Meet Ayanna Swan

Today we’d like to introduce you to Ayanna Swan.

Hi Ayanna, please kick things off for us with an introduction to yourself and your story.
To be fair, when I’m on YouTube or a website I usually don’t read the About Me section unless I’m really interested in the designer. I guess it’s the Capricorn in me that can’t be bothered. Lol. But here’s my spiel on my life. I started my website in 2010 when I graduated high school and had no idea what to do with my life. Do I go to college? Do I work? I ended up only going to college for one semester, dropped out and starting working with kids. I was always into fashion. I would literally save every Tommy Ton picture from Vogue fashion week and his street style photos were the death of my computer storage. So I decided to start a boutique. I had no products or money to buy products, but I made a website. Smh.

So I ended up just doing the 9-5 just to stay alive. – Beyonce voice. Then I moved to California. That’s when I fell deeply and madly in love with vintage. So I started buying a crap ton of vintage clothes in different sizes and decided I was going to become a vintage reseller. Now here I am. But, I didn’t just want to sell you some clothes and keep it pushing. I wanted to give you a little bit of this sassy flair I have. So I decided why not help my friends (customers) get cute too. I literally already do the same thing with my friends. We will share whatever we got from the store and I’ll send them a cute photo of some random girl wearing something similar and we will gawk over her style and try to do something similar. Because the best stylists aren’t the ones styling the Vogue Magazine covers, it’s literally all the people on the street that you see from time to time and wonder where they got their top from or their bag. That’s us! We are them and they are us.

Alright, so let’s dig a little deeper into the story – has it been an easy path overall and if not, what were the challenges you’ve had to overcome?
Definitely has been a struggle. During COVID, I finally decided to start my business and was doing well with posting and being consistent. Then one day you miss one day, then it turns into two days, etc. Till eventually about a month ago, I stopped all together and kinda gave up because I wasn’t getting consistent sales. I had to refocus my mind on what I was doing this for. And reactivated my social media to try to focus again from step 1.

Can you tell our readers more about what you do and what you think sets you apart from others?
We’re known for our subscription boxes! The first one to introduce a vintage clothing subscription box and I love it. I curate all the pieces. I love putting the boxes together and getting a chance to connect with my customers even virtually. Who would t want their own personal stylist!

We’re always looking for the lessons that can be learned in any situation, including tragic ones like the Covid-19 crisis. Are there any lessons you’ve learned that you can share?
Stay consistent! Learn to establish relationships online too. Since everything is virtual now, I had to readjust my business plan. I wanted to open a store and just have customers rolling in. Since covid, I had to think what is the most convenient way I can connect with my customers so even when we’re in sweats and t-shirts everyday. We can still dress up and feel beautiful in some new clothes we got like before covid.

Pricing:

• $59/ subscription boxes

Contact Info:

• Email: shopeatsleepchic@gmail.com
• Website: shopeatsleepchic.com
• Instagram: eatsleepchic
• Facebook: eatsleepchic