Today we’d like to introduce you to Brittany Diego.
Brittany, can you briefly walk us through your story – how you started and how you got to where you are today.
Since establishing myself as a fashion stylist, I’ve made it my mission to open doors for creatives especially creatives of color to achieve their dreams and leading by example, showing them that no matter where they came from their future is limitless.
When I first started as a stylist, no one was willing to share tips and advice, fashion is notorious for being very secretive and closed off. Now that I’m in the industry, I’ve made it my duty to help as many people as I can see that their dream can very much be a reality.
I started Fashion Mentor originally as a blog to document my journey as a fashion intern and teach others who aspire to work in the industry all of the things I wish I learned in fashion school. Many of my peers as well as myself graduated with no job lined up due to poor preparation by our University and now that I’ve found my footing in the fashion industry, I want to help the next generation of fashion students enter the industry much more well prepared.
Has it been a smooth road?
The biggest struggle was getting initial support for what I was doing. Other stylists thought I was CRAZY to share “insider” information because the fashion industry is secretive as it is and we all had to learn the ropes the hard way. But by me sharing information on what to expect or how to go about certain situations, I was alleviating that struggle from the next generation but why do we want to continue that cycle of struggle?
Another struggle was doing everything myself-I’m very type A so I need things to be done a certain way but that was causing me to become burnt out so I learned to build a team and delegate to them. I learned I couldn’t (and shouldn’t) do everything myself.
We’d love to hear more about your business.
My company is Fashion Mentor, which is an online fashion career platform.
Fashion Mentor provides millennials who aspire to have careers in the fashion industry with the tools, knowledge and resources to be successful and confident in their career path. We provide training opportunities, workshops and events that focus on career development from career preparation, interview skills preparation, portfolio building, industry panels, and now, online classes.
Through Fashion Mentor’s online platform and in-person workshops, I’ve been able to personally help people who are in the place I once was, a place of uncertainty and being lost and help them turn their careers and lives around by pointing them in the right direction and giving them a real insiders perspective into the industry they wouldn’t normally have access to.
My proudest moments are when the stylists who attend our events or take our classes start making major moves in the fashion world. One of my Stylist Seminar attendees, Jaye, was working in auto finance for three years and decided to attend our workshop in March 2019. By November 2019 he had his styling work published in 5 magazines and styled a celebrity client for the Soul Train Awards red carpet
One of my online class students, Crystal was offered a Creative Director position at an LA-based fashion brand, and student Cynthia is now a sought after wardrobe stylist in the TV/Film space.
What sets me apart from others in the fashion career space is I’m simultaneously working in the industry as I teach as opposed to others who worked in the industry ten years ago and are now teaching from a”back in my day” perspective. The fashion industry and the world moves SO fast, aspiring stylists and designers need to know the latest most relevant, up-to-date information to help their careers.
Is our city a good place to do what you do?
Absolutely! Los Angeles is where people come to pursue their dreams so no better place than here to start building. If someone was just starting out, I would recommend because there is a creative community and you can get inspired by what each of LA’s different neighborhoods have to offer from the Fashion District in DTLA to the beach cities to Melrose and everywhere else in between.
Contact Info:
- Website: https://www.fashionmentor.co/
- Email: hello@fashionmentor.co
- Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/fashionmentor.co/
Image Credit:
Photo credits: We Are TOTL, Photo credits: Edgar Omar Photos
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