Many people know Whitney Port from MTV shows The Hills and The City. She was Lauren Conrad’s co-worker at Teen Vogue and People’s Revolution. What has she been up to the last couple of years? Well, she has been busy working hard to establish herself as a serious clothing designer and it seems that has very much become her reality.
“I think there’s this preconceived notion that anyone’s that made it has just made it overnight. You don’t know all the hard work they’ve been doing underground that’s gotten them to where they are,”
Whitney Port is the Founder and CEO of Whitney Eve a fashion label launched in 2008. As you probably wouldn’t expect even Whitney has had difficulties establishing herself as a fashion designer. She has been rejected multiple times but in the end it has made her stronger. “It was definitely a difficult transition becoming a full-time designer and having everyone take me seriously,” she says.
“Because there are so many celebrity lines and a celebrity will just slap their name on something and not really have any integrity behind it”. Reality TV can have a very negative connotation. That has definitely been a challenge and it’s taken some time for the buyers to realize oh “She will be around. She’s serious about this. She’s passionate about this.”
Whitney Port received a lot of no’s in the beginning. “I’ve been told no a million times! I’ve had my line for five years and it’s since last year that I’m getting into my goal department store. What happens is you listen to their advice and you keep working to present the next collection to them. You get it in front of them over and over so they know that not your giving up and you will be around.”
Her most valuable advice to us Career Girls is: ‘ Don’t take no for an answer!’ Her advice: you should remember how much you hate being told no so you work even harder to make sure it doesn’t happen. “All of a sudden you’ll get to that place where people will want to approach you for what you’re doing and really appreciate you for what you’re doing.”
We love her advice and it makes us realise success doesn’t happen overnight. It requires hard work, dedication and perseverance.
Photo Credit: Instagram @whitneyport