We’re excited to introduce you to the always interesting and insightful Taivy Lapalmer. We hope you’ll enjoy our conversation with Taivy below.

Taivy, appreciate you joining us today. Let’s talk legacy – what sort of legacy do you hope to build?

I’m building a legacy rooted in creativity, empowerment, and connection within the fashion and social media space. Through my fashion brand EMPRIS, I’m shaping a brand that represents bold personal expression and timeless style. With my social media agency TAIVYBRANDS, I’m creating a supportive ecosystem where influencers and personal brands can grow authentically and thrive.

Beyond my businesses, my personal brand as a fashion designer, influencer, and content creator is driven by the desire to inspire. I aim to bridge fashion, beauty, and lifestyle with authenticity, encouraging others to follow their passions and create with purpose. Whether i’m hosting events, or attending them my goal is to foster real connections, spark innovation, and help others collaborate in ways that leave a lasting impact.

Ultimately, I want my legacy to be about making a meaningful difference—by creating opportunities, inspiring confidence, and bringing people together to build something greater. I hope people will say I was someone who wasn’t afraid to dream big and bring those dreams to life. I want to be remembered as someone who inspired confidence in others—whether through my designs, my content, or the brands I built. I want people to remember me as someone who created opportunities, fostered genuine connections, and elevated others along the way.

Taivy, before we move on to more of these sorts of questions, can you take some time to bring our readers up to speed on you and what you do?

My name is Taivy, and I’m based in NYC, positioned at the intersection of the fashion and social media industries. I have a background in Fashion Design and Entrepreneurship, earning my design degree from NCC on Long Island and my bachelor’s in Entrepreneurship from FIT in NYC. While in college, I balanced fashion design with social media, working with individual clients to refine my sewing skills and launching my YouTube channel, designertaivy, in late 2019—where my content creation journey began.

As of 2025, I have two main goals.
Goal 1: Grow my social media agency, TAIVYBRANDS, which I founded in 2024 to help content creators and aspiring professionals build personal brands, gain opportunities, and grow communities. Under TAIVYBRANDS, I offer services in design (media kits, social media graphics), social media strategy (management, video editing), and influencer marketing (UGC, product reviews, event hosting). I’m actively seeking more clients and contracts for 2025. I launched my first digital course, “Your Brand Within: Discover, Define, and Dominate Your Personal Brand” in late Fall 2024. It’s an immersive self-led course for those looking to develop themselves in any industry.

Goal 2: Premiere my fashion brand, EMPRIS, during NYFW 2025. EMPRIS is a visionary brand focused on fantasy, diversity, and timeless elegance. Since launching in 2023, I’ve worked on building awareness through conceptual shoots and released a fashion film, The Gift, in 2024. My focus now is on designing a full collection that highlights diverse bodies, faces, and unique stories.
EMPRIS represents Excellence, Motivation, Power, Royalty, Inspiration, and Soul. It’s more than clothing—it’s a movement and a declaration of identity. When you wear EMPRIS, you embody a legacy of purpose and individuality.

What do you find most rewarding about being a creative?

The most rewarding part of being a creative is seeing the impact my work has on others. Whether it’s digital art, clothing, film, or a story, every piece feels like I’m sharing a part of my soul with the world. There’s a vulnerability in that—I can’t control how people will react. But when someone resonates with what I’ve created, it’s incredibly fulfilling.

Have you ever had to pivot?

I always knew I wanted to work in fashion and design dresses—it’s been my dream for as long as I can remember. Like many others, I assumed I’d have to start out in a company, but when COVID hit and the job market collapsed, I ended up working in the insurance industry. I told myself I could pursue my fashion dreams on the side while earning a stable income. Nearly three years later, I found myself burned out, depressed, and dealing with serious health concerns. I realized if I didn’t leave, I might lose myself entirely. Out of fear for my well-being, I made the biggest risk of my life: I quit my job and committed fully to launching my fashion brand, EMPRIS, in 2024.

I didn’t have much in savings—just a big dream and a heart that knew this was my true calling. In early 2024, I worked tirelessly on creative ideas, produced my first fashion film, launched merch, built a website, and promoted myself online. I applied for fashion jobs, hoping to break into the industry, while continuing to grow my presence as a content creator by attending events and making videos.

Midway through 2024, after months of false promises from job interviews, I realized my social media efforts were gaining real traction. My audience grew when I attended events, shared fun content, and stayed consistent. Over time, I became skilled in personal branding, something I’d been doing quietly since 2019. That’s when I pivoted again—this time, to focus on social media and personal branding full time.

By the end of 2024, I had built a growing social media agency offering branding, content creation, and management services. Now, as I step into 2025, I’m ready to relaunch EMPRIS with intention and purpose, leveraging everything I’ve learned. My journey has been anything but linear, but every pivot has brought me closer to living my truth as a creative.

Contact Info:

• Website: https://taivybrands.my.canva.site/meettaivy
• Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/taivy_official
• Linkedin: https://www.linkedin.com/in/taivy-lapalmer/
• Youtube: https://www.youtube.com/@DesignerTaivy

Image Credits

Taivy L