Today we’d like to introduce you to Jenee Taylor.
Alright, so thank you so much for sharing your story and insight with our readers. To kick things off, can you tell us a bit about how you got started?
I always loved making things. Cutting up my jeans and shirts. Making Halloween costumes etc. Styling my cousins and friends before we went out to a party but I never thought I would become an actual Fashion Designer years later. I am a New Yorker born and raised and growing up in a place that is considered one of the worlds fashion capitals having a sense of fashion was inevitable. In 2016 I really took that desire to create to a new level. You see I’m self taught. I didn’t go to school for fashion ever! I learned from trial and error and many hours of studying via books and or YouTube. When i decided I wanted to do it full time I left my job in the medical field and focused on learning my craft. There was no money put aside for it nothing! God put it in my spirit and i followed what i was being told. I did temp work for 7 months a week here 2 weeks there but nothing to time consuming because the goal was to use the time learning. I knew that I didn’t want to take out a loan to fund my dream so I found a job that i could clock in do my time and leave and that’s when I got hired at the post office. My grams who raised me funeral was the day before my orientation. Her passing hit like a ton of bricks but it also motivated me to go even harder and see this through. I told myself I was going to do 3 years and that was it and that’s exactly what I did! for those 3 yrs i worked 6 days a week 10-12hr shifts everyday! then I would come home and work on orders for my business. All I did was work truth be told because it was important to me to make good on this time invested. A lot of sacrifices was made while I was learning still I knew I needed to make money and get people used to seeing me as a business owner so I started with T-shirts with cool sayings on them then I started adding more stuff like hoodies and tank tops coffee mugs etc… and people brought them. Then I remember getting my first Prom dress order omg i couldn’t believe it. I put all that I learned into that dress and before I knew it my email and DM was going crazy.
when I first started sewing I didn’t have a sewing machine or so I thought. so for 4 months I did everything by hand. I remember speaking to my grandma one day telling her how I needed to get one and she said what you mean you have one did you forget I brought you one for Christmas. I had totally forgot about that because I was like 16 when she got that for me and at the time we was talking about it i was about 29. I couldn’t believe she still had it. She mailed it to me and I taught myself how to use it as well. Over time I got better and better and before I new it people was asking me to teach them. I put on my very first show case in New York by myself no other designers, I featured swimwear, evening and bridal. I did that living in a whole different state but with the help of my friends and family I was able to pull it off. I remember needing to build a website. I didn’t have a computer nor laptop at the time so I did everything and I do mean everything using my iPhone 5. still to this day when I think back like how in the hell but that wasn’t nothing but the lord. I put everything I had into learning and building my business and I lost and gained a lot of relationships a long the way. When i found my shop back in 2019 I couldn’t believe it. I was blessed with a location close to my home and at a price I could afford but I had to put a lot of work into it. I would get off work at 6 in the morning and go straight to my office sometimes and work on my space. I redid the floors pulled up the carpet, scrapped up all the glue, leveled the floors with cement, primed the floors then laid the tile down. I painted the ceiling, used Facebook market place to buy my office furniture and revamped it. i mean the list goes on and i did i that for about 7 months before my place was open for business. I had my Grand opening Dec 14 2019 and two weeks later I put my two week notice in and I never looked back. Now I not only make clothes I also teach sewing classes and decorate, I do event planning. I make props for photo shoots and video shoots, I rent my space for events and teach dance class when I can squeeze it in.
I am so thankful for where I am now and Proud of the work Iv done, the lives Iv touched and even changed but more importantly I’m thankful for the journey. I had no road map to how this was going to turn out as i said before there was no start up money, I didn’t go to school for this and I had a lot of people who didn’t believe in me nor wanted me to succeed but God had a different plan for me. I dealt with betrayal, back stabbing, lies, sabotage, death of people that was my rock but i made it through and looking back i realized that during the times I was hurt by these people God wasn’t trying to hurt me he was showing the type of people that was a around me exposing there true nature. He wanted me to see my enemies so that I could make an informed decision on who I let sit at my table with me. Some people i didn’t care letting go of and others it hurt like hell cause the truth is I didn’t expect the hate or lack of support I got from them. Some of these people was family members, friends i was tight with since a teen etc. but it made me stronger and it forced me to learn how to believe in me and my dream and God when no was else did. I had to realize that it was okay that everyone couldn’t see my vision nor understand how i could just get up in quit my job and start a whole new career but the truth is what I was doing didn’t have to make sense to anyone nor did I need there permission because Gods call to me wasn’t a conference call.
I’m sure you wouldn’t say it’s been obstacle free, but so far would you say the journey have been a fairly smooth road?
lmao yes the road had its up and downs but mainly with people accepting my new career change and support. Not everyone wants you to do well. Some people what you to do good just not better then them and some people don’t want you to grow and change especially when y’all come from the same place because it forces them to look at them selves. I sacrificed a lot of free time i didn’t go out for the first two years. I worked day and night and truth is i wish i didn’t have to work like that but I started to realize I wasn’t going to get the type of support i needed from the people within my home so i was left to stand alone and I did. Its funny how I’m sure they thought i would fail without them because they thought I was alone but God was right there by my side the whole time.
As you know, we’re big fans of you and your work. For our readers who might not be as familiar what can you tell them about what you do?
Growing up everything I did was mostly based around preforming arts. I sing, dance, write music, paint, etc. the list goes on. i went to preforming arts school all my life until I went to college. when i got there i went to school for Health service admin because Iv always wanted and enjoyed helping people and i thought what better way then the medical field but it was also a back up plan. Music is and will always be my first love but i knew that I didn’t want to be in front of the cameras all my life. In addition to the above talents i can also do hair and I knew even as a kid I wanted to own my own biz one day. I watched my dad build his with the help and support of my mom. She taught me a lot about hair too because she would do the women weaves and men braids while my dad cut there hair. Iv been blessed with many gifts/talents. I realize that every thing Iv ever done was preparing me for what I do now. Working a 9-5 whether in retail or in the medical field it taught me great customer service skills and how to multi task. Being a performer taught me how the show must go on and after all the work put it in you only get one shot when them lights come on its showtime. So if I stay ready I wont ever have to get ready. which is why still to this day i am a student of my craft. I make everything from lingerie to wedding gowns.
I think what sets me apart from other designers is everything iv done prior to becoming a designer because everything iv ever learned im able to use now. Its what I think makes people connect with me and me to them. I meet all types of people from different walks of life that I work with and you just never know who you might be talking too. I think what makes me special I really do enjoy making people happy in a way that they wont ever forget. Every time some one comes into my Boutique they leave feeling good about themselves and i get to be apart of a very special moment in there life. That’s how i share my love in light into the world by create things and building people up. letting them know some of the things iv been through and yet im still here. Time, age all of that is an illusion its never to late to go after your dreams new or old.
What does success mean to you?
Success to me is doing something that I love to do and getting paid to do it. Being able to create whatever I want when I want. Having free time to spend with friends and family when I want. Being able to leave a positive mark on the world. Whether through my work or through inspiration. Being able to leave something behind for my children when ever I have some. Using all iv learned to help someone else. I am a true believer each one teach one. To me you can’t call yourself successful if you haven’t touched no one. God says he gave us many gifts to share with the world not to keep to ourselves. so if your not making these connections then what are doing? But most of all if you can’t stand in front of the mirror and truly be okay with who you see staring back at you and what you’ve done, then you might want to rethink what you been doing.
Contact Info:
- Email: veniqueboutique@gmail.com
- Website: veniqueboutique.com
- Instagram: @veniqueboutique
