Speaker 1: Good morning, good after no, good evening, wherever you may be. UM,
Speaker 1: if you haven't guess it, you've tuned into the Vitamin
Speaker 1: D with Dawn Day podcast and I am your host
Speaker 1: and Dawn Day here to get you excited about your
Speaker 1: life so that you can live life on purpose and
Speaker 1: for a purpose. Now this is your first time tuning in. Welcome,
Speaker 1: Thank you. I appreciate you for choosing you because, um,
Speaker 1: Vitamin D. Let me tell you it's a pun off
Speaker 1: my name. My name is Dawn, which is the sun.
Speaker 1: So I'm here to shed light into your life. But
Speaker 1: let's be clear when we talk about shedding and like
Speaker 1: that's on the good and a bad because if you
Speaker 1: want to be better and you want to do better,
Speaker 1: guess what You're gonna have to be able to say better, Okay,
Speaker 1: And we do that by instilling that you are your
Speaker 1: greatest asset because at the end of the day, I'm
Speaker 1: here to get excited about my life. And I couldn't
Speaker 1: be more excited today because as I've told you time
Speaker 1: and time again, this is my dream and I have
Speaker 1: a dear, a special friend that's joining me today now
Speaker 1: just so that we got this clear out, to make
Speaker 1: sure I say it right. He is an award winning
Speaker 1: television host, a fashion designer, a celebrity stylist. Um, you
Speaker 1: can say he's both an image maker and a therapist,
Speaker 1: kind of like that whole ordeal of working on the
Speaker 1: outside and um, you may be familiar with him, known
Speaker 1: as the man behind the curves, also known as the
Speaker 1: stylist to one of my one of the women that
Speaker 1: I look up into the industry so much, Queen Latifa.
Speaker 1: He styled what Angela bas said Lenny Kravitz. I mean,
Speaker 1: the list could go on and on and oh, let
Speaker 1: me not forget the late, the great, uh, the voice
Speaker 1: Miss Whitney Houston. So, without further ado, I hope you
Speaker 1: enjoyed this conversation. It's time for your dose a vitamin
Speaker 1: D D right with me and get excited about Mr Snall. Yeah,
Speaker 1: thank you for having me. I appreciate you how you're doing.
Speaker 1: Welcome to my dream. You know what, it's it's great
Speaker 1: to be a part of your dream because I've heard
Speaker 1: about this dream a long time and you're out here
Speaker 1: doing it. It's great to be in a dream that
Speaker 1: is a happy dream. Yes, and I'm here to participate,
Speaker 1: and you know, have great conversation and just share some
Speaker 1: of my experience, my um adventures, my opportunities with you
Speaker 1: and what I've done, what I'm doing now and where
Speaker 1: I'm going, and I'm hoping we can inspire some people
Speaker 1: on the way. Well, that's what it's all about. I mean,
Speaker 1: having conversation is at the end of the day, you
Speaker 1: want people to take a have a great takeaway. That's
Speaker 1: anything you do in life, you want people to take
Speaker 1: something away from it that's valuable. Even if you're cooking
Speaker 1: for them, you want them to take away a fit stomach.
Speaker 1: You want them to feel good about what they ate,
Speaker 1: no matter what. In any situation. I think it's um
Speaker 1: especially in this climate, we have to do things to
Speaker 1: make us feel good and make other people feel good
Speaker 1: as well. Right because we walk away with kind of
Speaker 1: like three principles to be informed, inspired, and entertained. I
Speaker 1: felt like that's kind of like the pinnacles that drive
Speaker 1: us in life. I agree. I think it's um challenging.
Speaker 1: But in life, I think that we always have to
Speaker 1: reach out for something that's better than ourselves. And when
Speaker 1: we reach out for things that are better in ourselves
Speaker 1: and encourage ourselves, that's how we keep moving forward, and
Speaker 1: that's how we keep going towards the possibility, because that's
Speaker 1: what life is. Every day you work, you wake up
Speaker 1: in the morning as a possibility for something to turn
Speaker 1: over in your life. And it's a sign that the
Speaker 1: universe and God is not done with you yet, so
Speaker 1: you might as well make the best of it. It
Speaker 1: ain't a period until and then after the period, the
Speaker 1: spirit still lives. H come on, but the soul is
Speaker 1: at rest, but the spirit lives. Well, you better hold
Speaker 1: on now. It's that upbringing, you know, my mom and
Speaker 1: my family and stuff. You know, I was raised in church,
Speaker 1: so you know, you you you have a foundation. It's
Speaker 1: just like with anything, you get a foundation, just like
Speaker 1: I went to design school that that provid provided me
Speaker 1: here to where I am today. You need that foundation,
Speaker 1: You need something to work with. You need that knowledge
Speaker 1: and that power to keep you strong, to keep you focused,
Speaker 1: to keep you mighty, and to keep you powerful. All right,
Speaker 1: And it's a testament as to why you've been able
Speaker 1: to be featured on a Queen las Eva show The Seva. So,
Speaker 1: I mean, you've had your own show, but we're going
Speaker 1: to dive into that and even talk about how we
Speaker 1: met first. For anybody that's just tuning in, tell us
Speaker 1: about who you are, Okay, I am Timothy snell Man
Speaker 1: behind the curbs and you know, just uh. I'm from
Speaker 1: Las Vegas, Nevada, born and raised in Las Vegas, Nevada.
Speaker 1: I come from a family. Uh. I have a sister
Speaker 1: named Tracy. My parents are no longer with us. My
Speaker 1: parents raised us together. Um. I came from a middle
Speaker 1: class black family. I felt very fortunate in a lot
Speaker 1: of ways growing up because I had opportunities growing up
Speaker 1: as a kid that I want to afford it to
Speaker 1: a lot of other black kids and stuff. Growing up,
Speaker 1: but I felt very advantaged and I was always trying
Speaker 1: to take my friends along for the ride. Like my
Speaker 1: sister and I took swimming lessons, we took judo. I
Speaker 1: played the saxophone. My sister played the clarinet, and she
Speaker 1: played the piano. These are things that our parents, my
Speaker 1: parents kept us involved in to keep our because you know,
Speaker 1: they didn't want us to stray from anything. And they
Speaker 1: kept positive adults and positive people around us as we
Speaker 1: grew up as kids. And you know, I grew up
Speaker 1: you know, singing in the church choir. You know me,
Speaker 1: I sing all over the place. You know me. I'm
Speaker 1: singing in my car. I could, I could said in
Speaker 1: my car to beat my funds in hall in my office.
Speaker 1: So I do that kind of thing. And then when
Speaker 1: I was about seventeen years old, I got a chance
Speaker 1: to sing on the Las Vegas Strip as a background singer.
Speaker 1: What how come I didn't know that. There's a lot
Speaker 1: of things that people don't know about me. So you
Speaker 1: were about to be a singer? Well, you know the
Speaker 1: interesting thing about it is my sister when I said
Speaker 1: I was gonna leave, when I was leaving home to
Speaker 1: go to design school, she said, I don't know why
Speaker 1: you're going to design school. Why don't you just go
Speaker 1: to do session work and just become a singer. And
Speaker 1: I never really thought about that. I didn't have the
Speaker 1: opportunity and I didn't think about it. But I'm looking
Speaker 1: back on in hindsight, I think to myself, God, my
Speaker 1: sister saw something than me that I didn't realize that.
Speaker 1: She dropped that nugget at me, and I didn't pay
Speaker 1: attention to it. But yeah, I've been singing all my life.
Speaker 1: My mother was my mother and her sister growing up
Speaker 1: used to go around in their town. My mother was
Speaker 1: born and her name was Helen and her sister's name
Speaker 1: was Maddie. And they grew up and they could really sing.
Speaker 1: They could harmonize. They would take a poem and make
Speaker 1: a song out of it. They were in that period
Speaker 1: around the Lena Horn area and all Era and all
Speaker 1: of that stuff like that. They didn't have the opportunity
Speaker 1: that some of the opportunity has been afforded to me
Speaker 1: as wasn't afforded to my mom and her sister and stuff.
Speaker 1: But they could really sing. My mother was a great
Speaker 1: auto soprano sing. I mean she could blow and she
Speaker 1: had a really powerful voice, and so did her sister,
Speaker 1: and so it just runs in my family. I never
Speaker 1: knew of my dad because I don't even know if
Speaker 1: I ever had my dad's sing. But my dad could whistle,
Speaker 1: and I inherited it. I inherited that from my dad.
Speaker 1: I'm a strong whistle like I'll sing all whistle up
Speaker 1: of a riot carry song that admitted to hit those
Speaker 1: notes with a whistles. I mean, that's my thing. I mean,
Speaker 1: but um, yeah, that's where I started. Las Vegas and Vada.
Speaker 1: You know, I still go home periodically. I still see
Speaker 1: the same friends that I grew up with, and um,
Speaker 1: their parents and the cousins and stuff like that, and
Speaker 1: it's just it's really nice to go home, you know,
Speaker 1: to be to feel value and be appreciated and say
Speaker 1: we're proud of you. You're doing a good job, and
Speaker 1: you know all of that stuff. Really, you know, just
Speaker 1: um ground you makes you feel you know, okay, it
Speaker 1: makes you feel cool. It makes the climb up much
Speaker 1: easier because you know that your roots are playing it right. Yeah.
Speaker 1: I mean I think what your parents is stilling you
Speaker 1: is what you take to your great wow. And you know,
Speaker 1: just me knowing you personally, Like you have a really
Speaker 1: strong connection with your mother. You were always close with
Speaker 1: your Mothersi. Yes, That's where I think I got the
Speaker 1: love of it from. My mother would go and shop
Speaker 1: at Imagnum, which was a really big boutique Story and Vegas,
Speaker 1: or she would go to the high end boutiques. If
Speaker 1: she could not afford it, she could copy it in
Speaker 1: her mind and go home and make it. So I
Speaker 1: grew up around the sewing machine. I grew up around
Speaker 1: my mother would be in the bed with my dad
Speaker 1: watching TV doing a needle point, and I have pillowcases
Speaker 1: that my mom made for me and my sister would
Speaker 1: need a needle point and things like that. So she
Speaker 1: was a creative and so was my father. My father.
Speaker 1: I always my father worked as a bellman, head bellman
Speaker 1: at the one of the hotels for many many years.
Speaker 1: But before that, my father went to college. He went
Speaker 1: to Groundland State in Louisiana. He was a college man
Speaker 1: and he had a really green thumb. He liked the outdoors.
Speaker 1: He we had a beautiful yard growing up. The landscaping
Speaker 1: was beautiful, the lights around the house. I mean, he
Speaker 1: took a lot of pride in his yard and his
Speaker 1: cars because he watched his cars all the time. I
Speaker 1: have pictures of my dad leaning on his car in
Speaker 1: the sixte and beautiful and everything like that. So yeah,
Speaker 1: you know, I really think that I've had the best
Speaker 1: of both worlds, getting the creative aspect from both parents.
Speaker 1: But my mother was the driving source of the creative
Speaker 1: when it comes down to style and fashion and things
Speaker 1: like that, because it's what I saw, right, And I'm
Speaker 1: wondering was your mother she was she Did she embrace
Speaker 1: that and cultivate that with you or is that something
Speaker 1: that you kept to yourself, like is something that I
Speaker 1: kept to myself. I didn't really talk about it because
Speaker 1: you have to think about I was, you know, almost
Speaker 1: raised up in the early seventies. It's a totally different
Speaker 1: thing compared to what it is today. You weren't available
Speaker 1: to be as free as you are today as a
Speaker 1: young creative, you know, coming out and trying things. You know,
Speaker 1: everything was about being masculine and being um, you know,
Speaker 1: um the boy, you know, the baseball boy of playing
Speaker 1: baseball or whatever like that. And like I said before,
Speaker 1: my dad put us in judo classes, Me and my
Speaker 1: sister took martial arts. You He wanted us to be
Speaker 1: able to protect ourselves and different things like that. And
Speaker 1: so for me, it wasn't stifled, but it wasn't like
Speaker 1: you know what I mean, It wasn't it wasn't watered,
Speaker 1: It wasn't saying here, It wasn't taken away, but it
Speaker 1: was never taken away. It was always a great job.
Speaker 1: You know, good, that's beautiful, you know that type of stuff.
Speaker 1: You know, things like that. So did you feel like
Speaker 1: growing up of I guess you were sketching different things
Speaker 1: that Um I was sketching, right, I was sketching, right.
Speaker 1: I've always been like a a writer. I would I
Speaker 1: would keep journals before I knew what journals were really
Speaker 1: you know, I was very young, and I've gotten away
Speaker 1: from a lot of that stuff. But all of that
Speaker 1: stuff that was, I guess wasn't foreign to me, was
Speaker 1: foreign to the world as people out doing it, as
Speaker 1: people talk about it today. So how did how did
Speaker 1: you branch out? Because I know there's plenty of people
Speaker 1: that probably maybe want to be a stylus, maybe want
Speaker 1: to be a doctor or anything, and people aren't necessarily
Speaker 1: cultivating that or in that environment. So the interesting thing
Speaker 1: for me is I after high school goal, I went
Speaker 1: to my father and I said, um, John, never forget
Speaker 1: this conversation. I said to my dad, Um, I want
Speaker 1: to take a year off. And he looked at me
Speaker 1: and he said a year off from what I said, Well,
Speaker 1: I want to figure out where I'm going and what
Speaker 1: I'm doing, and where you're gonna go to school. And
Speaker 1: you're gonna figure out what you're doing or where you're going.
Speaker 1: My father was really about education. His side of the
Speaker 1: family are college professors. They have doctrine degrees, they have
Speaker 1: master's degrees. He is really about that fine education. My
Speaker 1: father was a part of that, that circle, and um,
Speaker 1: I didn't know then what I knew now. I was
Speaker 1: upset about it and whatever like that, but I did understand.
Speaker 1: I went to regular community college just trying to figure
Speaker 1: it all out, you know, taking those basic courses. But
Speaker 1: then I figured out. I pray one day and I said, God,
Speaker 1: what do I do? Naturally that could be my career?
Speaker 1: Interesting because I would sketch clothes every now and then,
Speaker 1: and I love clothes thing, and I love the idea
Speaker 1: of fashion for men and women. I loved that fashion
Speaker 1: tells a story about a person, how they dressed. It
Speaker 1: articulates to another individual or the world how they think
Speaker 1: of themselves in some cases. So I went to UM
Speaker 1: started taking some primary like fashion courses and stuff like that,
Speaker 1: just to figure it out. And then one day this
Speaker 1: guy said, mean, you know, it's a college and in
Speaker 1: the latest fit UM, and there's all these other colleges
Speaker 1: that you should look into. So I looked into it
Speaker 1: and I went to school, and I UM, I was
Speaker 1: fortunate enough my mom took me and she paid the
Speaker 1: initial tuition to get in and stuff like that for
Speaker 1: me and UM because I went to school right after
Speaker 1: my father passed away. My father was forty eight years old,
Speaker 1: healthy as we thought he healthy as we thought he was.
Speaker 1: My father wasn't overweight, he was a vitamin taker. He
Speaker 1: was an active man. And but you know what, people
Speaker 1: didn't pay attention to science with heart disease back then
Speaker 1: as they do as they do now. You know what
Speaker 1: I'm saying. So my dad died in February, and I
Speaker 1: left home in September going to college. So in college,
Speaker 1: I found myself. It was a it was a freedom
Speaker 1: that I had never known before. And I didn't work
Speaker 1: as hard as I thought I should have worked. But
Speaker 1: let me ask you this, when you said you found yourself,
Speaker 1: what do you mean by that? Well, it was a
Speaker 1: chance for me to be free, to be who I
Speaker 1: wanted to be. A gay man that's just wanted to
Speaker 1: be free and just wanted to be whomever I wanted
Speaker 1: to be, and not judge for who I am, but
Speaker 1: just judge for the character of who I am as
Speaker 1: a man. You know, because you know, when you're twenty,
Speaker 1: when you're very young and head, you're very young in thought,
Speaker 1: and you don't know really how to be a man.
Speaker 1: You have to learn how to be a man, a
Speaker 1: man someone, And for me it was I was always
Speaker 1: aware that being a man didn't necessarily mean the measure
Speaker 1: of your masculinity or your test I the wrong within
Speaker 1: your body. Being a man was taking care of your
Speaker 1: family and taking care of your business, and being of
Speaker 1: service and being responsible and and those type of things.
Speaker 1: Because those are the things that my father showed me.
Speaker 1: So those are the things that I have in me.
Speaker 1: So you know, it was a lot. It was becoming
Speaker 1: free from that and just becoming who I wanted to be,
Speaker 1: experimenting and dating and doing stuff and being creative and
Speaker 1: not having someone to tell me when you get up
Speaker 1: or time to go or time to do this, so
Speaker 1: you know, whatever like that. So you know that was
Speaker 1: all when you when I look back at it in hindsight,
Speaker 1: that's a lot. It's a lot too for a person
Speaker 1: to um hold onto. But I will tell you about
Speaker 1: as we talk, I'll tell you about all the experience.
Speaker 1: I have a connection to things because when I um
Speaker 1: left hone, I was raised at Elizabeth four to one
Speaker 1: is seven. My dorm room number was seven seventeen. Yes,
Speaker 1: And when I laid in the bed one night, Um,
Speaker 1: I could see in the ceiling that somebody had written
Speaker 1: the name Eddie. My father's name was Eddie. My father's
Speaker 1: name was Eddie. And I asked my roommate in my
Speaker 1: dorm room and said, can you look and tell me
Speaker 1: what what is that? And what does this say? It
Speaker 1: says Eddie And that was assigned to me to let
Speaker 1: me know that my father's spirit was So I've had
Speaker 1: all types of things like that happened to me all
Speaker 1: through life, just with clients that I worked for the
Speaker 1: connection to them and the bigger picture. And after graduating
Speaker 1: from college and going through that whole process, I did
Speaker 1: really good. And I want a lot of awards for
Speaker 1: best of Show, best of category. So I knew I
Speaker 1: was doing something. Something you had, something definitely was being
Speaker 1: nurtured and developed. Yeah, I knew I had something, but
Speaker 1: I didn't know where it was going to take me. So, um,
Speaker 1: I got into the business. I started working. You know,
Speaker 1: I I I experienced a lot of racism. I mean,
Speaker 1: I'm a I'm a I'm a very I'm six ft four,
Speaker 1: I'm like two d and fifty pounds. I'm a green
Speaker 1: eyed black man, and I can be in eyes are gorgeous,
Speaker 1: and I can I can be intimidating because I know
Speaker 1: how to articulate and how to have conversation and how
Speaker 1: to say what I need to say very well. And
Speaker 1: my and my work and my sketches and my book
Speaker 1: was beautiful because I took pride in my book that
Speaker 1: I presented for jobs. And I remember years my friends
Speaker 1: were getting jobs, I wasn't getting jobs. My struggle was real,
Speaker 1: and it wasn't because I wasn't talented, because I wouldn't
Speaker 1: accept that about myself. I know I have talent that
Speaker 1: just the barriers were different back in the early nineties.
Speaker 1: It was a totally different story, you know what I'm saying.
Speaker 1: So and then confirmation came when I ran up on
Speaker 1: somebody that I went to interview at this company, and
Speaker 1: the girl pulled me to the side. She said, you know,
Speaker 1: we all saw your book. You're very talented, but the
Speaker 1: wasn't going to hire you because you were black. And
Speaker 1: I thought, yeah, wait, what did you say when she
Speaker 1: said that to you? She know she's white, she's a
Speaker 1: white woman. And I said to her, thank you for
Speaker 1: sharing that with me. I didn't I was really disappointed
Speaker 1: in that moment. But I really appreciate that because that's
Speaker 1: something that I felt on many different occasions. But I
Speaker 1: appreciate you telling me because you're giving me the confirmation
Speaker 1: I need to just push ahead. And I think that
Speaker 1: as a black man in fashion as I am, I mean,
Speaker 1: there are some struggles and some has been some struggles,
Speaker 1: I would say, in some challenging moments, but things have changed,
Speaker 1: and you know, you know, it's I don't want to
Speaker 1: say it's in vogue to be black and to be whatever,
Speaker 1: but let's face it, for decades and decades, the black
Speaker 1: experience has been copied to the runway, to lifestyle, etcetera, etcetera, etcetera.
Speaker 1: So now I'm just happy to be a part of
Speaker 1: the conversation. Your conversation is so much bigger than old
Speaker 1: pun intended, because you serve an area that you know,
Speaker 1: for many have been discouraged from the fashion industry, and
Speaker 1: that's the plus scize field. And so I'm wondering, did
Speaker 1: you know coming in once you graduated that you wanted
Speaker 1: to go to plus size. Mother reminded me of something
Speaker 1: she said to me. You know, when you were in
Speaker 1: design school, you told me that you wanted to do
Speaker 1: plus size women's fashion, and I said, how did you
Speaker 1: even think that? How did you even know of A plus?
Speaker 1: I just I just think that when you're open to
Speaker 1: prayer and spirit and you're open to your sensitive person,
Speaker 1: I think that God gives you things. But I think
Speaker 1: we can get so jumbled to we can't see, we
Speaker 1: can't come on discernment, we can't hear it or see
Speaker 1: it because we're so distracted by by other things out
Speaker 1: there into the universe. Be a good batter and different
Speaker 1: or distracted. But my mother reminded me of that. I thought,
Speaker 1: I'm like God, I forgot all about that. But so
Speaker 1: who was the inspiration? Like I guess because at the time,
Speaker 1: if you're just seeing everybody, let's Pennsylvan. Let's just say,
Speaker 1: I know Twiggy was way back then, just like the
Speaker 1: Naomi Campbell's. Um, you know all those that were slender.
Speaker 1: How did you even think that, oh, a plus I
Speaker 1: girl needs to look good? Because for me and we'll
Speaker 1: talk about that later, Like someone like you has changed
Speaker 1: the trajectory of my thought process, my life, everything. Thank you.
Speaker 1: I appreciate that. UM. I think it's because when I
Speaker 1: went to church, UM, I was exposed to women who
Speaker 1: took pride in the way they looked. And African American
Speaker 1: women have curves, but the way they dressed, the way
Speaker 1: they sauntered into church, the way the hats were tilted
Speaker 1: to the side to where, um, they didn't wear gloves anymore.
Speaker 1: But how the handbags and everything just came together a
Speaker 1: certain kind of way. And I was always attracted to that.
Speaker 1: I was always attracted to the beauty of that, and
Speaker 1: how my mother's friends because my as it was a
Speaker 1: great dresser. I remember being no more twelve walking through
Speaker 1: the mall and stuff, and how man would just stare
Speaker 1: at my mom and she would walk. She wasn't she
Speaker 1: didn't dress sexually, she just had great style. And I
Speaker 1: just used to think to myself, what are they looking at?
Speaker 1: But then on one day I figured out this woman
Speaker 1: walked and say, oh my god, that's a beautiful dressing.
Speaker 1: You wear it so well. And I had to begin
Speaker 1: to hear that more often. I begin to hear that
Speaker 1: more often. Then I begin to pay more attention to
Speaker 1: how my mom dressed and how she pulled herself together
Speaker 1: and stuff like that. So I have to say that, um,
Speaker 1: the influence of the women around me going to church,
Speaker 1: going to um weddings and different things like that really
Speaker 1: spoke to me. And also television, did fashion magazines and
Speaker 1: different things like that. You know, I, um, I just
Speaker 1: paid attention to beauty and it didn't and size didn't
Speaker 1: matter to me because I was exposed to women of
Speaker 1: different sizes growing up, so it wasn't foreign to me.
Speaker 1: It's so interesting that you said that because, like you said,
Speaker 1: you quote it in your bio, you said, the clothes
Speaker 1: tell a story about a person, and that provides that
Speaker 1: fashion provides a common meeting ground because it's a universal language.
Speaker 1: But I guess for someone like myself that grew up
Speaker 1: as a plus as girl um going out ecstatic about
Speaker 1: going shopping, that wasn't my narrative. That was like that
Speaker 1: was horror. So it's even interesting for to hear you say, like, hey,
Speaker 1: you went to church and you saw all these women.
Speaker 1: And maybe that's the key thing because as a young girl,
Speaker 1: what as far as carl be closed, what looked right
Speaker 1: on me. And as you said before, things have changed
Speaker 1: since it was but back in the day, well things
Speaker 1: have changed. You have to look at it. But things
Speaker 1: have changed, but they haven't changed as much. I most
Speaker 1: recently had a conversation with somebody, and I've been saying
Speaker 1: this for the longest, even I used to talk about
Speaker 1: this on my TV show when I had interviews for
Speaker 1: my show and stuff like that. UM I used to
Speaker 1: always say, the shopping experience is where it all begins.
Speaker 1: The shopping experience is not online. Everybody's looking for experiences today.
Speaker 1: They're looking for things to take them out of their
Speaker 1: norm and bring them to somewhere that's more powerful, more interesting,
Speaker 1: more pleasurable, more um um exciting, etcetera, etcetera. And I
Speaker 1: always thought the shopping experience and plus sized departments is
Speaker 1: so dismal. They're not set up properly all the way
Speaker 1: and you used to go all the way back in
Speaker 1: the corner. Why would that make you feel good? Well,
Speaker 1: they wouldn't, because really it's changed. But a lot of
Speaker 1: it used to be afterthought. You have to think about that.
Speaker 1: A lot of that was afterthought. But now you have
Speaker 1: such companies um such as Eloquate that you can order online.
Speaker 1: You can you have UM an upscale line called eleven
Speaker 1: on Array. You have the curvy fashion Eastern Marie who
Speaker 1: talks about fashion and she's a Trailblazer and what's her
Speaker 1: blog about fashion? Keeping you up on what's happening and
Speaker 1: stuff like that. And I think that with those with
Speaker 1: people like that that are um in the mix, it's
Speaker 1: making it different. But I just feel there needs to
Speaker 1: be places where women of size can go right just
Speaker 1: to have a conversation about the curves and what about it.
Speaker 1: Because you walk in and you see five or six
Speaker 1: other girls that are like a sixteen or eighteen or
Speaker 1: twenty two or whatever like that. However you want to
Speaker 1: look at it, but you feel comfortable. You feel comfortable,
Speaker 1: and I think that's the big thing about feeling you know,
Speaker 1: you feel comfortable enough to you know, hey girl, what's up?
Speaker 1: You know that kind of thing? Oh that looks cute
Speaker 1: on you too? Coming my size? That comes in your size.
Speaker 1: Let me go to the back and get it for you,
Speaker 1: because it very insimidating. And I'm just wondering, did you
Speaker 1: ever practice or did you get any inspiration from your
Speaker 1: sister because you had a whole woman, you know, in
Speaker 1: the house with you. My sister is a pretty woman
Speaker 1: and always got inspiration for her for the sense that
Speaker 1: she always she doesn't know it, but she followed my
Speaker 1: mother's sensibility of fashion and clothing. Because now my sister
Speaker 1: has a daughter who's nineteen years old. She's in college,
Speaker 1: so she wants to show skin. Of course, she has
Speaker 1: a beautiful figure, and I said to my sister one day,
Speaker 1: let her show her body. She's very tasteful. She doesn't
Speaker 1: show a lot because she's young. My niece, No, she's
Speaker 1: my nieces five eleven, and like a d she she ain't,
Speaker 1: you know she, But she works out and she's aware
Speaker 1: of her body, and she gets a little thick every
Speaker 1: now and then when she comes on. She s at
Speaker 1: home summer right now, when she goes back to school,
Speaker 1: whatever way she gains it. AD just dropped right out
Speaker 1: because she's she's active, you know. So I for me
Speaker 1: about anything that has to do with the curvy market,
Speaker 1: it's just it's opportunity, time and space. Because for the
Speaker 1: last several years, a lot of people who are and
Speaker 1: who have a love for it, in an understanding for curving,
Speaker 1: curvy bodies and the curvy market are participating in it.
Speaker 1: But there are a lot of people that just on
Speaker 1: it for the money. But if you're going to be
Speaker 1: in it for the money, hire people put people in
Speaker 1: the position who know that, who know the job, who
Speaker 1: live in the body. I may not live in a
Speaker 1: plus sized woman's body, but I live in a plus
Speaker 1: sized man's body, and I wanted too. So how now
Speaker 1: usually we here on the other end about models who
Speaker 1: are a plus size as a plus size celebrity style
Speaker 1: is What was your journey like coming through the industry.
Speaker 1: It was so interesting because I just happenstanced upon it.
Speaker 1: I got really kind of disillusioned with the fashion industry
Speaker 1: because I wasn't getting the jobs that I thought that
Speaker 1: I deserved and that I was capable of doing. And
Speaker 1: then I knew I could do. So I walked out
Speaker 1: of a job. His company was called Tearing Apparel, and
Speaker 1: I worked in a division, and I went to work
Speaker 1: for Z Gallery. And let me tell you how God works.
Speaker 1: When I went to Z Gallery, this girl worked their
Speaker 1: part time and she said, you know Larry Flynt, who
Speaker 1: we all know, Husper Magazine, Hustle, whatever, the it's coming
Speaker 1: out with this men men's magazine for men of Color
Speaker 1: fashion magazine. And we've been talking and you're really into fashion,
Speaker 1: and you've got great style, and you really seem to
Speaker 1: know what you're doing, maybe you should interview with them
Speaker 1: to work on the magazine, to be part of it.
Speaker 1: I have to start myself. And see, this is where
Speaker 1: fear steps in. Come. Let's talk talk about it. Come on,
Speaker 1: this is where fear steps in. Because in my head
Speaker 1: I was saying, I don't think I can do this.
Speaker 1: What am I doing? Why am I doing? About the etcetera, etcetera, etcetera.
Speaker 1: And I said, Okay, God, if this is meant for
Speaker 1: me to meet to be a part of this UM situation,
Speaker 1: a part of this magazine called Code magazine, UM, give
Speaker 1: me how to do it? How to sell myself. So
Speaker 1: I was laying in the bed one night and I
Speaker 1: was just kind of thinking to myself and then the
Speaker 1: words me came to me storyboards. So what I did
Speaker 1: was I put together eight storyboards a fashion for men.
Speaker 1: And what I did instead of using American men's magazines
Speaker 1: like g Q, I used European men's magazines to create
Speaker 1: my storyboards. And what was the difference that you found.
Speaker 1: I found that the Europeans men's fashion board fashion boards
Speaker 1: will relate more to Black men because they were more interesting,
Speaker 1: they were more stylished, they were more out of the box.
Speaker 1: They were more unique. So that's the reason why I
Speaker 1: went there. So I met with the publication director, Abbey Britain,
Speaker 1: who had worked for Women's Wear Daily, and who had
Speaker 1: worked for More magazine, who had worked for Glamor and
Speaker 1: all these different other magazines. Who was going to be
Speaker 1: over this? A white woman who was going to be
Speaker 1: over this, but she was hired putting the team together.
Speaker 1: I went in. I had fashion experience and had fashion
Speaker 1: design experience. I put my storyboards up and I began
Speaker 1: to become and I became a storyteller and I sold
Speaker 1: my vision on how I see the magazine. You got
Speaker 1: that job, got that job because you became the first
Speaker 1: fashion director. Yes, but let me tell you how that happens,
Speaker 1: they said. She said, I'm going to bring you in
Speaker 1: as a fashion a fashion editor. I said, okay, a
Speaker 1: fashion editor assistant. I'm gonna bring you into that. Because
Speaker 1: the girl that was over it was named Cindy. Cindy
Speaker 1: Bolden who still works in fashion today. She's at in
Speaker 1: Style magazine and I love her to this day. She
Speaker 1: got a job of Woman's Very Daily. She left the magazine.
Speaker 1: The publication director came to me and she said, I
Speaker 1: love you you're very creative. This is a black man's magazine.
Speaker 1: You're a black man. I'm not going to bring somebody
Speaker 1: in over you. I'm gonna teach you everything you need
Speaker 1: to know. And she did. Can I ask you a
Speaker 1: question this? I mean, I don't know how this sounds,
Speaker 1: but have you found that you know? Because you've mentioned
Speaker 1: two people who have really given you direction with the
Speaker 1: people of color? Well, Abby wasn't a person of color.
Speaker 1: My direction through life has been given to me by
Speaker 1: many multiple culture because that's how my friend basis. So
Speaker 1: I have been fortunate enough to have a lot of
Speaker 1: people to um give me opportunities. So yeah, so, um,
Speaker 1: that's how that happened. And I before I knew it. Oh,
Speaker 1: you gotta go to Milan, you have to go to
Speaker 1: London and so you just so you did you ever
Speaker 1: when you got your start? Did you work with any
Speaker 1: other brands before you jumped over to Code magazine? No.
Speaker 1: I had to create a rolodex. I had to call
Speaker 1: people and ask for clothing. I had to build my relationships.
Speaker 1: You know, with any job that you do, you only
Speaker 1: as good as your relationship. Relationships are important. It's important
Speaker 1: to nurture your relationships. It's important to be kind to
Speaker 1: people and be direct and be as polished as you
Speaker 1: can with how you want to be represented, that you
Speaker 1: you talk to people in the same way. That's why
Speaker 1: they say your network is your network. It is, it is,
Speaker 1: it really is, And that rolodex is power. That rolodex
Speaker 1: used to be, you know, the thing that sits on
Speaker 1: the desk and the thing now your rolodex is right
Speaker 1: your phone and that can be on social media as well,
Speaker 1: right and social media, Instagram, etcetera. I've met a lot
Speaker 1: of designers, young up and coming um um, biopoc um designers,
Speaker 1: urban designers that are looking for that are looking because
Speaker 1: I just recently participated in a as a judge for UM,
Speaker 1: the Curvy Fashionista and eleven I'm sorry, the Curvy fashion
Speaker 1: Easter and Eloquate. They partnered to look for a black
Speaker 1: designer urban black designer to feature and a lot of
Speaker 1: people applied to us part of that judging proce something
Speaker 1: and they're going to be featured next year and UM
Speaker 1: eleven and I'm sorry and eloquies um website and selling
Speaker 1: clothes congratulations. So it's really, um, it's really there's so
Speaker 1: many things happening and manifesting itself, you know, kind of
Speaker 1: that that magazine was the thing that turned the trajectory
Speaker 1: of my life, kind of give you like the launching
Speaker 1: pad it did. And to make a long story or
Speaker 1: what I did that the magazine closed unfortunately, but we
Speaker 1: did the first award season for magazines and publishing and
Speaker 1: stuff like that. We won six awards. Since magazine there
Speaker 1: was no There was nobody like us. And we coined
Speaker 1: ourselves down the side of our book, the Style Bible
Speaker 1: for Men of Color. Wow. And to this day, once
Speaker 1: a year g Q puts out to an issue called
Speaker 1: the Style Bible, really coined by us. Hello, somebody catch it,
Speaker 1: catch it? I caught it. And another thing, what when
Speaker 1: we came out with the magazine Code magazine, they started
Speaker 1: featuring at that particular time more men of color in
Speaker 1: the fashion spreads. So we were making a difference, noticeable
Speaker 1: little differences. And what did you find a lot of
Speaker 1: plus as men then? Or is that? Um? We worked
Speaker 1: with models now we had UM. We did covers and
Speaker 1: I did a lot. We did Princess a cover, We
Speaker 1: did Lenny Kravitz, Laurence fish Lawrence Fishburne, we did Samuel Jackson.
Speaker 1: He was our premier covered with wearing Oswald Boutang from London.
Speaker 1: So you know, we we really, we really raised the bar.
Speaker 1: And because I always say and people what asked me
Speaker 1: an interview is when I was with Code magazine, what
Speaker 1: makes the the man of color different with this magazine?
Speaker 1: I said, Well, the difference is that he can go
Speaker 1: um downtown to uptown of downtown I'm sorry, uptown would
Speaker 1: be Harlem downtown to do a black tie affair with
Speaker 1: a tuxedo on. He can go home, put on his
Speaker 1: jeans and his tams, open up his shirt, take off
Speaker 1: his bow tie, and keep his jacket and his crisp
Speaker 1: white shirt on and go right onto the uptown and
Speaker 1: hang with his versatility. Versatility and because we are the
Speaker 1: arbitrras of fashion in a lot of ways. So I
Speaker 1: if somebody's just wanting what do you mean by that? Well,
Speaker 1: the interesting thing about is they did a round table
Speaker 1: to come up with the name of Code Magazine, and
Speaker 1: what was taken away from it that black men speaking
Speaker 1: a lot of code, that they understand each other, and
Speaker 1: they speaking a lot of different ways that people may
Speaker 1: not understand. And I think a lot of times when
Speaker 1: people think that black men may be aggressive or coming
Speaker 1: a certain way, it's not necessarily it's the code. It's
Speaker 1: the way, the way, the culture is, this the way
Speaker 1: they speak. So yeah, I was with that magazine. The
Speaker 1: magazine folded and then I, um, I got an agent
Speaker 1: and I started doing music videos and all of that stuff.
Speaker 1: So you so I'm leaving there, you start doing the
Speaker 1: music videos. And so when did like the Queen latifa Is,
Speaker 1: the Angelo Bassetts and and the Whitney Houston? How how
Speaker 1: did that happen? That was interesting? I had an agent, Yeah,
Speaker 1: so who was first? The best thing that came out
Speaker 1: of the whole agent situation for me was getting Whitney.
Speaker 1: And my book was taken to William Morris. It was
Speaker 1: put in front of UM the Cold David UM with
Speaker 1: these um you know, one of her um you know managers,
Speaker 1: um that whole thing over there, and her assistant was
Speaker 1: a black woman. Tomorrow Houston had been following me doing
Speaker 1: Cold and she said, oh, because they thought that maybe
Speaker 1: she we should change and maybe try a man with
Speaker 1: Whitney for a while. And so she saw it and
Speaker 1: she said, well, let me share this issue and how
Speaker 1: he styled halle Berry for the cover for the anniversary issue,
Speaker 1: and then um, I met Whitney. I just kind of
Speaker 1: bonded just that. First of all, First of all, can
Speaker 1: we win a little bit? Because it wasn't just like me,
Speaker 1: what do us? It was one of your idols grown
Speaker 1: up right. Whitney Houston was the first concert I went
Speaker 1: to in my in my entire young adult life at
Speaker 1: the Forms in Los Angeles, California. She was my first concert,
Speaker 1: my first concert. And Whitney's full name was Whitney Elizabeth Houston.
Speaker 1: I was raised on Elizabeth. Come on, I mean, there's
Speaker 1: certain things that just kind of happened in your life.
Speaker 1: If you pay attention that you see the parallel. It
Speaker 1: is always kind of like there and we're just kind
Speaker 1: of looking outside. But wait a minute, who one I
Speaker 1: ever saw? And I think that's the power. And when
Speaker 1: we talked about starting off and dreaming, who whatever thought
Speaker 1: this young boy has a lot for us. And then
Speaker 1: you appear working with her. Wait, tell me about the concert.
Speaker 1: Tell me about when you met him. My friend, my
Speaker 1: friend Tammy gavois Um, which is one of my dear friends,
Speaker 1: said I got tickets for us to go to a concert.
Speaker 1: And thinking, Oh. I was like, oh God, what is
Speaker 1: the sponsor going to be? You know, because my girl,
Speaker 1: she had very different tastes about music and stuff like that,
Speaker 1: which I appreciate it because at that time we were
Speaker 1: listening to The Cure and all these other kind of things,
Speaker 1: because you know, I've just been very open about my music.
Speaker 1: I like all types of music. So she said, no,
Speaker 1: We're gonna go see Whitney. Houston almost fell down because
Speaker 1: she knew how much I loved her. So we had
Speaker 1: nosebleed seats, but I was sitting in the benches seeing
Speaker 1: and I could hear her saying her voice was so amazing.
Speaker 1: I think I thought it crossed my mind. I thought
Speaker 1: to myself, well I would like to work from her.
Speaker 1: Well you better speak it smell. The reason why I
Speaker 1: had the pause were quick because you know, I have
Speaker 1: life tattered in my mouth, So don't act like you
Speaker 1: didn't know that that's true. That's true. And the fact
Speaker 1: that you were able to speak that into exist on
Speaker 1: and I just kind of said it just kind of
Speaker 1: you know how you just kind of say something you're
Speaker 1: not really paying it, You just say something. I was
Speaker 1: kinda like to work with her. And then I just
Speaker 1: went on to the melody of the music, say the
Speaker 1: day or whatever she was sing. I just went I did.
Speaker 1: I just it was It was a thought and it
Speaker 1: was me just speaking something that was in my head.
Speaker 1: And I don't even think my friend heard me because
Speaker 1: I didn't. I didn't broadcast it. It was just a
Speaker 1: thought for me. The interesting thing about this month before
Speaker 1: I got with me, I was going through a hard time.
Speaker 1: I wasn't making the kind of money I thought I
Speaker 1: needed to make. I just felt like, God, I've struggled
Speaker 1: so long. What is going on? Why is these things? Why?
Speaker 1: Why can't I just get myself to the door. I
Speaker 1: know what I bring. The Preacher's Wife was out and
Speaker 1: we had a what was it a two dollar movie
Speaker 1: theater or three dollar movie theater. But it was something
Speaker 1: about that movie that encouraged me and made me feel
Speaker 1: full and made me feel like I can do this.
Speaker 1: I can keep going. Because why did you feel like
Speaker 1: you wanted to start? Well, I didn't know. I didn't
Speaker 1: know that. I wasn't gonna say I was going to
Speaker 1: give up completely, but I was challenged. What was the challenge.
Speaker 1: The challenge was things weren't happening the way I thought
Speaker 1: they should happen, and weren't happening quick enough. It wasn't happening.
Speaker 1: I was working with people that I could tell them
Speaker 1: what the job to do, Like, how are you getting
Speaker 1: that check for five hundred thousand dollars year? And I'm
Speaker 1: telling you what to do? Why am I Something's wrong here?
Speaker 1: So I when I saw the Preacher's Wife, like me
Speaker 1: before or five times at the theater, and I would
Speaker 1: sit there. I would go to the movie, nobody even know.
Speaker 1: I just go by myself and just sit there and
Speaker 1: watched the movie. And I didn't know that God was
Speaker 1: preparing me to work with this woman for fifteen years.
Speaker 1: The day she died, I worked with her. You worked
Speaker 1: with Whitney for fifteen years, A long time, A long time.
Speaker 1: I traveled the world with her, I worked with her.
Speaker 1: I was always. I just had a great time with her.
Speaker 1: I was just like because when I got the call
Speaker 1: my agent, I was in New York. She took me
Speaker 1: out to lunch and she I just sat there like
Speaker 1: it just really happened. It just seems so weird. I mean, wait, now,
Speaker 1: you don't sit here and tell me that you gotta
Speaker 1: call working for Whitney Houston and what was the room that?
Speaker 1: What were you doing the phone? I don't know where
Speaker 1: I was. I don't know what room I was in.
Speaker 1: I don't know what happened, but I was in disbelief.
Speaker 1: I worked this way when things shocked me or things
Speaker 1: overwhelmed me, I get quiet, I go in. I go
Speaker 1: in because I don't know if that's fear. I don't
Speaker 1: know what that is, but that's me kind of like,
Speaker 1: oh so one of my first jobs with her? Wait wait, wait,
Speaker 1: wait wait, what did you do when you first met her?
Speaker 1: What was that? I couldn't stop grinning, But I knew
Speaker 1: that beyond being a fan, I had a job to do.
Speaker 1: So I came in with my racks, adult and Gabanna, Um,
Speaker 1: who else did I have on that rack? Um, Gucci
Speaker 1: and everybody else? Because it was it was a project
Speaker 1: that needs to be suited. And you understand why I'm
Speaker 1: saying suited. What we did so I'm doing the job
Speaker 1: and whatever like that. We did the fitting and it
Speaker 1: went beautifully. I learned a lot about her, and the
Speaker 1: first thing she said to me was she said, it's
Speaker 1: so sweet. She said, you have great taste. You don't
Speaker 1: have to bring some any close for me. You can
Speaker 1: shorten it and I trust you we will figure it
Speaker 1: out and you know, ETCeteras. Okay, so we did the fitting,
Speaker 1: I went back to my hotel and the next day
Speaker 1: we did the Diane saw your interview. That was my
Speaker 1: first job with her. I got history all surrounded over me.
Speaker 1: I have history all around. So okay, you walk in wait. Okay,
Speaker 1: So the first time she said you have a great
Speaker 1: day to bring a smaller moment, You're just like, wow,
Speaker 1: that was regularly. Then the first eneview, what happened like
Speaker 1: what was you know, well, she was up in hair
Speaker 1: and makeup. That wasn't at that place to hang in
Speaker 1: that kind of and sometimes on hair and makeup is
Speaker 1: going on. After we've talked to creative, I kind of
Speaker 1: like to step out just you know, do my steam
Speaker 1: clothes if I'm with an assistant or whatever, and just
Speaker 1: kind of like and then then I get my time,
Speaker 1: which is usually five or ten minutes because we're running
Speaker 1: out the door. But um, it was interesting. You traveled
Speaker 1: the world and everyone. I can't even imagine of things
Speaker 1: that you've seen now because we're not talking about you know,
Speaker 1: I think there's a difference of the celebrity ism now,
Speaker 1: especially because we are able to see them on Instagram
Speaker 1: as easy access be before you have to show up.
Speaker 1: And this is a time when, like we're talking about
Speaker 1: like Michael Jackson Vane, we're talking about shutting down the street.
Speaker 1: That is crazy. We're in the hotel, they're like hundreds
Speaker 1: of people outside waiting just to get a glimpse. Just
Speaker 1: a class. I mean, we went everywhere. I've been everywhere
Speaker 1: from Hong Kong to Japan, to Moscow to um St Petersburg.
Speaker 1: I've been to Barcelona, I've been to London countless times,
Speaker 1: Paris countless time. I've been um to so many places
Speaker 1: that I can't even for work. Also New York that's
Speaker 1: just a regular. It's like l a for me, but
Speaker 1: just so many countless and to travel in such style
Speaker 1: but also have the gift of staying in such luxury
Speaker 1: at the hotel because you're with that lester and you're
Speaker 1: with that client who wants to be near her clothing.
Speaker 1: So it's really a remarkable experience. So what is one
Speaker 1: of your favorite memories with working with Whitney. I think
Speaker 1: that one of my favorite favorite moments is where Whitn
Speaker 1: is this. We're just sitting down and talking and she said,
Speaker 1: you know what, you remind me of my family? Do
Speaker 1: you feel like you're my family? And I think that
Speaker 1: was one of our sweet moments. And then we had
Speaker 1: a moment one day when I went to her and
Speaker 1: I said, I will always be here to dress you,
Speaker 1: I will never judge you, and I'm here for you
Speaker 1: and I love you. And I think that really spoke
Speaker 1: to her because and she just listened and I just
Speaker 1: poured myself out to her. And I think in that moment,
Speaker 1: within the first six months of us working together, solidify
Speaker 1: that relationship forever. Wow, and you said that you worked
Speaker 1: with her until she departed. Do you remember that day?
Speaker 1: Where where are you? What happened? How did you find out? Well?
Speaker 1: I was, It's so interesting to me how God will
Speaker 1: give you a gift. I did not talk to Whitney
Speaker 1: that often, but for I went to her, but her assistant,
Speaker 1: her handler, who is a personal handle you're not personal
Speaker 1: handlers to pack for them and to be make sure
Speaker 1: they got everything they need stuff like called me and said, hey,
Speaker 1: tell what you doing. I said, well, I'm getting ready
Speaker 1: to head over. She said, Um, we don't want to
Speaker 1: talk to you for a minute. I said, okay, and
Speaker 1: she said this is the night the day of yes,
Speaker 1: hours before and she the assistant said, um, she want
Speaker 1: to talk to you. I said yeah, I put her on.
Speaker 1: She said I can't find those drop diamond beautiful costume,
Speaker 1: you know, the jewelry that some ear rings said, and
Speaker 1: she wanted to duplicate pair. And I said, oh, that's
Speaker 1: not a problem. I'll just grab some of my way
Speaker 1: to y'all just because she said, I really appreciate it.
Speaker 1: I don't know whatever replaced it. And she said, thank
Speaker 1: you baby, and I'll see and I'll sing you a
Speaker 1: little bit and I love you and I said I
Speaker 1: love you back, and that was it. Wow. And then
Speaker 1: I got to the hotel to me hand. So that's
Speaker 1: what happened. And that's all I want to say about that. Wow.
Speaker 1: I mean, and you know, it's just so interesting. And
Speaker 1: that's when I talked about just kind of like I
Speaker 1: mentioned before, how it's so important to speak into exist
Speaker 1: in what it is that you want. I really do things.
Speaker 1: So but you know how, I'm gonna tell you another
Speaker 1: thing to God, doesn't that things sneak up on you
Speaker 1: come on, because six months before she passed, I could
Speaker 1: not shake the song I Will Always Love You. I'd
Speaker 1: wake up with it in my head and I go
Speaker 1: to bed with it my I could not shake it.
Speaker 1: And I tried to shake it, and I tried to
Speaker 1: shake it. I could not shake it. And I think
Speaker 1: that when we, like I said, when we truly pay
Speaker 1: attention to what's ours and what's in the universe and
Speaker 1: what I don't think that nothing can really hugely surprise you.
Speaker 1: I think in preparation, it prepares you for what's coming.
Speaker 1: And so that was my experience. So all right, I'm
Speaker 1: giving you too much and I'm just I'm souping it up,
Speaker 1: and I'm sure whoever's listening like they can say wow.
Speaker 1: But then you know, this is what I'm wondering. How
Speaker 1: did you switch for I'm working with the Whitney Houston
Speaker 1: to be coined as the man behind the curves? How
Speaker 1: did you get to the curvy side? Had all has
Speaker 1: worked with curvy women. I worked with Monique for a while,
Speaker 1: I worked with Angela Basta for five years and um,
Speaker 1: I just um. When I got with Latifa, I think
Speaker 1: because at that point, eleven years ago, the spotlight had
Speaker 1: already always been on her on her latifa, and she
Speaker 1: worked with the style as a dear friend of mine.
Speaker 1: Before I started working with her, Susan Moses had changed
Speaker 1: the game how how she looked, and I just went
Speaker 1: in and kind of just like kept the game moving.
Speaker 1: What's with her with her sensibility and her style? Look?
Speaker 1: And when you're a woman that's a sixteen people always
Speaker 1: wonder how do you look so good and don't look
Speaker 1: like your plus side come on? And my answer to
Speaker 1: that is because I look at her as a woman.
Speaker 1: I look at her to someone who wants to look
Speaker 1: good and and the fabric you just happens to be
Speaker 1: a little bit more fabric. I don't approach it as
Speaker 1: a plus size woman. And I think that's what has
Speaker 1: given me the freedom to dress women so well that
Speaker 1: a plus size. Because she says the plus you have
Speaker 1: to approach it as if this is someone who wants
Speaker 1: to be a part of the conversation and look the
Speaker 1: best that she can. Al Right, being a part of
Speaker 1: a conversation. I can't tell you what it's like to
Speaker 1: be not in the conversation, as being a curby girl
Speaker 1: of feeling embarrassed to go to the store. I can
Speaker 1: only tell you how many times I did not go
Speaker 1: out to different when I lived to New York. Sometimes
Speaker 1: I didn't go out to different lounges and clubs and
Speaker 1: even younger because I didn't have anything to wear. And
Speaker 1: it is a horrible place to me and and and
Speaker 1: it's one thing to say, um, it is about confidence,
Speaker 1: but it's like you don't know where to look, especially
Speaker 1: when you can say in the situation, you don't see
Speaker 1: anyone that looks like you. You're not walking in the
Speaker 1: store where the first person you see or the mannequin
Speaker 1: you see looks like somebody that that that will wear
Speaker 1: something that you have one. Yeah, and I and I
Speaker 1: had to. I had to to find designers that wanted
Speaker 1: to work with us, who wanted to be a part
Speaker 1: of the conversation. And I would go into the showrooms
Speaker 1: in New York and difference, Oh make that right there
Speaker 1: in the size, make that do that because able look
Speaker 1: at me and said, oh that'll work. I said, it
Speaker 1: absolutely work, because when you have when you have just one.
Speaker 1: Sometimes I wouldn't allow my assistance for certain clients go
Speaker 1: shop for them because they didn't have the eye to
Speaker 1: see beyond what they see, because sometimes you have to
Speaker 1: look at something and know the possible. You gotta have
Speaker 1: the vision. You gotta have the vision for where you
Speaker 1: can take it and where it can go on. And
Speaker 1: for me, I've always had the vision of a life
Speaker 1: for my clients that they would be exceptional no matter
Speaker 1: who they are. But the love of curvy is natural
Speaker 1: to me. You know, I'm a big guy. I have
Speaker 1: to dress myself in imagination, you know, and things to
Speaker 1: make myself look cool that are not your typical or
Speaker 1: your norm because I know how I want to look.
Speaker 1: So it just all kind of kind of just gotta
Speaker 1: flows over to the to the curvy girl as well.
Speaker 1: I love that because you know, when you talk about,
Speaker 1: you know, having the vision, and it sounds like you're
Speaker 1: talking about creating a being livingless And I feel the
Speaker 1: offensives where you think about being in the plus size realm,
Speaker 1: you're in a box, you're contained, but instead you have
Speaker 1: the outlook of how much more and how much more
Speaker 1: you can do. And I'm just wondering, um, looking at
Speaker 1: the plus size industry now and even looking back then,
Speaker 1: why do you feel that or maybe it's still you know,
Speaker 1: having out Why do you feel that there are limitations
Speaker 1: on plus eye clothing? Is it bigger than just I
Speaker 1: don't want to make anything for you? Is there something underline?
Speaker 1: Is it about materials? About production? Like? There are a
Speaker 1: couple of different stories with that. First of all, you
Speaker 1: have to think each designer has an image of how
Speaker 1: they want their their brand to look. And if they
Speaker 1: don't want to share that brand with the plus sized
Speaker 1: woman that's there, that's their vision, that's their thing. That's
Speaker 1: why we have to create the new bodyguards of curvy fashion.
Speaker 1: That's why we have to look for and find people
Speaker 1: who are willing and wanted to design for that body type.
Speaker 1: So there are more opportunities, and they're more there's much
Speaker 1: more clothing to pick from. Just saying, for instance, well
Speaker 1: there are enough curvy designers out there's what do you
Speaker 1: mean enough curvy designers that the thousands of designers that
Speaker 1: are designing straight sizes, why can't they just be thousands
Speaker 1: of designers designing plus size women's clothing? Why are you
Speaker 1: making it? Why do we have to put a Muslim
Speaker 1: and why do we got why do we have to do?
Speaker 1: We don't have to because I live in the possibility
Speaker 1: and what the possibility is that I see it bigger
Speaker 1: than what it is. I see it on a bigger
Speaker 1: on a larger scale, and on a bigger level. I've
Speaker 1: um wrote some shows and stuff that I based around
Speaker 1: things like this and stuff like that, and I've done
Speaker 1: pitch meetings and I'm looking to do more. So if
Speaker 1: you're out there listening and you want to meet with
Speaker 1: me to do a pitch meeting about TV shows, please
Speaker 1: give me a call, Please hit me up. Um, I
Speaker 1: just think that we have to. Let me say this,
Speaker 1: the plus size market is a very personal space. The
Speaker 1: girls know each other, the people know each other, they
Speaker 1: network with each other, they're friendly with each other, they're
Speaker 1: cool with each other. And um, I think outsiders coming
Speaker 1: in sometimes can be a little bit too much, especially
Speaker 1: when they know they're not in it for the whole
Speaker 1: overall personal kind of thing. And when you say outsiders,
Speaker 1: what we what do we mean? But people who really
Speaker 1: don't understand the they don't understand the brand, don't even
Speaker 1: know the body type. They're just getting the check, you
Speaker 1: know what I mean. It's all interesting because you've I've
Speaker 1: heard you say this before. I mentioned in the episode
Speaker 1: of just having this curvy conversation because it's like curves
Speaker 1: have something to say to and it's that language is saying, hey,
Speaker 1: I'm here, can you see me? Well, I think the
Speaker 1: word curvy has changed, and I think that it's all
Speaker 1: inclusive now. And I think and I think that I
Speaker 1: just feel like it's that word is not as it
Speaker 1: is important and a lot of women love using the word.
Speaker 1: But I think even the way the retailers try and
Speaker 1: have been trying to mix clothing sizes amongst everybody else,
Speaker 1: I think there's nothing more special than a woman who
Speaker 1: was a size zero X or a woman who was
Speaker 1: a size four x five X. Or she can go
Speaker 1: to a too, she can go to a place within
Speaker 1: the department store this fabulous and feel like nothing but
Speaker 1: her size is going to be around her, which which
Speaker 1: brings is a huge comfort ability. What makes you feel
Speaker 1: power in numbers? Why do you want to feel like
Speaker 1: you're included? So? What do you feel are some of
Speaker 1: the challenges that brands do face otherwise other than you
Speaker 1: may not see your clothing on that type of body type.
Speaker 1: To make sure that the clothing is more inclusive for everybody.
Speaker 1: What's happened? I think that I think brands, especially designers
Speaker 1: who want to design for plus women, they need opportunity.
Speaker 1: They need department stores and stores to get behind them
Speaker 1: and bring them into stories and take chances on them.
Speaker 1: Opportunities have to be created for them to come into
Speaker 1: the stores and do capsule collections through introduction and stuff
Speaker 1: like that. That's why you see a lot of people
Speaker 1: doing stuff on Instagram. They're doing their own stuff, got
Speaker 1: their own websites, right because I guess if they're they're
Speaker 1: not going to move, then you might as well just
Speaker 1: be the person that moves as well. Right, Yes, but
Speaker 1: there is people are also looking for experiences. There is
Speaker 1: nothing like an experience to go Okay, I have shopped everywhere,
Speaker 1: every major boutique everywhere, London, Paris, everywhere, Beverly Hills, whatever.
Speaker 1: There's nothing like going into the cheek being offered champagne,
Speaker 1: water or whatever and sitting in a beautiful surrounding and
Speaker 1: clothing is just being brought out to you for your
Speaker 1: client or with your client or howmever like that. How
Speaker 1: often do women of women with up size get to
Speaker 1: experience that and have the experience givesually, we just said
Speaker 1: how you got to go back in the corner. They
Speaker 1: just see what's the only one boutique in Beverly Hills
Speaker 1: that really does that? And I've worked with them before
Speaker 1: many many times and done U parties with them. Is
Speaker 1: Um and events is Marina Ronaldi who is a family
Speaker 1: with Max Mara. So it's happening, it is becoming big,
Speaker 1: it's it's changing. But we have to support the women
Speaker 1: with these voices that are saying what their needs are
Speaker 1: and we have to pay attention to that. And how
Speaker 1: do we do that but to keep listening to people
Speaker 1: and people with the coin gotta come up and give,
Speaker 1: gotta give the bread to make it happen. So if
Speaker 1: you here, if you know of a curvy designer or
Speaker 1: style is out there, what would you side to them?
Speaker 1: I would say, stay steadfast, keep doing what you do,
Speaker 1: follow the market to thine stuff, be true with your designs.
Speaker 1: Don't try to be like somebody else, Be like you
Speaker 1: because that's gonna make you stand out and be more unique.
Speaker 1: And it's already done. So let me answer this. You
Speaker 1: know you talked about we did us listen out there
Speaker 1: talking about you have the ideas for the show. But
Speaker 1: you and I met on your premier show A show
Speaker 1: that's never been done anything, like never the first time
Speaker 1: ever they had a show on television that focused on
Speaker 1: nothing but curvy women makeovers and curvy women's bodies and
Speaker 1: needs curvy style with Timothy's curvy style, with Timothy's now
Speaker 1: be et. To this day, I still get women to
Speaker 1: hit me up on Instagram. I wish we're you know
Speaker 1: it's it's it's in reruns right now. I get hit up.
Speaker 1: Oh my god, I just saw your show. I didn't
Speaker 1: know I was out there. It's amazing. When it's the
Speaker 1: second season coming in, When is this happen? K like,
Speaker 1: oh my gosh, I just saw you on TV. I
Speaker 1: was like yeah, and that was a few years ago now.
Speaker 1: So my question to you is is, um, do you
Speaker 1: remember how we met? Remember? Tell them how we miss
Speaker 1: Now who have it? But the show runner mother, make
Speaker 1: sure they know Mother Mary Mary. I said, I have
Speaker 1: this girl I want you to meet. And I'm somebody
Speaker 1: who has a hard time with somebody trying to tell
Speaker 1: me what to do. He's a sad Yeah, I'm sad
Speaker 1: through and through. So I was like, huh, you want
Speaker 1: to meet this girl? Yeah? I think she's pryingfect on
Speaker 1: Tam she'll be right. So I'm like, oh my god,
Speaker 1: I mean okay, okay, okay. So you showed up and
Speaker 1: I have the picture and we were sitting there on
Speaker 1: the couch with the camera on us what our chemistry
Speaker 1: would be like. And I had to tell you to
Speaker 1: be quiet because I said, listen, who's interviewing Hugh? Here?
Speaker 1: Slow your roll? This one here, slow your roll, everybody,
Speaker 1: slow your roll. Slow down. So basically I said, Okay,
Speaker 1: there is a light in her, there is a spark,
Speaker 1: and she's funny, and she's pretty and she is a
Speaker 1: true curvy girl. Okay, absolutely, whatever mayre, let's just roll
Speaker 1: with it. We got a show to do. Let's make
Speaker 1: it happy, let's make it powerful. And we had a
Speaker 1: good time. We we We were the first, the first,
Speaker 1: We were the first. I can always say I was
Speaker 1: the first. I had a billboard in Times Square. We
Speaker 1: did a great BT, they did a great commercial for us.
Speaker 1: We had a whole premiere in New York. Okay, it
Speaker 1: was fat was you brought out everyone? It was. I
Speaker 1: had so many supportive people coming out to support this
Speaker 1: because it matters, and it's still matters. It matters so much,
Speaker 1: and I want back in on television in this venue
Speaker 1: because this is very important and we have to keep celebrating.
Speaker 1: And you know, I had already worked out the second
Speaker 1: season how different it was going to be and what
Speaker 1: it was gonna look like, and we did get picked up.
Speaker 1: But things happen. Think you know things. It's always working
Speaker 1: for a greater good, right, you know what? Because I
Speaker 1: don't look back, I look forward. So whatever's coming forward,
Speaker 1: it's going to be bigger and better than that. Well,
Speaker 1: let me look back real quick. Did I tell you
Speaker 1: how I appeared in front of you? Don't tell you
Speaker 1: about that moment? Back down memory? Late? All right, let
Speaker 1: me tell y'all, well happened? First of all, kind of
Speaker 1: like how Snell has talked about how Latifa, I'm sorry
Speaker 1: with Houston, Whitney Houston, how you just put it out
Speaker 1: there and left it alone. It's interesting because I'm looking
Speaker 1: at my journey and how you've encompassed you know, how
Speaker 1: have you made your way in my dream? Because probably
Speaker 1: who you're a Whitney Houston? This my queen lat teeth.
Speaker 1: So this whole moment, this this this huge. Okay, if
Speaker 1: anybody knows me, knows how much I admire that woman.
Speaker 1: So let me tell you what happened. I was working
Speaker 1: at this production company and after I moved out to
Speaker 1: l A. And this wasn't the fulfillment for Dawn, and
Speaker 1: I said I had to do more. So I actually resigned.
Speaker 1: I asked to be released from the job, which I
Speaker 1: was granted. So I was out there doing uber, you know.
Speaker 1: And I had just recently moved or relocated from New
Speaker 1: York to l A. So I had signed up for
Speaker 1: all these casting agencies, backstage whatever, and so they were
Speaker 1: looking for people to have a makeover. And it's just
Speaker 1: so interesting everything that you've been talking about, vision, dreaming, possibility.
Speaker 1: They said they were looking for some plus size women
Speaker 1: to make over. Well, if anybody has met me, you
Speaker 1: know I'm a plus sized girl, but you know i'm
Speaker 1: five four and a half on a good day. But
Speaker 1: you know, when you think of models, you're thinking five
Speaker 1: seven oh, not five seven five and eleven ten six ft.
Speaker 1: And so what happened was I have received an email
Speaker 1: notification from backstage dot com. Not traditionally the email comes
Speaker 1: in and it's like a solicit like, oh, we have
Speaker 1: an awesome opportunity click here. I'm grateful for whoever made
Speaker 1: the flyer. All the information um to be on the
Speaker 1: show was listed, and so I initially were coming in
Speaker 1: to be a person to be made over. And when
Speaker 1: we talk about possibility, I had gotten there. Had the
Speaker 1: conversation they said, wait a minute, well you already condressed
Speaker 1: and oh we love your personality. How would you like
Speaker 1: to have potentially be on the show. And then that's
Speaker 1: when everything unfolded. I was like, oh my gosh, this
Speaker 1: man is a stylist for Queen Lativa. Oh my gosh,
Speaker 1: he's done so much. But more importantly, you spoke to
Speaker 1: the little girl of Dawn, who you know. I've one
Speaker 1: that's always been confident and probably really confident in my dreams.
Speaker 1: But as far as my size and is something that
Speaker 1: has a strong hold because when you are twelve and
Speaker 1: thirteen years old and you are going to Lord and
Speaker 1: Taylor to find your out your Easter suit, when you
Speaker 1: looks like a miniature grown woman is comfortable comfortable, it
Speaker 1: doesn't feel good. And to be in the presence of
Speaker 1: somebody that you make the impossible possible. You make it
Speaker 1: so that I step in and say that I'm impossible
Speaker 1: and I'm beautiful. Well, it's just me just understanding that
Speaker 1: everybody needs to wants to be a part of the conversation.
Speaker 1: Everybody wants to dress nice, everybody wants to look beautiful,
Speaker 1: and everybody wants to feel good. And when you put
Speaker 1: when you put those three things together, just think about
Speaker 1: how how okay when you don't have to worry about
Speaker 1: how you look or how you feel, how you talk
Speaker 1: or whatever like that, how or whatever your worry is,
Speaker 1: you can sore because you don't have that in the
Speaker 1: back of your head because you're packing light. Yeah, you
Speaker 1: don't have that in the back of your head thinking
Speaker 1: about that when somebody is looking at you up and
Speaker 1: down as you know, you're thinking, um, you know negative,
Speaker 1: you should be thinking powerfully, you know what I mean.
Speaker 1: And that's what I want. And your show said all
Speaker 1: of that. Carving style with Timothy Snow was an outside
Speaker 1: and job because you know, I think oftentimes people can
Speaker 1: look at like a stylist like it's so vain, it's
Speaker 1: on the outside, but it's like, it's true. When you
Speaker 1: show up and you feel like you look good, you
Speaker 1: are good, like you said, that's one less thing for
Speaker 1: me to worry about. So whether they feeling like I
Speaker 1: gotta push my shirt down. I gotta pull the pain.
Speaker 1: I'm comfortable to just be done because the clothes fit.
Speaker 1: The clothes come in my side. I'm not trying to
Speaker 1: wear something that doesn't fit me. I'm not trying to
Speaker 1: wear something that I that that's where I want to be,
Speaker 1: but they don't make it where I want to be.
Speaker 1: So all of that's important. It's like you you are
Speaker 1: literally the language that can speak with plus size woman
Speaker 1: and and and clothing. Well definitely, you know, speaking speaking
Speaker 1: power into a person's life. That's not also sometimes just
Speaker 1: include where the head is, it decludes. It also includes
Speaker 1: how your garments are too, because you know, I was
Speaker 1: telling Jeremiah as we were just preparing for this interview,
Speaker 1: and I was saying, like we all have our gifts
Speaker 1: that comes out in different ways, like mine maybe up
Speaker 1: out of my mouth, my words. Some people having in
Speaker 1: their hands they're building, they're making, they're putting on clothes.
Speaker 1: Some people have it with songs, drawings. But it's like
Speaker 1: wherever your song is, and I have my personal trainer
Speaker 1: on here. And he was saying it was a quote
Speaker 1: that he couldn't necessarily PenPoint, but he said that making
Speaker 1: sure that when you have your song, you sing your
Speaker 1: song that you're dying on empty, so you're not hoarding
Speaker 1: all these I wish I could have or I should
Speaker 1: have based on because what you feel like on the
Speaker 1: outside of your size, Yeah, I think it's important even
Speaker 1: if you're a size fourteen or a sixteen or eighteen
Speaker 1: or twenty or twenty two, if you feel good about
Speaker 1: yourself and you can go out there and find what
Speaker 1: you're looking for the wear, it just manifests so much
Speaker 1: beauty and so much light because you feel good and
Speaker 1: you and you give other people permission to feel good.
Speaker 1: You're walking out, Hey, you're smiling and bouncing on your way.
Speaker 1: I'm smiling and bouncing on It's true. So I have
Speaker 1: to say that it really really speaks to a lot
Speaker 1: of things. When people feel good, they do good. And
Speaker 1: that's why, you know, even talking about Curvey Style with
Speaker 1: Timothy Snail Mixture, you just check it out just to
Speaker 1: see what's about, because there was a lot of work
Speaker 1: that you were doing. Yeah, we were out there busting
Speaker 1: out the streets of alle P on the pump, don't
Speaker 1: forgive Miss Nag and Mackenzie and we were out there
Speaker 1: in the streets trying to get the clothing. But there
Speaker 1: were times that whether you were with your celebrity clients
Speaker 1: or with the everyday people, you had this conversation kind
Speaker 1: of like does breakthrough of talking about their relationship with
Speaker 1: their clothing, what their aspirations, what's in your closet? What
Speaker 1: what's your relationship to your clothes? What's in your closet?
Speaker 1: Um are you? Do you have things in your closet
Speaker 1: that you have in wore five six years ago? Why
Speaker 1: is it in your closet? How long will we be
Speaker 1: keeping closing there? Well? I think it depends on your
Speaker 1: style and your trend and your body weight and how
Speaker 1: what you feel comfortable with wearing. I think there there
Speaker 1: are what I call investment pieces. Investment pieces or pieces
Speaker 1: that made out of luxury fabrics that are fabrication that
Speaker 1: you may get for a higher end designer, or something
Speaker 1: that would be in a slack, a skinny pant and
Speaker 1: maybe in a beautiful trench coat. It may be in
Speaker 1: a beautiful black dress that's made out of exceptional fabric something.
Speaker 1: These are called staples in your closet. Everybody should have
Speaker 1: their staples. Yeah, a crisp shirt or something, pants, blazer, said,
Speaker 1: or pants, a blaze, a skirt, a dress. I mean,
Speaker 1: those are just the piggyback to tap on what the
Speaker 1: basics are in a closet. For instance, when I did
Speaker 1: the Queen Latifa show, I built her closet, and I
Speaker 1: built her closet around the basics jeans, slacks, blazers, blouses,
Speaker 1: um dresses, etcetera. And then what I called the wink
Speaker 1: or call like the style or call like the throwaway fashion,
Speaker 1: was the inexpensive stuff that I would just get and
Speaker 1: pop in for for that week, for that special appear
Speaker 1: that wasn't necessarily an investment piece, but it made a statement.
Speaker 1: M H. And that's where your stories come in, like
Speaker 1: H and M and Zara and all of those solds
Speaker 1: and Fashion Nova and all of these stories like this
Speaker 1: in these young upcoming urban designers and stuff, because you're
Speaker 1: investing in them to get the fashion pieces. So if
Speaker 1: you were to think of all, what's one secret thing
Speaker 1: that you may have in your styling kit that you
Speaker 1: feel like every man, woman, child hoomever. Take double double
Speaker 1: stick makeup white. But that's my second one. But your
Speaker 1: double stick tape. Because you can tape your belt down,
Speaker 1: you can keep your your blouses from falling open. If
Speaker 1: you're missing a button, you can tape a cuff, all
Speaker 1: of that type of stuff. But then the Ponds makeup
Speaker 1: removers are my go to thing. The Plons makeup move
Speaker 1: was a wipe that you remove makeup with. It will
Speaker 1: take anything out of clothes and will not leave a stand.
Speaker 1: And I've witnessed it because on the show there would
Speaker 1: be moments Snell Is like, pull out the Ponds white white.
Speaker 1: There you go, and it's just it drives beautifully and
Speaker 1: it doesn't leave a stain and it takes the UM.
Speaker 1: I found this out from a makeup artist because she
Speaker 1: was UM. We had an early call time for Good
Speaker 1: Morning America. We went down, went back to the hotel,
Speaker 1: had breakfast. She wasted raspberry syrup down her white blouse.
Speaker 1: She said, oh, I'm not worried about I get it out.
Speaker 1: And I said, how are you gonna get that out?
Speaker 1: Hans makeup white remover? Now, what about you know, just
Speaker 1: as a curby girl, what are some of the things
Speaker 1: as far as undergarments that everyone should have. Well, everything
Speaker 1: begins with a good foundation, life, your house, everything begins
Speaker 1: with a good foundation. So I think that that's where
Speaker 1: you should start with a good brawl with a good
Speaker 1: body shaper um with a good panti. That's a good investment.
Speaker 1: Go to your go to your local macy, go to
Speaker 1: the macy store, go to a department store, look around,
Speaker 1: see what will work for you. When I was on
Speaker 1: the Steve Harvey Show one time, I said, I a
Speaker 1: woman she lost a lot of weight, and she wanted
Speaker 1: to know what could I where, how should I look
Speaker 1: going forward? I said, Well, first of all, congratulations on
Speaker 1: your weight loss. You're also a hundred and some pounds.
Speaker 1: The second thing you should do, take a friend, go
Speaker 1: to the mall, go to a department store, pull all
Speaker 1: the clothes you want to try, try them on, and
Speaker 1: take pictures of yourself to see before you buy anything,
Speaker 1: to see what works on your new body. And you're
Speaker 1: not paying for nothing, right, Maybe I shouldn't say that,
Speaker 1: but you're not because you're not sure yet. But that's
Speaker 1: a that's just like a wardrobe. That's like a wardrobe room,
Speaker 1: and it gives you a visual representation of you know,
Speaker 1: just to wardrob room. You're walking through a Macy's, you're
Speaker 1: walking through a Bloomingdale's, you're walking through you're trying on,
Speaker 1: you can go on into the dressing room. You're getting
Speaker 1: an idea of what your new body will do for
Speaker 1: you and how you feel, and then make a decision
Speaker 1: on what works for you and what you'd like to
Speaker 1: add to your closet as you're throwing the old things away.
Speaker 1: So um, with all this expertise coming down to just
Speaker 1: your schooling, down to working with your celebrity clients, down
Speaker 1: to just annoying what works. You had a swimsup line
Speaker 1: always for me, not always for me. Yes, yes, Timothy
Speaker 1: Snow collaboration. I was very proud of it. It was
Speaker 1: very beautiful. Um it did Okay, I just think it
Speaker 1: was we needed more pr behind it. But it's beautiful
Speaker 1: and I was just looking online. It's still up there now.
Speaker 1: If you want to take a look at it and
Speaker 1: if you want to check it out, okay, always and
Speaker 1: tell us a little bit. It's kind of like a
Speaker 1: it's a sporty it's a sporty It's a sporty kind
Speaker 1: of swimsuit line. I have. I have pieces in there
Speaker 1: with the high cut bathing suit bottom, with the crop
Speaker 1: tops with zippers and um, like a wet suit that
Speaker 1: you'd have for a it's a it's a legless wet
Speaker 1: suit that you would have in black, but a long zipper. Um.
Speaker 1: I have one pieces that are color blocked and stuff.
Speaker 1: It's really cool. I'm the beach to the beach. I
Speaker 1: love it. And then there's some cover ups that are mashing,
Speaker 1: light weight and stuff that you can just throw over,
Speaker 1: stuff cute that you can just look cute in and
Speaker 1: look at me comfortable. And you know what I loved
Speaker 1: about it too, is that it gave me that support,
Speaker 1: Like I felt like I was being supported. I felt smooth.
Speaker 1: I feel like there's something that I learned from you,
Speaker 1: especially with clothing. So Carvet Girls, tech note is about
Speaker 1: the importance of grazing the body. Yeah, sometimes closed should
Speaker 1: graze the body and not necessarily suck the body. But
Speaker 1: that's why you shape slim and smooth. That's your beginning.
Speaker 1: Did you catch that you shape slim and you smooth.
Speaker 1: That's how that's the that's the foundation. That's where you
Speaker 1: start with the underpinning. That's where underpinnings are important. You
Speaker 1: shape slim and smooth. And then after you shape slim
Speaker 1: and food, that's when you try the clothing on to
Speaker 1: see how it works. And what it works for your body,
Speaker 1: what works for your body. But the clothing line, but
Speaker 1: the but the swimwear. I mean to every woman that
Speaker 1: wears that. I have had women to call me and
Speaker 1: it's good to know. Is it still is It's still
Speaker 1: always from me. I gotta tell some people because because
Speaker 1: what I got from People, it was featured in People
Speaker 1: magazine is one of the best swimsuits that year that
Speaker 1: it came out to the plus size one into where
Speaker 1: I have that in my press kit, one of the
Speaker 1: best one. It was featured in People for one of
Speaker 1: the best whimsuits to wear because what it does was
Speaker 1: it was put together no underwire, but it was made
Speaker 1: in a way where it supports you and it held you,
Speaker 1: and it it ran over the cheek the right way
Speaker 1: and everything like that phenomenal. And I'll say this, I
Speaker 1: felt so good, like it was something that I could
Speaker 1: put on. You know, I had the Tankini and I
Speaker 1: had the Baybens, but I could put on some slacks.
Speaker 1: I can put on a lot more with it. It
Speaker 1: was something that the Tankini type you could put on
Speaker 1: with a huge ruffle um ruffle border Maxi skirt or
Speaker 1: some flip flops and just wear it at the beach
Speaker 1: after you said at the beach and lounge just to
Speaker 1: beat you want to go to the bar and drink.
Speaker 1: There were so many different ways to wear it because
Speaker 1: I think when you design stuff for people, we have
Speaker 1: to be versatility with design because people have a lot
Speaker 1: of times if it's not a wedding dress, an evening
Speaker 1: gown or black tithan. You need versatility within clothing so
Speaker 1: you can wear your items more often and get your
Speaker 1: money's come on. So let me ask you this now.
Speaker 1: In design school, while you learn the colors, of textures,
Speaker 1: of patterns and all that kind of stuff, are can
Speaker 1: you design clothing like I don't know the proper term
Speaker 1: cut it out. I haven't sold in years. When we
Speaker 1: were in design school, we were responsible to make our
Speaker 1: own sketch, make our own patterns, design, create our own
Speaker 1: textile prints if we wanted to create prints. But yes,
Speaker 1: I know how to make patterns and all that stuff.
Speaker 1: That's why when I'm with the taylor and the taylor
Speaker 1: in session with the client, I can look at the
Speaker 1: garment and tell exactly what needs to be done right
Speaker 1: away because I understand fit. So the question is is, now,
Speaker 1: are you going to take us on the beach to
Speaker 1: the streets. Can we expect in the clothing line from
Speaker 1: some working on something to drop for this fall? I
Speaker 1: want to get my feet wet and I want to
Speaker 1: again and I want to drop something this fall that
Speaker 1: I'm going to do through Instagram and through online give us.
Speaker 1: I'm just coming. It's coming and it's universal for all
Speaker 1: curvy women's body types, and I really believe they're gonna
Speaker 1: love it. Oh well, because I try to think, what's
Speaker 1: an important that I could drop that a lot of
Speaker 1: women would want to wear, even the smaller women, but
Speaker 1: especially my curvy dolls, my curvy superstar, Carvey super Star
Speaker 1: what I call them. Now that is truly that's truly exciting. Okay,
Speaker 1: So now that we know that you did the swim suit,
Speaker 1: that you're planning on another line, what else is in
Speaker 1: store for you? Well, you know, I'd really like to
Speaker 1: pin a book, and I would like to pin a
Speaker 1: book of great makeovers and my and my before and
Speaker 1: afters and my journey as being a big person and
Speaker 1: how that's how I got inspired and how I come
Speaker 1: to the position to inspire others and share what what
Speaker 1: I did. Because I want to do an illustration book
Speaker 1: on like what I did before and after. The before
Speaker 1: I want to write on the page, but the before
Speaker 1: I have to say I changed this, I did this,
Speaker 1: this is. I want to give you exactly what I
Speaker 1: did to improve the shape and the box, like the
Speaker 1: curvy script, all inclusive script, all inclusive. I just wanted.
Speaker 1: I wanted to be readable, lightweight, and I just you know,
Speaker 1: I need a publisher and somebody who believes in it,
Speaker 1: because I really think it's important that a lot of
Speaker 1: times women have a style bible that are curvy on
Speaker 1: where to go, how to go. This gene works on
Speaker 1: my body type, look for that gene. This blazer works
Speaker 1: on my body type. That a line skirt works on
Speaker 1: my body type better than the pencil skirt. This is.
Speaker 1: These are the things that should be tools that should
Speaker 1: just be on your body type, what works best on you.
Speaker 1: So when you go shop and stuff, when you look
Speaker 1: for those items, you try it on, you're like, wow,
Speaker 1: that looks great, right, And there's nothing better than that
Speaker 1: feeling of being able to go into the store, put
Speaker 1: something on and feel good when you look at yourself.
Speaker 1: I can't tell you just being transparent, the amount of
Speaker 1: times that I've walked into a store, I passed by
Speaker 1: a mirror and I just said, and not because um no,
Speaker 1: just simply because I didn't feel the best on what
Speaker 1: I had on, but because I didn't know what it looks.
Speaker 1: So or you and I, I have styled you for
Speaker 1: stuff and I could, and I've gotten you to buy
Speaker 1: things that you didn't think. I never would have looked
Speaker 1: at that, honey, star has got me a couple of
Speaker 1: you on several occasions. In fact, I was just showing
Speaker 1: Jeremiah when we did the premiere for Carvey Style Timothy Snail,
Speaker 1: and then you had me in that cape down, Honey,
Speaker 1: I was cascading around that. It was everything. And to
Speaker 1: know that you just whip whip bam, thank you man.
Speaker 1: I knew it would work on you, and it did.
Speaker 1: It just made you look like a column. It made
Speaker 1: you look taller, which is definitely what I need. But
Speaker 1: is there any is there like a basic like or
Speaker 1: a few body standard body types that you know, there's
Speaker 1: a pear shape, there's a trump shape traditionally, well, she
Speaker 1: has a small waist, so a lot of times she
Speaker 1: could wear a lot of things that you want to
Speaker 1: send you in the waist. If you want to accent
Speaker 1: your waist, you're and then you have the triangle to
Speaker 1: your heavier on top. So if you're having on top
Speaker 1: of sometimes I like to go with a bigger bottom
Speaker 1: or a triangle shape to balance the body so you
Speaker 1: don't look like you have two sticks and you're just
Speaker 1: a big square on top. That's a that's a body
Speaker 1: type to play with there. And then there's the oval.
Speaker 1: She's just round all over. That's somebody that you may
Speaker 1: need to add a shoulder pad too that you may
Speaker 1: need to add some gathering and some pleading in different
Speaker 1: areas just to create some volume to kind of just
Speaker 1: or or things just to slim it down. But one
Speaker 1: of the things that I was my sister was telling
Speaker 1: me about it, and I find this and I was
Speaker 1: talking to was doing some consulting with someone. A lot
Speaker 1: of times curvy, young curvy girls gonna show their arms,
Speaker 1: they're gonna show their body, they're gonna show whatever they
Speaker 1: want to show because they're in that um lizzo thing
Speaker 1: in your head at that point, which is dope. But
Speaker 1: when a woman gets to be about thirty five, a
Speaker 1: lot of them and up curvy women they don't like
Speaker 1: to show their arms. So you have to be creative
Speaker 1: and how you put a sleeve in something that still
Speaker 1: shows skin without making you look old. Wait, hold on,
Speaker 1: hold on, wait a minute. When you're at thirty five,
Speaker 1: the show arms, that means you you look older. Wait,
Speaker 1: I'm saying that some women beyond thirty five that are curvy,
Speaker 1: they have bigger arms sometimes and they don't want to
Speaker 1: be fleshy. Even some younger they don't want to show it,
Speaker 1: you know. The Actually they don't want to show the
Speaker 1: flap or something that's jiggling. They want to show something
Speaker 1: that's covered up. But maybe they need a cold shoulder
Speaker 1: with the skin showing here. Maybe need just to get
Speaker 1: down the shoulder to the elbow the shows it opens
Speaker 1: up and shows some skin. Or maybe it's a a
Speaker 1: ruffle sleeve that's just over butterfly. This I'm just saying,
Speaker 1: we have to we have to design with everybody in mind,
Speaker 1: but with your design, design with everyone, and to design
Speaker 1: with everyone in mind. But you have to be true
Speaker 1: to yourself when you create your collection. So it isn't
Speaker 1: about discrimination. It's just about any art. It's just like
Speaker 1: I'm so great, you know. The first thing I thought
Speaker 1: about was food. Yeah, do you put the egg in
Speaker 1: your mac and cheese or don't you? It's just personal
Speaker 1: post personal, and it's just how you want the presentation
Speaker 1: of your meal or in this class, how you want
Speaker 1: your clothes, you want your close to being. But I
Speaker 1: I think they're clothes are just like I said, a
Speaker 1: universal language. They speak to all of us. Can clothes
Speaker 1: tell a story about people? So, uh, what's the story
Speaker 1: that you want to leave with people? Well, I just
Speaker 1: want to leave with people that you know what, I
Speaker 1: think to dono self be true And I think that
Speaker 1: when it comes down to style, stylar is something that
Speaker 1: people can teach you. You either have it or you don't,
Speaker 1: but don't be afraid to play with different things to
Speaker 1: find your own style. Catch Now, if somebody's listening and
Speaker 1: they want to keep a contact with you and follow up,
Speaker 1: how do they do that? They can hit me up
Speaker 1: on my Instagram, which is Timothy snell o n E
Speaker 1: one Timothy snell one, oh Ny And all of my
Speaker 1: information is there, my business email addresses there and um,
Speaker 1: I'm on Twitter the same thing. Timothy snw one o
Speaker 1: n e UM website website, Modern Curves dot com. So
Speaker 1: reach out to me, say hello, ask me questions, UM,
Speaker 1: DM me, um, hit me up. I got a lot
Speaker 1: to say, as you can tell. But I have a
Speaker 1: lot to say that I think will help people to
Speaker 1: rise to the occasion to be the best you can
Speaker 1: be in your curvy body. For all curvy superstars need
Speaker 1: to feel amazing. You need to feel like a star
Speaker 1: that's gonna shine. Yeah, every day it's your life. You're
Speaker 1: let me tell you. Somebody said this to me one day.
Speaker 1: Your life is a movie. You have to make a
Speaker 1: choice whether you're going to be the victim or you're
Speaker 1: going to be the star. Your life is a movie.
Speaker 1: You have to make a choice. I choose to be
Speaker 1: a star in my movie. I don't want to be
Speaker 1: a victim in that lights camera catch it, catch it. Well,
Speaker 1: you kind of already said it, but you know, just
Speaker 1: as a standard protocol, I always ask people, um, you know,
Speaker 1: if they want to leave something adults of Vitamin D.
Speaker 1: It can be a song, lyric, it can be a quote,
Speaker 1: it could be something that you whatever, could just shed
Speaker 1: some light, give some inspiration. What what you say? I
Speaker 1: don't know. I think for me what I would say.
Speaker 1: We all wear a crown. Just let your shine drop
Speaker 1: it bars did you catch it? The man behind the
Speaker 1: curves themselves. It's saying walking your authority, walk in your
Speaker 1: in yourself. We all have a crown on our head.
Speaker 1: Just just let it shine, Just let it sparkle if
Speaker 1: you want to, tilt it to the side, tilted to
Speaker 1: the side, but just don't wear the crowd on. Let
Speaker 1: the light go dimn on it, let it shine. Wow,
Speaker 1: you all, bundle of inspiration. I'm so grateful for Mother Mary.
Speaker 1: I'm so grate for for our friendship. You know you
Speaker 1: you really opens up a huge limb for me, not
Speaker 1: only of just what's possible in my body, but just
Speaker 1: even the possibility of dreams. Because it's one thing like
Speaker 1: when we say we have our own dreams, but it's
Speaker 1: another to witness it and just down to you, just
Speaker 1: speak in existence of Whitney and then just how it
Speaker 1: manifested and just how many conversations you've been a part
Speaker 1: of because you allowed your voice to be heard, and
Speaker 1: you also have been a megaphone for so many women
Speaker 1: just like me. I feel blessed and I'm just beginning,
Speaker 1: so we'll see what happens. You know, they say it's
Speaker 1: not over until it's over, and as long as you
Speaker 1: listen to it, it ain't over. Um, So Snow, I
Speaker 1: want to thank you. Thank you for sharing a conversation.
Speaker 1: Conversation I enjoyed myself. You got me to talk about
Speaker 1: a lot of stuff. I hope I didn't bore anyone.
Speaker 1: But this is my journey and here, this is where
Speaker 1: I'm at. And um, you know, it's been incredible highs
Speaker 1: and lows in this journey, but I'm grateful for all. Well,
Speaker 1: I hope all of you are grateful for this time
Speaker 1: with Snow and that you walked the way of knowing
Speaker 1: that you have a ground and it's your duty to shine.
Speaker 1: You're starting in your movie lights, camera action. This is
Speaker 1: the man behind the curves, the one that extends the
Speaker 1: conversation so that it can be received and communicated with all.
Speaker 1: A person that has still for to say they want
Speaker 1: to be an example and to be a voice for
Speaker 1: the waste less. So not it's just your turn to
Speaker 1: step up. Make sure that you go ahead and check
Speaker 1: out the website Modern Curves. Make sure you follow him
Speaker 1: on social media, Timothy Snell one and um check out
Speaker 1: the tim tips. Make sure you understand the importance of
Speaker 1: the shape, the slim, the smooth, get the foundation, because
Speaker 1: when you've got great foundation, you've got so many things
Speaker 1: to build upon. And more importantly, the more curves you have,
Speaker 1: the more possibility you have. Live a life that's limiteds
Speaker 1: and make sure it gets you step into the possibility
Speaker 1: and step into the realm of creating your imagination. Life
Speaker 1: is for the living, so let's live. I appreciate you, Snail,
Speaker 1: I love you, and I appreciate each and every one
Speaker 1: of you that have been tuned in to Vitamin D.
Speaker 1: And guess what, if you enjoyed this conversation, you gotta
Speaker 1: check it out on YouTube. Yes, on YouTube where you
Speaker 1: can actually see what's going on in the studio. Um. Also,
Speaker 1: I want to encourage you that if you want some
Speaker 1: more Vitamin D outside of this, make sure you follow
Speaker 1: me at Dawn Day Speaks and in the meantime in
Speaker 1: between time until next time, I want you to always
Speaker 1: remember that you are your greatest status act mm HM