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Name: Karima Renee

Business: Skinny Minority, a fashion and style brand for curvy women

Industry: Clothing & Accessories, Coaching & Consulting 

Location: Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, U.S.

Reason for starting: I worked in fashion as a plus size girl and it was taboo on set. I wanted to be a stylist and help other curvy girls like me. So I took my passion (fashion) and my real life experiences and created Skinny Minority. I teach women how to dress for the life they want.

Related: Read about another female entrepreneur helping plus size women find the right look for them.

How do you define success? Success is inspiring other women. When I get emails or compliments on how I have changed a person’s life or their mentality, that’s success for me.

Biggest Success: Working with Macy’s in 2011 and 2012 for Fashion Night Out. In 2012 I spent an hour after my style class answering questions! I helped those women who attended and that’s all that mattered to me.

What is your top challenge and how have you addressed it? Publicity and marketing to the right audience. I have hired an amazing publicist and I’m also carefully watching my SEO and online engagement. Studying that is helping me to market my brand in the right way to the right women. Revamping my online presence is also helping with brand awareness, as well as brand partnerships. I’m looking to host events with brands like Makeup Forever, Urban Decay and Spanx. Most importantly I’m currently working on partnering with plus size brands to manufacture my clothing line.

Related: Read about another female entrepreneur partnering with brand names here. 

Who is your most important role model? My mother. She doesn’t have a college degree but she is self-made and has a very successful business. In fact her business is the #1 female contracting company in the city of Philadelphia.

[box_light]Website   www.skinnyminority.com
Twitter   @skinnyminority
Facebook   www.facebook.com/skinnyminority
Tumblr   www.skinnyminorityblog.com
Pinterest   www.pinterest.com/skinnyminority [/box_light]

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Read about another Clothing & Accessories entrepreneur here

Edited by The Story Exchange