[Lesson 4] Your DEEPEST WHY

Hello! Welcome back to Thriving as Fashion Creative! Lesson four is all about coming up with the fuel of your business, your DEEPEST WHY.

You ready?

Every dream that comes true, and every goal that is accomplished starts, continues, and it’s completed with a deep why in mind.

A deep why is the reason you accomplish something or not. A deep why comes from the heart and sticks into the mind until your make your dream happen. A deep why will guide you when you’re lost, and it will persuade you to continue when you’re tired.

When you want to accomplish something, if you don’t have a reason that is deeply connected to your core, you won’t get anywhere (or you won’t go too far).

So, if you want to make big and beautiful things happen, you need a deep why for each one of them.

Now, I know you’re here because you want to build your business as a fashion creative, but you need to know what’s the DEEPEST WHY behind that so that you can fuel your dreams and goals + so when things get difficult you have something that reminds you WHY you started in the first place.

But that’s not the only reason to find out your DEEPEST WHY.

Your DEEPEST WHY is:

• All about what your business is meant to do. It is all about why you decided to become a fashion creative. And it’s all about why you wanted to start your business, why among all the other options available to you?
• The emotional connection between you and your business, it’s the spark that lits up the fire of your passion, because as a creative entrepreneur you have to have passion for what you do.
• The story of your business. It’s about your past and what brought you to this point.

The most honest reason WHY you started your business

That’s your DEEPEST WHY, the most honest reason WHY you started your business, and why you’re so committed + willing to make it succeed.

For a long a time, my why was that I’ve always loved fashion + art, that I created my doll’s clothing when I was a little girl, and that my mom and my grand-aunt Raquel taught me how to sew + crochet.

Those felt like strong reasons, but they were surface reasons. Of course, they were important to me, but they didn’t evoke in my clients any connection to my brand or my work – it was just the same flat why that almost every creative has.

Then, I realized that I loved creating fashion collections + illustrations + surface pattern designs because I believed that I could bring joy, vibrancy, and genuineness through my work by pouring my heart and soul into my creations.

That felt kinda uplifting to me, and all my clients seemed to love that.

But, it just didn’t feel quite right. Yes I wanted to bring joy + vibrancy, and I wanted my work to reflect the genuineness of the brands I work with, but I thought that this why was missing something key in my personality: my sensitiveness, and my need to empower and encourage people, my need to let them know they’re perfect + beautiful + unique just the way they are.

Then over the time, I remembered something from my early years as a fashion creative. I created a portrait of someone, and this person’s eyes filled up with tears when she saw her portrait. She looked me in the eye, and told me ‘I never thought I was this pretty, thank you so much.‘ That touched me, and even remembering it now gives me goosebumps, that moment made me realize the power of my work in someone else’s life, and the importance of keeping showing up + delivering work from the heart.

So that’s my DEEPEST WHY as a fashion creative, being able to touch other people’s lives with my work, help them see their true beauty, and make them feel worthy of their dreams.

My DEEPEST WHY as the founder of Fashion Step-by-Step teaching everything I know + everything I’ve learned about fashion and being an entrepreneur has a deep root in my story too.

Actually, it comes from two points of my life.

My mom and dad did their very best to nurture my talents and skills as soon as they became aware of them. They took me to all kinds of art + craft classes when I was a kid, as I mentioned before my mom and my grand-aunt taught me how to sew and how to crochet, and both of my parents worked their butts off to take me to college.

They believed I could use my talents to build a life I loved. They believed I could make a living out of my creativity + passion. They believed in me.

They had known before I wanted to accept it, that I had a talent.

Then, I started to work as a freelance fashion designer and illustrator, and the first two years were tough. My boyfriend (now husband) and I got bankrupt, we wanted to get married, and everything was just falling apart. I didn’t know how to recover emotionally + financially from that client’s fraud; I believed it was because I was a failure as a business owner, and I didn’t even want to work for clients anymore, so I started teaching locally.

And a new love was born.

I decided to found Fashion Step-by-Step because all fashion creatives (and aspiring to be) deserve someone on their side who believe in them and their dreams. They deserve to be encouraged and empowered to nurture their talents and follow their heart. And they deserve to be guided through their journey, so they create the life and business of their dreams with love + passion + fulfillment + meaning and without tears + overwhelm + frustration + confusion.

What’s your DEEPEST WHY?

The core of your brand has to be all about your stories + turning points so that it’s connected to you and it’s as unique as you are.

Now it’s your turn, hop on your favorite time machine, and get to every key + turning point of your life.

You can start by asking yourself:

• WHY do you love doing what you do?
• Or why do you love being a fashion creative?

Then, once you have an answer you can ask yourself:

• ..and WHY do you love that?
• WHY do you believe so much in that? WHY do you believe it matters?

Finally, when you have an answer to those questions, ask yourself:

• …and what’s the DEEPEST WHY?
• What led you to this love + this belief?
• What happened in your life that planted this love + need to do what you want to do + be what you want to be?

 

Ask and ask yourself again

Continue asking yourself WHY until your answer comes from your heart, until your response means something bigger and higher than just I love fashion, and until you’re convinced and happy about your answer.

Be aware of your feelings and emotions with each response you give yourself. This exercise can get a little emotional – and that’s one of the points; coming up with something so deep + intimate + connected to you that tears can’t hold themselves inside your eyes.

Remember, surface responses won’t be powerful enough + they won’t cut it, so don’t shy away from your stories and don’t hold them back because they’re part of your business story.

Once again embrace your past + own your stories. You don’t need to embellish a fluff story to make it sound good. You are enough + you’re special, and so is your story.

You may find yourself making up excuses, coming up with surface responses, feeling you don’t have a good answer, and comparing your story to everyone else’s.

Fight that!

You don’t need that.

Focus on you, focus on your higher purpose, focus on what you’re meant to do + what’s your business meant to be.

Ready to find your DEEPEST WHY?

Follow this lesson’s exercise + worksheets. Go deep, let your responses sit for a day or two, and then come back again.

Revise your DEEPEST WHY responses, and add + remove + change what you need to.

Assess your DEEPEST WHY:

• Is it something you actually believe?
• Is is something you truly love?
• Is it something that really represents you as a person + creative + business owner?
• How does it make you feel?

Your DEEPEST WHY may not come out at the first attempt, so breathe in and give it your best every time you sit to work on it.

And remember, to jump in the community and share your DEEPEST WHY + doubts + questions + struggles + ah-ha moments + wins.

See you in the next module!

LESSON 3

INDEX