If you are a long time follower and reader, thanks for waiting. If you are a newbie here, thanks for giving me a few minutes of your time.
Life has been life-ing. Between working, mother-ing, wife-ing, daughter-ing and everything else; your girl has had her hands full. But I knew that it was time to get back to myself and do other things I love like this blog!
Not only have a just been dealing with a full plate but I have also been feeling stuck on how to move my business forward. During my hiatus, I was teetering back and forth on how to make changes.
Should I continue selling handmade pieces? Should I keep the boutique open? Should I completely stop blogging and pursue other passions?Change the name? Change the content?
I have been thinking a lot about what’s next. And although I don’t have it all figured out, some changes have been made. But change is good, right?
One big change is that you will no longer see links or products to the boutique. I know that you loved to shop from it but I decided to close it. I enjoyed it too but I just wasn’t seeing the revenue that I expected. When I compared it to all of the work I was doing to keep it going it just didn’t add up. It pained me to close it. But it had to be done. I thought about it long and hard but decided it was time for a serious pivot. On to bigger and better things. More about that when the time is right.
Another decision I made is to stop offering custom dresses. I’ve had some of the worst experiences in life making custom dresses. I shared one of the experiences on the blog before. Now that I think about it. The last custom customer from hell is what made me go on a hiatus. It wasn’t worth the stress. People wanted everything, made by hand for pennies and thought the dress would somehow magically make them look like Beyonce. I just couldn’t put myself through that hell anymore. My peace is everything to me. No amount of money will allow me to disrupt it again.
There are still other things I’m figuring out but I’ll be sharing the journey along the way. I don’t feel the need to hide until I come up with my next “thing”. I missed y’all too much for that!
It feels so good to be back! Don’t worry…you can still expect great content about fashion, style, fitness, life, and all things fearless. But better.
I just wanted to pop in with a quick update to let you know that I’m still here and now better than ever. You can expect continuous content just like the old days.
Happy Monday! I hope this weekend gave you everything you needed and more! Here’s the YT video I dropped yesterday. Don’t forget, there’s a new episode every Sunday. Just go ahead and subscribe so you don’t miss anything. 🤷🏽♀️
Last week, I was able to add something to my business that I’ve always wanted and needed.
A professional mannequin is a dream purchase for a designer. A sewing machine, thread, notions…all of that is nice too. But a professional mannequin takes making designs to a whole ‘nother level.
So, you can imagine my excitement when I was finally able to get me hands on one!
Would you like to video of how I drape and design pieces on the mannequin?? Let me know in the comments…
A few weeks back, a preview sketch was released of the latest pieces to be available in the handcrafted collection, Fashion Not Fear Collection.
I’m excited to announce that the Cheeky Jacket dropped today!
It’s made of a plaid print featuring colors of brown, tan, pink, ivory, and black. And the fact that it’s cotton makes it heavy enough to block the wind but light enough that you can still wear pieces under it without feeling too hot.
I love that this jacket doesn’t have any front buttons or zipper closure. This helps you to tightly tie the sash and accentuate the waist.
Now, let’s talk sleeves!! These vintage inspired sleeves are EVERYTHING. The have a form fitting lower portion that tightly fits the wrist. The upper parts is puffy around the elbow area.
If classic with a twist is your style. Then you will find yourself wearing the right thing.
And did I mention the matching skirt??
The skirt has a phone pocket. Yes, you read that right.
Wrap yourself in this Fall worthy beauty today!
Thoughts on the jacket?? Share them in the comments…
A couple of days ago, I posted a sketch on IG of the first piece from the Fall 2021 FNF Collection.
Right after that post, I got to work on constructing the garment. And although, I loved the rough sketch. I have made alot of changes to it once I started manipulating the fabric.
This collection may be the best one yet!
Have I said that before?
Nevertheless, I feel this way for a few reasons. Firstly, the fabric that I’ve sourced. The classic prints range from the colors of the sun to the multitude of colors found on the leaves that are about to start falling from the trees.
Another reason this may be the best yet is because of the construction. Each collection I create, I try to involve more techniques and aim to put my own spin on things. Pinpointing my signature style (although I haven’t quite found it yet) is my main goal. That will be reflected in this collection.
Also, since some of us are still in the house 24/7 and others are outside. I felt that it was necessary to make dresses that you can wear both in the house and if you’re out and about.
The first piece will be released next week and I can’t wait for you all to check it out.
Lynn Power left a successful 30 year advertising career, as CEO of J. Walter Thompson NY, to become an entrepreneur. She launched MASAMI, a clean premium haircare, in February 2020. And hasn’t looked back since.
I wanted to know more about her fearless journey, so I reached out to ask her some questions. Here is what she said…
Tell us what life was like before you began your fearless journey?
I had been working in the advertising industry for my entire career and was running agencies. At the time, I was the CEO of J. Walter Thompson NY. But, I found that I wasn’t enjoying it much anymore. I was dealing with a lot of administrative work (HR issues, legal issues, finance meetings, etc) and had gotten away from what drew me to the industry in the first place — building brands.
What made you want to take the leap and start your company?
I decided it was time to stop building other people’s brands and to start doing it for myself. When I left J. Walter Thompson, I actually started a brand consultancy with a partner. We worked almost exclusively with startups which I really enjoyed. I found it fulfilling to make a direct impact on their business in a very tangible way. But then I met my co-founder James, who had been working on haircare formulations for about 10 years. I loved what he was doing. We decided to partner together to launch MASAMI which we founded in 2018 and haven’t looked back.
What have you learned about yourself during this journey?
I am much more adaptable and entrepreneurial than I realized. I always knew I had an entrepreneurial gene (both my parents were small biz owners) but I wasn’t sure I would like the “grind” of it. But it turns out, I like the flexibility of working when I want and controlling my schedule. And of course, launching during Covid certainly has given me a perspective on how to pivot and not get too caught up in your plans.
What would you do over again before you took the leap? (If anything)
I would take some time to build up my clean beauty network and also a network of peers and advisors. That has been incredibly helpful and I always advise other entrepreneurs to make sure they have a strong network, but there is no reason to wait until you leave your job and start your business to do that. You should always be growing your connections and network — you never know when it might come in handy.
What is life like since you’ve taken the leap into fearless living?
I have crafted my business around my lifestyle — which is super flexible. I like being able to work in Palm Spring, NYC, The Berkshires, wherever. And now with my own business, it’s been great to be able to create my life the way I want it. I like to blend my business and personal lives (for me that works super well), so I work with friends, my kids help out and my husband is our investor. It all comes together in a really fulfilling way.
Tell us about your company.
MASAMI is clean premium haircare with a Japanese ocean botanical that’s all about hydration. Our formulas are high performing but don’t weigh your hair down — which is something our customers really love. We are also gender neutral, vegan and cruelty free. And of course, have no sulfates, parabens or phthalates. We are a DTC+ brand (we have our own e-commerce site but are also sold on Amazon, in stores like Showfields and Verishop and have salon partnerships with Spoke & Weal and DreamDry).
What is one useful tip you would share about entrepreneurship?
Make sure you understand your product and market fit (how scalable is your idea) and spend time nailing your brand proposition and brand values. This is incredibly helpful as you grow, bring new people into the team and launch new products. All too often, I’ve seen founders focus on the product vs. the brand and end up with messy messaging that needs to be reworked later.
What has been the most difficult part of your journey?
Well, launching during Covid has certainly been interesting. It caused us to rethink our salon strategy (as most were closed for most of 2020) and focus on content and e-commerce. So, the unpredictability of it all has been a hard adjustment. But it taught us to go with the flow.
What has been the most rewarding part of your journey?
I’ve really enjoyed getting feedback from our customers about how our products have transformed their hair. And we’ve created a large size ceramic bottle with refills that I love because it enables us to help the beauty industry evolve and become more sustainable which is part of our mission.
How do you stay motivated when things get tough?
I’m lucky that I have an amazing network of supporters, friends and family who have been amazing. It’s easy to be positive when things are going well, but you really see the character of your team when things are tough and we’ve all had each other’s backs, which makes me feel like we’re in it for the long haul.
Share something about your journey that you feel is important that we have not addressed.
Both James and I are “older” founders — MASAMI officially launched in February 2020 at New York Fashion week. We were both 53. You are never too old to do what you love.
Not too long ago, I posted a sketch of a new dress being made for the Fashion Not Fear Collection.
I’ve really been wanting to get my followers more involved in the process of making this dress. Everyone has options they want to share. And I love hearing them!
The first question I asked on IG stories was whether to go with a solid or a printed fabric.
Printed fabric won by a landslide. So, I took a lot of time to find a vintage inspired fabric to make this dress out of.
After getting advice on the fabric, I posted another question a few days ago to get advice.
The bodice was being made. After putting on one sleeve, I left the other one off to ask, “Should the dress be made with or without sleeves?”
100% voted to go with no sleeves. That’s what I was thinking. Which is why I asked. Plus, it’s gonna hit almost 100 degrees this week. So, this girl wants her arms out.
Be sure to follow me on IG so you can be apart of the next creation. Plus, there is an AWESOME giveaway happening on there right now. Look for the post on our page.
This look will be finished this weekend. I’m so excited to share it with you. Thoughts on the changes?? Let me know in the comments…
