Creative City Episode #19 - Emmit Jones and Josh Jacob of Cosette

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Dynamic creative duo Emmit Jones and Josh Jacob founded Cosette, a cross-disciplinary design practice focused on serving the fashion, luxury, lifestyle, and culture industries. Their small (3 person!) team works within the branding realm and favors a direct client-to-creative relationship, but they choose to focus on the brands they like to serve, including the “new creative class.”

After plying me with liquor, we talked about the roots of their subversive core ethos, why Emmit wound up at New York Men’s Fashion Week, and how making actual friends is just as important as building business relationships.

Head to www.CreativeCityPodcast.com for links and previous episodes, and sign up for the Curated Creatives newsletter to keep up with Cincinnati’s amazing community of makers.
 

Music by The Passion HiFi

Creative City Episode #18 - Chanel Scales of Shingo

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Fashion Designer Chanel Scales of SHINGO talks designing custom styles for confident women, her plans to produce a ready-to-wear line, and the importance of having a supportive team who believes in you AND in themselves.

As part of Cincinnati Music Festival’s Throwback Thursday event highlighting fashions from the '60s through modern day, Chanel is busy handling the “good stress” that comes with increased opportunities. One of her afrocentric prom dress designs went viral, and we discuss how important it is to shut down for a bit (perhaps in a floating tank?) to alleviate anxiety, gain clarity and let creative inspiration emerge.

 

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Creative City Episode #17 - Fashion Designer Asha Daniels

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Fashion designer and two-time Project Runway contestant Asha Daniels of Asha Ama gets real about reality show casting (psych evaluation, anyone?), how she went from interning at Garanimals to creating designs for a major fashion house, and why she decided to forgo corporate in favor of her own couture line.

We got into details about the email that got her an internship at Marchesa (listen up, aspiring designers), a random draping experiment that eventually became the showpiece of the bridal couture line, and one guest judge’s* utter rudeness--which was completely cut from the show. Asha has some exciting design projects coming up this Fall--including designing not one, but two wedding dresses for her own nuptials--so fellow fashion lovers will want to take note!

*I’m gonna spoil it for you: Zac Posen. I know. I know. I was shocked too.

As mentioned:
UC DAAP
Dwellings
Officer Tommy Norman on Instagram
Email couture@ashaama.com, Follow Asha Ama on Instagram, Twitter, and Facebook
Follow thestylesample on Twitter, Instagram, and Snapchat

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Music by The Passion Hifi

Creative City #16: Katie Hicks of Kith Creative

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Copy Director and Brand Consultant Katie Hicks of Kith Creative talks about the ins and outs of starting your own creative business, her journey from small agency copywriter to working with international fashion brands, and why it’s so important to have faith in your own decisions.

Katie and I have a lot in common, despite the fact that she actually enjoys writing: Listening to podcasts made her want to create her own, one that highlighted the people making moves in Cincinnati’s creative community. Sound familiar? We chat about what a Copy Director really does, how she decided to quit her day job (it was pretty spontaneous!), and how much fun it is to create the person behind the brand.

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Music by The Passion Hifi

Creative City Episode #15 - Rosie Kovacs of Brush Factory Furniture

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Rosie Kovacs of Brush Factory Furniture talks starting a business right out of school (and in the middle of the recession), learning to be strategic about growth, and why it’s important to make design accessible to everyone.

Brush Factory won $20,000 via an ArtWorks Big Pitch business grant, so we chatted about what really happens during the application process and how she and her partner wound up (unexpectedly!) spending the money, their initial desire to combine fashion and craft, how they figured out the wholesale game and built relationships with boutiques all over the country, and how working with a mentor helped them articulate why they were in business and what their real purpose was.

As mentioned:
ArtWorks Big Pitch
Cosette
DanceFix
Follow Brush Factory on Instagram, Facebook, and Pinterest
Follow thestylesample on Instagram, Twitter, and Snapchat

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Music by The Passion Hifi  

Creative City Episode #14 - Deogracias Lerma of Polly Magazine

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Deogracias Lerma, Polly Magazine (www.pollymagazine.com) Founder--and Editor-in-Chief/Creative Director/Chief Photographer-- talks about working with famed photographer Annie Leibovitz in New York, what it takes to start a print magazine in an increasingly digital world, and the importance of taking the initiative to create what you want to see.

For Deo (his nickname literally means God), growing up with three sisters meant there were a lot of women’s magazines around the house. He was smitten, and after years of working as a photographer for other publications, he started Polly with the intention of capturing people’s stories and showing the struggle behind the art. Producing content and securing advertisers ain’t easy, and Deo quickly learned that while wearing all the hats forces you to learn things, it’s fine to make it up as you go and learn along the way. If you’re interested in learning how this regional magazine with a national flair came to be, you’ll want to listen to this episode!

As mentioned:
PollyMagazine.com
Follow Polly Magazine on Instagram, Facebook, and Twitter
Follow thestylesample on Instagram and Twitter

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Creative City Episode #13: Maija Zummo of ShopMadeInCincinnati.com

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In 2015, CityBeat Senior Editor Maija Zummo added another bullet to her resume: Cofounder of shopmadeincincinnati.com, a (very literal) online resource for Cincinnati-based makers. The site is like a hyper-local, well-curated Etsy, built to help people discover and shop locally made home goods, food, jewelry, ceramics, and more.

We talked about starting a business based on a personal need (Maija needed to find local makers for CityBeat editorials, and with help from a People’s Liberty Project Grant, the site was born), why it was important to offer artisans a platform for exposure as well as an additional revenue stream, how she juggles a day job and a side hustle, and the allure of breezy pants. If you’re interested in starting an online business, you’ll definitely want to listen to this episode!

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Creative City Episode #12: Scott Beseler on Founding a Multi-Use Creative Studio

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Photographer and CEO of The Lodge (thelodgeky.com) Scott Beseler talks turning a masonic lodge into a multi-use creative studio, collaborating with Walk the Moon, and the importance of combining word-of-mouth marketing with one-to-one outreach.

Scott and I talked about his vision: creating a space where his mutual friends—photographers, graphic designers, painters, screen printers, and musicians--could have a creative outlet (and stop making excuses). It took five years(!), but creative space and recording studio The Lodge, located in a former masonic temple in Dayton Kentucky, is ready to host a community of artists. We discussed starting small and expanding later, lamented the adult conversations that have to happen in order to run a business (insurance, anyone?), and tried to pinpoint the increasingly blurred line between work and life.

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Music by The Passion Hifi