Today on “How They Did It” I feature the internet fashion sensation Jai Nice. Her clothing brand Kloset Envy instantly became popular with a following of over 642,000 people. Her personal brand has a following of 1.3 million people, talk about impressive. Jai shares a little bit of her story with me about how at the age of 18 she developed her first business plan before moving to LA to live with her sister. She started off buy buying and selling vintage clothing. She would invest the money back into the business. First she bought a website then wholesale clothes before moving into designing full time. Through designing she built a strong relationship with a lot of manufactures and now currently owns her own manufacturing company. Lets take a more indept look into the creative mind behind Kloset Envy
Tell me a little about who you are?
My name is Jai Bella and I am a Fashion Designer and Creative Director. I develop all the creative projects for Kloset Envy and design most of the clothes for it as well. I knew I wanted to get into fashion since I was 4 years old. By the time I was in high school, I would put together all of my outfits and piece things together in a creative way. At the age of 18, I developed my first business plan. I’m very self sufficient and passionate about everything I do.
What is your business about?
My business is a Women’s Clothing business but more importantly it’s about what the clothing does for the women wearing it. I wanted to create something that would help women have high self esteem feel confident when wearing any of my clothing. Outside of my clothing being fashionable, I wanted to make sure it was affordable to the average working woman.
What were you doing before you started your business?
Before I started my business, I was working anywhere to get money, save it and invest it in my business. I was writing out business plans while working at McDonald’s and Rite Aid. I was never too good to work at these places because I knew my plan and purpose wouldn’t keep me there forever. My biggest thing was not having to ask for a hand out or getting investors. I did everything on my own. The reason I was able to have a successful business is because I always remained humble during the process.
What Inspired you to start your business?
What inspired me to start my business was my ongoing love for fashion. I was raised by my grandmother and growing up, we didn’t have a lot of money. When it came to clothes and putting outfits together we couldn’t afford to get new clothes and so I had to use what I had. I would get creative and cut my jeans up, dye my clothes and paint them. I basically did whatever it would take to create a nice and fashionable looking outfit. From that moment I knew I wanted my own clothing line and clothing store. That inspired me to start my business.
What obstacles did you face in starting your business and how did you overcome them?
The biggest obstacle I faced not having the prior experience and knowledge of running a business. I honestly didn’t know what I was doing at all and to this day if I run into any problems I would either Google or read a lot of business articles and books. It was extremely hard at first because I didn’t know my next step. I didn’t know how to deal with legal stuff and you have to learn that all on your own so that was the biggest obstacle for me.
Whats next for you and your business?
The next step for me is to grow my company into its own brand and really expand outside of the online boutique. I want to have 90% of the clothes that are on the website designed by me. I want to have my own work out line, my own swimwear line and my own shoe line. My objective is to continuously grow my business and to build an even bigger empire.
What is your best advice for young people looking to start a similar business?
My best advice is consistency and hard work. You have to stay consistent. You can’t start something and stop it. You always have to really love it. If you really love it then you will put your all into the business because you’ll always be motivated. You can’t just do it for money or just because it’s trending at the moment. If you love it then you should do it because you’ll put your all into it and become successful.
Check out Kloset Envy here