We recently connected with Ta’quana Whaley-vedrine and have shared our conversation below.
Ta’Quana, looking forward to hearing all of your stories today. Can you talk to us about a risk you’ve taken – walk us through the story?
Taking risks can be very scary, especially if you’re an over thinker. I definitely over think every thing/situation but I like trying new things, I love challenges! Throughout high school I was so conflicted on which career path to take. I was gearing more so to enlisting into the Navy but I knew my parents didn’t want that for me and I wasn’t sure I wanted that for me. Then I wanted to become a dentist but once I started college I grew to love biology so much that I’ve changed my major a few times from Psychology to biology to Public health. Let’s just say I was all over the place back then. In 2014 someone suggested that I should create my own clothing brand, I was intrigued honestly but I was self motivated to start it. So I’ve waited and modeled for my friend Tanya because she had her own clothing brand and I was content with modeling then. It’s crazy now that I sit back and reminisce on how I had plenty of chances to start my brand but never took the initiative. My mom even mentioned to me to start my own brand but I still wasn’t ready. Sometimes things are presented to us but we can’t jump straight into it if we’re not ready because things may fall apart before it even begins. Once I moved to Atlanta and seen how many black owned businesses there were and how easy it was to start your own business I was ready to take the risk. Did I have the money to do it? Absolutely NOT lol!! But I knew that it was now or never and the wait is over. Stepping out on faith this time and I am so glad that I did. In 2020 I launched my brand as Tainted Beauty LLC and recently changed the name in 2024 to Fabuluxe Label LLC! Moral of my story, it’s ok to not be ready when everyone else is ready for you. You’ll know when something is right for you and you’ll be ready for any challenge that comes your way! You are a risk taker and will achieve success!
Ta’Quana, 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?
I grew up in a small town about 1 hour from New Orleans called Varnado and then moved to New Orleans for elementary school. I was a country girl to most but a city girl to all. As a kid I never wanted for anything and never asked for anything. I am so grateful for the parents I had. I first got into fashion when I started modeling for John Casablanca’s modeling agency when I was 11 or 12, and I hated it lol. But I did it because I wanted to know more about modeling. My mom decided to enroll me into their classes and I did a few runway shows. Fast forward to 2011, I met one of the most nicest and down to earth people ever, Tanya Francis. We’d became friends from a clothing store we worked at called Body Shop. That was my first fashion retail job. She then started her clothing brand and asked me if I wanted to model in her first fashion show and I was eager to model for her. And baby…let’s just say I modeled for at least 3 fashion shows and kilt it. Tanya then became a mentor to me when I decided to pursue fashion.
I believe moving to Atlanta really pulled me into the fashion world because I was surrounded by so many talented black owned businesses. I had plans on launching my business in April 2020 then covid hit. After reanalyzing my plans I still decided to launch in 2020 but in June! I launched my women’s clothing boutique as Tainted Beauty LLC. The reason why I closed that name honestly, is because I was definitely in a dark place and didn’t feel beautiful. I knew others were in a bad place as well and wasn’t happy with how they look in certain clothing so they would wear large clothes to cover themselves up. A lot of women is body shamed daily and I wanted to reassure them that even though they may feel tainted, they can still look beautiful in any and everything they wear!
My first 2 years as Tainted Beauty LLC was successful. Then slowly started to decline because I wasn’t as motivated as when I first started. I had to take a pause and decide if I wanted to keep going with my brand or let it go. It took a while for me to decide what the end game would be but I prayed on it and decided to rebrand! I knew that there would be some challenges with a rebrand, what if my customers wouldn’t want to shop with me after the rebrand, what if the new business name isn’t what they like, what if the rebrand be the end of my entire empire?? I was literally all over the place and once again over thinking. It wasn’t until I looked at my personal instagram name (fabulouslyt_) and realized that this is what my brand is all about. I like to look fabulous, I like certain labels, I like to feel comfortable and cozy. That’s how the name Fabuluxe Label was created. With a little brainstorming under pressure you will thrive if you’re consistent. I had to let go of that dark cloud and transition into a more positive outlook. My brand is not just based on luxury looks but loungewear/activewear. You can go to the gym and still look Fab in our activewear, you can run errands or chill around the house in our loungewear. Fab Girl you can have brunch with the girls in a super cute luxewear look or date night with your significant other with our luxewear attire. Our luxewear is affordable for all and gives you edgy looks all day. With a purchase of loungewear/activewear, you will get a pair of our white label socks complimentary from us.
This transition from Tainted Beauty LLC to Fabuluxe Label LLC hasn’t been easy. Of course I lost a few customers in between but I’ve also gained some. I don’t expect my old customers to jump on board right away because they don’t know much about my new brand. I remembered one of my loyal customers commented on my Facebook page stating she didn’t know I changed my boutique name and she was just deleting the emails. She told me that it took for her daughter telling her that it’s me and I rebranded everything lol. I thought that was hilarious but I completely understood and knew that she’s not the only one that hasn’t realized I rebranded. No matter how much I’ve posted about the rebrand, no matter how many emails I sent out, sometimes people do not pay attention and that’s normal but I did not get discouraged. I’m still posting on social media and sending out my emails faithfully to make sure my customers shop shop shop my luxe wear!
Where do you think you get most of your clients from?
The best source to get new customers for me is definitely promoting!! No matter how tiring and annoying it is you must post, promote, share, send out emails and text messages. Network as much as you can and engage with others on all socials. Luckily I’ve known my brand ambassador from back home and she’s so amazing and the sweetest person ever. I send her luxewear and she posts and tag the brand in her posts and it helps because it’s getting the brand out there to more and more people. I even have to pay for promotions/ads and it’s a hit or miss with sales but it gives you the opportunity to grow your following and gain subscribers. So don’t be afraid to promote and pay for promotion!
Any insights you can share with us about how you built up your social media presence?
Social media can be very harsh for any brand. People has no filter nowadays and if you say or post the wrong thing then that would set you so far back and that will put you in a bad place mentally. So starting a business you must factor in social media and be tough enough to block out the negativity because it will come. I remember there was a post on a blog and I commented about one of the artist under my personal account. When I tell you people was coming for me left and right then going to my personal page to view my post then going to my boutique page then coming back to comment mean things under the post trying to tarnish my reputation! It was the worst feeling ever and I literally had to take a pause to get my mind right. Moving forward I had to be mindful of what I say or comment no matter if it’s some light or just an innocent opinion, there will always be people ready to attack you!
Sometimes I will comment my business name on a few blogs post on IG because we all know that people goes straight to the comment section so it’s not going to hurt to put your brand name there because who knows, your new customer may be scrolling through the comments so get you name out there Fab Girl!
Contact Info:
- Website: https://Fabuluxelabel.com
- Instagram: FabuluxeLabel
- Facebook: Fabuluxe Label
- Other: TikTok: Fabulouslyt_
