“Fake it until you make it.” What does this really mean? Sometimes also referred to “Act as if,” its a common catchphrase that means to imitate confidence so that as the confidence produces success it generates real confidence. The purpose is to avoid getting stuck in a self fulfilling prophecy related to one’s fear of not being confident. I fully endorse this way of thinking, after all, when you come from a place of positivity, positivity tends to come full circle, but it also got me thinking about the literalness behind the words and how a lot of entrepreneurs and artists act these days.
In the indie clothing/accessory/streetwear scene, a new brand pops up every other day. You can’t go on Twitter, Facebook or various chat forums without hearing someone brag about how many celebrities wear their threads or how many orders they have to ship the next day. Its wonderful to read stories about successful business ventures but, let’s be honest, the majority of these posts are highly exaggerated and usually come from those with inflated egos. Its one thing to be proud of success and to share it with friends, customers and fellow entrepreneurs, but I find real honesty is lacking with a good number of brands and artists nowadays. If you sold 50 copies of your debut album at a show, be proud of that, but don’t straight up lie and claim you sold 500. If you received a few orders for tee shirts over the weekend, that’s awesome! But don’t hype up your brand to be something it isn’t (yet!) What I’m trying to say is be proud of what you’ve accomplished but try and avoid the pitfalls of bravado.
With CAVATA, I wanted to create a brand that people can feel good about wearing and also supports a good cause. We’ve been lucky enough to have artists like Lady Sovereign wear our apparel but we’re far more interested in promoting the local artists we support and our loyal customers who have helped us make this brand into what it is today. If I could give only one piece of advice it would be to always keep things positive by being honest and true to what you/your brand stands for. That’s it. The End.
-Lori
