{"id":12775,"date":"2018-11-26T11:49:43","date_gmt":"2018-11-26T16:49:43","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/textiles.ncsu.edu\/news\/?p=12775"},"modified":"2018-11-26T11:49:43","modified_gmt":"2018-11-26T16:49:43","slug":"entrepreneur-en-vogue","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/textiles.ncsu.edu\/news\/2018\/11\/entrepreneur-en-vogue\/","title":{"rendered":"Entrepreneur en Vogue"},"content":{"rendered":"\n

Written by Cameron Walker | <\/em>Cover photo by Adrian Octavius Walker<\/em><\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cI never imagined that my life would be like this, but here I am in Los Angeles,\u201d said <\/span>Wilson College of Textiles<\/span><\/a> alumna Germanee Gerald, owner of <\/span>GG+Co. Styling Firm<\/span><\/a>. A 2013 graduate of the <\/span>Fashion and Textile Management<\/span><\/a> program (Brand Marketing and Management concentration), she recently left a successful corporate career to focus full time on her styling business. <\/span><\/p>\n\n\n\n

GG+Co. is a style trifecta, offering personal styling, <\/span>Sip N\u2019 Style<\/span><\/a> events and theDressCode, an upcoming online style course. Gerald\u2019s clientele is comprised of movers and shakers in both entertainment and tech, so her workweek takes her up and down the West Coast, from Hollywood to the Bay Area and back. She styled clients for this year\u2019s Emmys and has worked with celebrities including Jay Ellis, who played Lawrence on the television show \u201cInsecure\u201d; Jussie Smollett, who plays Jamal on \u201cEmpire\u201d; and Jon Huertas, who plays Miguel on \u201cThis Is Us.\u201d She styles Bozoma Saint John, chief marketing officer at entertainment industry giant <\/span>Endeavor<\/span>, and Valeisha Butterfield Jones, the global head of women and Black community engagement at <\/span>Google<\/span><\/a>, among other executives and young professionals.<\/span><\/p>\n\n\n\n

I wanted to channel my energy into building and growing my brand, so I set my mind and I set my focus to it. I said, \u2018I can do it,\u2019 and now I\u2019m doing it. <\/p><\/div><\/blockquote>\n\n\n\n

\u201cMy goal is to make sure my clients look and feel their best selves and that they are most confident in whatever they\u2019re wearing,\u201d she said. \u201cI try to make sure that I am reflecting their personal brand — analyzing and curating outfits that truly represent their personality. I also have to be thoughtful about the event or the engagement they are going to…there\u2019s an art and a science to it all.\u201d<\/span><\/p>\n\n\n\n

She is inspired by celebrities like Tracee Ellis Ross, influencers like Blair Eadie and the idiosyncrasies of street style.<\/span><\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cMy personal style is very eclectic and ever-changing,\u201d she said. \u201cI think the fluidity of my style helps me relate to my clients when it comes to connecting and building their own styles. (However), I try not to project my style onto my clients. We collaborate and journey on to creating their own look.\u201d<\/span><\/p>\n\n\n\n

Gerald worked for <\/span>Gap, Inc.<\/span><\/a> for a decade, starting with a retail position at a Gap store near Charlotte, North Carolina when she was in high school. She is a graduate of the company\u2019s highly regarded <\/span>Rotational Management Program<\/span> (RMP), also known as \u201cthe Harvard of retail.\u201d The interdisciplinary leadership training program rotates recent college graduates through the company\u2019s inventory management (buying), production and merchandising functions within one of its subsidiaries: <\/span>Gap<\/span><\/a>, <\/span>Banana Republic<\/span><\/a>, <\/span>Old Navy<\/span><\/a> or <\/span>Athleta<\/span><\/a>. After completing the nine-month program, participants earn a position with the company. The RMP is highly selective — out of a field of 3,000 applicants, Gerald was one of only eight chosen for the San Francisco, California-based program.<\/span><\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cIt was like the Hunger Games,\u201d she said. After graduating the program, she accepted a position as an assistant merchandiser for Old Navy\u2019s newborn girl division, then lead the women\u2019s sweaters category at Banana Republic before capping off her tenure with Gap as merchandiser for the Banana Republic Factory Store in their second largest product category, women\u2019s woven tops.  <\/span><\/p>\n\n\n\n

\"Wilson
Photo by Jarami Bond<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n\n\n\n

While at Gap, she expressed herself creatively through her style blog and social media.<\/span><\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cI had a style blog — I hated it,\u201d she laughed. \u201cI was getting dressed in my car, going around and trying to find locations. But I realized that after all the madness it took me to get the shot, what I was passionate about was that once I posted, people would ask, \u2018How can I recreate this for myself?\u2019 and \u2018What will look better for my own body type?\u2019 So I really tried to delve down deeper into body types and what works best for different people.\u201d<\/span><\/p>\n\n\n\n

While shopping together, a close friend suggested she go into business as a stylist.<\/span><\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cMy track was to be a VP at Gap Corporate in Merchandising — it was never to be a personal stylist,\u201d said Gerald. <\/span><\/p>\n\n\n\n

But she was intrigued by the idea of helping others find and refine their personal style, so she started her styling firm on the side while continuing to work full time in the corporate world. She styled some friends to build her portfolio, and as news spread through Instagram posts and word of mouth, her business blossomed. As GG+Co. grew, Gerald gathered her courage and leapt into entrepreneurship.<\/span><\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cI have a lot of gumption,\u201d she said. \u201cWhat gave me that courage was that everything in my past that I had set out to do, I had done…so I said I was going to be an entrepreneur and I saved up for two years. I was making pretty good money working for myself and I wanted to channel my energy into building and growing my brand, so I set my mind and I set my focus to it. I said, \u2018I can do it,\u2019 and now I\u2019m doing it. Every day I think I\u2019m crazy and at the end of every day, I think, \u2018I\u2019m proud of you!\u2019 It takes you on a roller coaster ride — daily.\u201d<\/span><\/p>\n\n\n\n

She spends her busy days (which start at 6 a.m. with a trip to the gym) consulting with clients; sourcing clothes from retailers like Nordstrom and Neiman Marcus, boutiques and individual brands; pulling clothes from showrooms for celebrity clients; building partnerships with vendors; putting together pitch decks to woo new clients; planning for upcoming events and building out her style course. <\/span><\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cIt takes a ton of discipline and a lot of tenacity, dedication and confidence,\u201d she said. \u201cThere\u2019s a lot of self-doubt that comes into it, but you have to talk yourself out of that self-doubt; you have to have that discipline to get up in the morning and get what you need done. You have to create your own schedule, because everything is dependent on you…Every day is not a bed of roses, (but) you have to realize that there is a greater goal and you are trying to get there. There are really high highs and really low lows and you have to push past the fear, push past the doubt and make it happen.\u201d  <\/span><\/p>\n\n\n\n

\"Wilson
Photo by Andrew Ross Perry<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n\n\n\n

Gerald credits the Wilson College of Textiles for helping prepare her for success. She has used a concept she learned in her classes — looking for \u201cwhite space opportunities,\u201d or gaps in existing product lines or markets — to her advantage in both the corporate world and her own business.<\/span><\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cThat gave me a leg up, especially when I interviewed at the Gap for the RMP,\u201d she said. \u201cOne of our projects was to create a brand that they don\u2019t have in their current portfolio. I was like, \u2018Oh, this is easy. We\u2019ve done exactly this in class.\u2019\u2019<\/span><\/p>\n\n\n\n

She also believes the team work required for her FTM courses helped her immensely at Gap, and now, as her business grows, she is building her own team and drawing on the knowledge she gained at the College. While in school, she was on the <\/span>Textile and Apparel, Technology and Management<\/span><\/a> Student Advisory Board<\/span><\/a> and was president of the <\/span>African American Textile Society<\/span><\/a>.<\/span><\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cThat taught me how to be a leader and to collaborate, and really start to build that business acumen that would set me up for success in the corporate world — and even more so as an entrepreneur,\u201d she said.<\/span><\/p>\n\n\n\n

Gerald may soon take another leap into entrepreneurship, as she is seriously considering launching her own line of plus-size clothing.<\/span><\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cI\u2019m very passionate about plus-size,\u201d she said. \u201cIt\u2019s a market that is not tapped into — they don\u2019t have a ton of options. I work with a lot of clients who are beautifully curvy, but it\u2019s hard for me to pull things for them that are both quality and style-focused.\u201d <\/span><\/p>\n\n\n\n

In the next few years, Gerald plans to add more layers to GG+Co. by growing her clientele, adding more Sip N\u2019 Style events and locations, rolling out her style course and expanding her styling team.<\/span><\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cI want to make an impact and educate,\u201d she said. \u201cThere are a lot of things I see for myself and the team in the next five to ten years. It won\u2019t just be Germanee the stylist — it\u2019s going to be an empire.\u201d<\/span><\/p>\n\n\n\n