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

Whitney, looking forward to hearing all of your stories 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

As cliche as it sounds, the idea came from God. I had no idea what starting a business looked like. At the time, I was always traveling, and I wanted to create a travel brand. I decided to create sweatsuits to keep me warm and comfortable on the plane. First, I wrote it in my journal and continued to pray on it. I told my cousin Yaa and she submitted my business as an LLC. I had a friend who was a graphic designer that came up with our signature map logo on the back of our Swanzy Sets. It wasn’t until a year later that I actually reached out to a manufacturer to start making samples. I went through 3 different vendors, because I wasn’t super pleased with the quality. Once, I found a manufacturer I liked I knew I had to have a photoshoot and create an Instagram page. I remember dragging my friend with me to a waterfall to shoot a video campaign to represent what Swanzy meant to me. I made the video black and white to really tug on people’s emotions LOL. As if that had anything to do with how it made people feel. Honestly, when I launched Swanzy I just wanted to share my story as transparent as possible. It was a brand to commemorate my late father, fueled by God and my passion for fashion. Moving it from idea to launch was a mindset. I always told myself “in order to get to 10, you must start at 1.” Everything in between that is just a learning experience. Three years later, i’m still dropping quarterly collections that get better and better.

Whitney, 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?

Swanzy is the brand that gets you there! Where? To your destination, or a vacation, or an item on your to-do list, but most importantly to your purpose. I have always been an ambitious person. If I set my mind to something, I’m doing it. Whether I have the qualifications or experience or not. I have always loved fashion and creating. I am a visionary, so I love seeing my ideas come to life. Swanzy started out as tracksuits, but I knew it could grow into something much more. My plan has always been for it to scale into something greater. Gradually, we have expanded to creating other pieces like shirts, jerseys, dresses, and jackets. We plan to expand into fragrances, media, schools, and so much more. The most important lesson I’ve learned is that consistency is the ultimate key to success. Even if you need to take a break and rebrand, do it! Just don’t give up. Always remember your why. My why is I don’t want to be poor LOL. I know that God has called me to not only transcend barriers, but to create generational wealth for my family. For most of my life I was raised by a single mom, but one thing she always told me was that I can achieve anything I put my mind to. Even if we didn’t know how, we were going to figure out together!
I am most proud of the fact that I have not quit. All my life, I have battled with inconsistency. I would get really great ideas, but then stop because I would get overwhelmed or discouraged. Understanding that Swanzy is so much bigger than me, but it’s God’s vision has pushed me to keep going no matter the circumstance. Also, having really supportive people around me has made the journey so much more enjoyable and easier. This summer, we had a successful Popup Shop in DC. I loved seeing complete strangers walk through the door and purchase merchandise just because they actually loved the brand. The support was immense. I was blessed to see that my hard work was not in vain. If I could travel back in time and give myself one piece of advice, I would tell myself that “you are worthy to be in this space. God qualifies the unqualified.” Since I had no experience, I suffered with imposter syndrome. That set me back, because I should have just kept going and putting content out there no matter what. Also, I want people to know that having a business is hard! Especially when you are primarily doing it by yourself. Having a team is so important. Delegation is key!

Okay – so how did you figure out the manufacturing part? Did you have prior experience?

The quality of our products is something I pride myself on. I am a luxe girlie, so I strive to make sure the quality of my brand represents that. I source my products overseas. I met my current manufacturer through my cousin and have built a relationship with them over the past two years. It has been a LOT OF TRIAL AND ERROR! Apparently, Americans are just waay too big compared to people on the other side of the pond. It actually took years of feedback to get our sizing and quality of printing to where it is today. No one sees how much money you waste on sample pieces that come out terribly wrong. It used to frustrate me so much, but I had to learn that it’s a part of the process. It has taught me how to pay more attention to detail. It has definitely been a learning curve, but it is all a part of the journey.

How about pivoting – can you share the story of a time you’ve had to pivot?

Disappointment is inevitable in business. I had my first popup shop in DC this summer. It was a stressful process, because it felt like everything that could have gone wrong went wrong. My inventory didn’t arrive until the day before. All of the campaign shoots I had planned couldn’t happen, because I didn’t have everything I needed. Instead of letting it discourage me, I pivoted and did the best I could. Luckily, I knew to order sample pieces a few months prior so I could use that for campaign shoots. Ultimately, the popup was a success/

Contact Info:

• Website: www.swanzyco.com
• Instagram: @swanzy.co
• Twitter: @swanzy_co

Image Credits
Beck Visuals