We caught up with the brilliant and insightful Zenovia Morris a few weeks ago and have shared our conversation below.

Hi Zenovia, thanks for joining us today. Let’s kick things off with your mission – what is it and what’s the story behind why it’s your mission?

MISSION: To see more entertainment artists confident and in control of their iconic image.

The story behind your mission
MISSION: To see more entertainment artists confident and in control of their iconic image.

I once was a very frightened, fearful and scared little girl. Almost afraid of my own shadow. After being told so many times to be quiet because I sang all the time. As a result of not understanding why, I created a world around me, hiding in silence. I observed and consumed the world largely and in an eclectic way. I assumed no one valued my voice. Oddly, as I gotten older, I learned how much I was doing the world a disservice by just being quiet. I wasnt getting what I wanted. I sang where I could, only where it was accepted, but not too loud where anyone could hear, a Choir.
In the world of singing, you really get to see the bridge of sounding good melting with feeling of creativity & struggle.
Singing has a lot to do with Identity. The tone of your voice will reveal the uncertainty everytime. Ownership of who you are. Owning your voice, your look, and your power felt like a huge responsibility that I didn’t want, however at the same time pursued. The more I Hid, the more God put me in the spotlight. I attracted the right people that always quietly heard my value. Where that invitation was asked I went. Speaking at conferences, Teen Mentor programs, Choir Ensemble, Talent shows, singing in a band and praise worship team at church. I did it all scared. At that time i said “God ill be up here, I just don’t want any leads.” Why did I say that?… I started Fashion styling and Creating looks for local Artist, and Bands in Cincinnati, Ohio. They all knew I could sing. Started asking me to do BGVs ( Background Vocals) Sit in writing sessions, Mastering Sessions, and Vocal produced sessions. Being that quiet girl I was a Sponge and I wanted to know all about this world. I fell in love with music and how people showed up. I learned through my experience and observation, Creative individuals have a difficult time presenting, because we are not recipients of ourselves. I would see them and know precisely, how God would want them to show up. All they need is faith and guidance. I’ve been in this industry long enough to spot when an artist is just fabricated. You will see a lot of changes,and it’s disingenuous. Then between label switching they can take your whole look(amongst other intellectual property) and they go through a whole identity crisis. In finding my own way, I knew it was my mission to help Creatives, artist, Women and Individuals to help them understand themselves more by identifying their SAUCE. “We all got the same ingredients, but NO ONE has your sauce.” ( We create an image that is authentically tailored to your own uniqueness.)

Great, appreciate you sharing that with us. Before we ask you to share more of your insights, can you take a moment to introduce yourself and how you got to where you are today to our readers

I am Zenovia the founder and Ceo of Zenoviastyles. Little bit of my back ground as far as my fashion side of my self. Imagine a house with a Large Canary yellow door with egyptian symbols on the side window (next to the door) and a Bronzed shiny 1967 Cadillac Eldorado in the driveway. Big sun setting mural on the garage door. My childhood home was a staple everyone knew. My spark of fashion started here with my biggest influences in fashion and individuality would have to be my mother( Diva) and grandmother (a Lady). My mother, I would describe as Chaka Khan and my grandmother Diane Carol. My grandmother was graceful, posed and intriguing. Everyone adored her and I loved how she could walk in a room, and people would be at her every command. Favored, highly respected, very classy and upright. My mother had all of the above, plus very intellectually outspoken and was the life of the party. My mother was an advocate for individuality and speaking up.
They both instilled in me, You do not walk out the house without wearing and looking your best.

I graduated with Associates and Bachelors in Marketing Management w/ minor in consumer behavior. I found my love for Fashion Styling. Fall 2010 I worked at Cincinnati Fashion Week, Where I met and worked for Project Runway season 11,12 All Star Amanda Valentine. Amanda dropped tons of gems on me and gave me the confidence I needed to start my styling business journey in 2011. I used my friends to do test shoots. Then I moved to local businesses,and surrounding publications. I would merchandise their display windows, travel for commercial photoshoots and or do their graphics. At night I was styling Local Artists and Bands.
The real shift came, when I got hired( by celebrity stylist Jason griffin) to style Fox “Empire” Yazz the Greatest who plays ” Hakeem Lyon”
Yazz had a Tour performance in Cincinnati, Ohio. Jason and Yazz loved my work ethic, professionalism and encouraged me to come to Los Angeles, California. 2 years later, I did!

Since Ive been here in Los Angeles, I had the opportunity to style celebrity actors Sterling Macer Jr. “Where the Crawdads sing 2022 Red Carpet Premier” Patrick cage from “HBO WestWorld”/actresses Toni Trucks, Mina Surpreme, Upcoming Artist Lamarr Lyons, Diamonique Jackson, Under direction of Costumer fashion stylist Darryl Glover Styled for the Oscars, Caleb Mclauglin of “Stranger things”, Caleel Harris Netflix “When they see us red carpet premiere” so much more. One of my greatest achievements was costuming for two independent films “The Dope Years” and Triggers” “The Dope Years”, most notably for the Natasha Harlins story, honored & recognized by DGA. Grand Prize student film award.

Any advice for growing your clientele? What’s been most effective for you?

In my creative field, many think that my clients can easily be generated from posting on various social media platforms. However, I realized early on that by building great rapport with my current clients, collaborating w/ other talented creatives, building a solid team and through their word-of-mouth it generates other clients that are highly interested in working with me.

During the pandemic, forced the creative service field to pivot and shift. A lot of service colleagues left the industry all together. I chose to move much of my services to online. I was very much still out side during covid, Costuming movies, studio sessions for artist just to make ends meet like everyone else. I sought after the opportunity that the pandemic presented. Do what you care about the most and make that your priority. I wanted to help creatives artist, and individuals all over the world and give opportunities to other stylist and have the freedom to do that.

For you, what’s the most rewarding aspect of being a creative?

The most rewarding aspect of being a creative is having the freedom to create and meeting people from all walks of life. As a stylist, I cross path with many individuals in the industry from models to actors and entertainers, etc.. I find myself being a catalyst as to why others connect and work on several projects with each other and building community. Seeing this give me joy.

Contact Info:

• Website: www.Zenoviastyles.com
• Instagram: www.instagram.com/iamzenoviastyles
• Other: www.tiktok.com/Styleztherapy

Image Credits
Actor Sterling Macer Jr. Actor Brandon Claybon Actress/Singer/ Influencer Mina Surpreme “The Dope Years” Video Still Caleb McLaughlin Stranger Things Premier Myles Brown and rapper Slick Rick “Midas touch Music video still) Singer Sir Blayke Model Actress Nadine Simmons