Creating Your Own Lane With Delaina Pinckney

One of the important things in fashion is knowing when you don't know. For that reason, we have amazing stylists who are there to help us create looks. An extra bonus is when that stylist can also help give us some makeup advice as well.

Delaina Pinckney is originally from Sumter, SC and has been working in the fashion and beauty industry for almost a decade. Even prior to her career experience, she has been met with the challenge of creating a unique sense of style coming from a small town with few options. Not only did this fuel her passion for DIY, but it also created a platform for authenticity and building yourself as a brand.

Marketing Terminology: Influencer and Brand Ambassador Pt. 1

How do you know?

Recently, there have been an influx of Instagram profiles and social media descriptions that use the words brand ambassador and influencer. While these are legitimate titles and both can come with some hefty compensation, there is a meaning behind both of those terms...quite literal in fact. This is going to be a two part post going into each of these terms.

Let's start with influencer. The definition, according to the Cambridge dictionary, is "someone who affects or changes the way that other people behave, for example through their use of social media." One of the common misconceptions of being an influencer is that one needs to have a high following. hereinafter known as vanity numbers. These vanity numbers can help a person grow their business or status because many consumers look at those numbers and believe they see a trusted source, they believe there must be a lot of other people who take this individual or brand seriously, so maybe I should too.

However, what some don't realize, is those vanity numbers do not directly tie to influence. Those vanity numbers do not guarantee that one has the ability to affect change, thus one may not have the power to influence. When running marketing campaigns, brands and individuals should take into account the engagement that comes behind that high following. While there is no perfect science to this, there is still common sense. A user with thousands of followers and only a few likes and low comments has very low engagement. So while their follow numbers may be high, the people who are following are not engaging with any of their content and just may not be interested in what they are putting out. This would make it very hard for that individual to convince someone to take an action if they can't even convince them to like an image on Instagram or click a link to a website.

For the influencers, there are several tactics that can work both ways. While growing following is important, we need to make sure we are also pulling in quality follows so that engagement numbers do not take a dip and you are seen as a trusted source, not only to brands but to individuals as well. A few ideas are below....

influencer noun [ C ] 

/ˈɪn.flu.ən.sər/ /ˈɪn.flu.ən.sɚ/: "someone who affects or changes the way that other people behave, for example through their use of social media"

1. Like other people's work. If you are a fashion influencer, for example, like other people with similar content. This way you are engaging with the kind of people who you want to engage with your page. Follow some, like some, and comment on some. There are a number of pods on Facebook and other platforms that encourage real engagement and in these pods, members actively engage on each others work so that the comments are real, and not just the random thumbs up emoji or the 'Nice' that you see coming from bot traffic.
2. Be consistent with posting. While the Facebook/IG algorithm may have changed to prioritize certain content, if you are consistent and your followers see your work consistently, and engage with it, your relevance score will increase and that will cause your content to show up more often.
3. Don't be afraid to use, and switch up, your hashtags. Just because you are a fashion influencer doesn't mean all of your hashtags need to be beauty related. Some piece of your content might be related to something else. Take advantage of that and use new hashtags to tap into a new audience. A different crowd will see the content and you have just gained a new set of eyes.

5 Better F Words to Get Started On Your Goals!

Download the free 5 Better F Words For Building Your Brand Workbook!

In order to get started on building your personal brand, business, or just expanding on your passion, we need motivation to get there. I have spoken to dozens of business owners and entrepreneurs and compiled 5 very simple F words to get you started on your journey.

Although these 5 F words are words we use very often, when we put them together, and in this particular order, it makes sense and helps us to start seeing our future as a plan.

Find It

Often times, we don't start something knowing for sure it's what we want to do. So we try it. Until you have an inkling of whatever direction you want to go in, what you might be good at, a new interest, etc., keep searching until you find what it is that puts that extra light in your eyes.

It can be hard if you don't know where to start but you have the opportunity to be a part of a world where we have the ability to pivot and try different things. Unless you are interested in settling for something that's good enough, use your spare time or create spare time to go on a journey, maybe literally, to discover your passion.

Motivational speaker Jim Rohn said that “we are an average of the 5 people we spend the most time with.” Look around at your circle of friends and associates. Are they doing things you are interested in, going places where you want to be, etc.? It might be time to start networking. You don’t need to completely shift your circle of friends...well, that’s for you to decide...but consider where and with whom you spend your time and decide of this is helping you get closer to your goal. If not, look for other events and make connections that can help you figure it out.

Figure it Out

No one said this was going to be easy. As you lean in and start to notice little things that capture your attention, take some time and sit with it so that you know how to align it with your goals, brand, and personality. Which pieces align with you and which pieces don’t? When you find find something, it will take some time to adjust to it and get it to your liking. 

Maybe you have heard the term ‘10-year overnight success’ and if you haven’t, glad I could present it to you. A lot of work goes on behind the scenes of some major corporations, brands and talents. What we often see is the success and not too often the years of work it took them to get there. Often times, the figuring out part is still happening. No one was born knowing exactly how to do something. Yes, there are natural talents, but even still, there is some figuring out to do to make sure the process we developed works.

Try writing it down, or if you are a visual person, create a vision board. Whatever the method, develop a system that is a constant reminder of your goal and will push you to get there. Keep these things somewhere you can see it. It does no justice to make the plan, and never revisit it. That’s when we begin to finesse it.

Finesse It

When you do find it, and believe you have it figured out, don't just stop there. No one said there had to be one way to do things. Finesse it, refine it, and look at it from different angles. You may think you have found one thing and when you change your perspective, you come across a whole different point of view on how to make it work for you. 

After you start to look into things more, you may make an effort to act on your plan and realize that some things work better for you than others. So take it back to the drawing board. You may not need to scrap the whole idea, just keep your eraser handy and turn that left into a right. Turn the pieces of the plan that didn’t work for you into something that does. Just as Rome wasn’t built in a day, take the time to build your empire. 

Making things right take time. There will be lots of work and some of our efforts may even result in perceived failures.

Fail At It

I interned at W+K agency many years ago and here i first heard the term 'Fail Harder.' When you start something, you might be lucky enough to hit the nail on the head the first time. Often times, that's not the case. If your first attempt doesn't work, go at it again and maybe 'fail' some more. 

Sometimes it can be hard to accept these failures but you never know what your failure can lead you to. We may not all get it right on the first try but when we do try, and things don’t go according to plan, we can see what we like, what we didn’t like, and adjust from there to get it right the next time. So go ahead, fail more often because out of those failed attempts can come your greatest success.

Never Finalize It

There's always competition, externally and internally. Challenge yourself to be your best self. This sometimes means that you look at where you started and you might be happy with the results but that doesn't mean you have to set it in stone. Think about how much more you can grow. You have come this far. Why stop now? 

Epitome Of Style

"Fashion fades, Style is eternal," said Yves Saint Laurent and it is something we have heard for years upon years. There are so many people that can pull off fashion and just as greatly, many that we look at that can create eternal style. This list shows some of the people who embody style to the t. Check out their links for some more fashion inspiration.

Kahlana Barfield currently serves as the Editor-At-Large for InStyle magazine. Just as the magazine title states, she is one that is always In Style. She can turn any look, from dressy or casual, into something you would covet. 

image:@kahlanabarfield

Salomon Dubois Thiombiano has styled for GQ, Vogue and a few others and of course, you may catch him on the streets on his way to another show during Fashion Week but he does not hesistate to put his fashion on display and customize his very own style. See how you can get it on his site here.

image: @ducdubois

Ranti Onayemi-Blanchard is from Nigeria but currently leaving her fashion trail on the streets of Denver, CO. Through her blog and fashion, one of her goals is to inspire so head over to her site and check out some of the latest outfit inspirations here.

image: @rantiinreview

Kish Raveendran hails from Sri Lanka but brought the style with him when he went over to Canada. He spent some years in France before getting there, where he picked up a few tips and developed a style of his own. See some of his latest looks on his site.

image: @stylebykish

Kyrzayda Rodriguez can tear of the streets of NYC in a pair of sneakers or from the heights of one of her many heels. She shows us how to play in our own comforts of style and still make it all look good. Read more about her on her site.

image: @Kyrzayda

Anthony Urbano walks the streets of new York turning high fashion into his own thing. He creates his own style by pairing pieces together in the manner he sees fit, and that is a true definition of style. 

image: Oh Anthonio

Sheryl Luke created Walk in Wonderland to showcase all of her fashion and style as she lives her daily life in Los Angeles, CA. She loves to try new things and inspire so hopefully she can inspire you to try some new looks too.

image: Walk in Wonderland