimes, a time-out is imperative for finding buried solutions to difficult problems.
How did you put together the initial capital you needed to start your business?
The moment I realized I wanted to go into the fashion industry, the funding wasn’t much of a problem because at that time I was ready to make do with what I had. Firstly, I opened a fixed deposit account while in school, just to be saving the money to start the business. I share my allowance into half and put them into that account. When I was done with school, I started a community service program which was paying me monthly.. I started saving from the money as I never touched it till I finished. I was still receiving some allowance from my parents so I was able to sustain myself with it. After I was done with my fashion school. I started making and delivering clothes from home, which got me to save more and I was able to finally start my brand properly.
Contact Info:
- Website: www.classicestelle.com
- Instagram: classic_estelle
- Facebook: Classic Estelle
- Twitter: Classic Estelle
- Other: Tiktok-classicestelle Pinterest-Classic Estelle