Feedback February- How Flora Montes Built Bronx Fashion Week
In the first Feedback February post, I highlight three key points:
1. Know what you're about. “Be yourself - more- with skill."
2. Accepting feedback from trusted advisers and other valid external perspectives can help you grow.
3. Don't take it personal.
The third one can be the hardest to overcome. We want everyone to feel as excited as we do about our goals. It's disorienting when the support we're looking for just isn't there or doesn't come the way we want it to. It's even worse when others don't believe we're capable of achieving our dreams. Their half sincere hug was only an opportunity to put a bold, italicized, underlined “Loser" sticker on your back.
That kind of feedback can either be fuel or drain us of all hope.
$200 and Determination
With New York Fashion Week underway it's fitting that this post mine some gems from Flora Montes' experiences; Flora is the founder and executive producer of Bronx Fashion Week (BFW).
Flora Montes - Founder & Executive Producer of Bronx Fashion Week
"Despite all the naysayers, I knew I could build a fashion house that would defy all odds in a borough where many don’t truly take the time to see the beauty and all the positive things that are born from these concrete streets."
In 2017, The New York Times named Flora among other Bronx entrepreneurs who are rebranding the image of the borough.
BFW is going into it's fifth year on the fashion scene, a leap from it's first event, but the momentum it's building grew out of a tough series of events.
“When you lose someone you love, you learn not to take life for granted. That moment made me who I am today," Flora said of her youngest daughter's passing in September 2001. Vanessa, the baby she carried full term died in her arms at birth. Although that life- altering loss shook her, Flora pushed forward.
She went back to school and graduated from the Center of Culinary Arts in Connecticut in 2009. Catering for major corporations, she built a name as an executive chef, but stayed close to community organizations and continued to give back, sometimes offering her services for free or low cost. She also started hosting a school supply drive on the anniversary of her daughter’s death, providing children in a South Bronx shelter with much needed supplies.
As Flora tells it, In 2012, she attended a fashion show and fell in love with the ambiance and wondered why the Bronx wasn't hosting something similar. At 48 years old, the chef set her sights on the runway. “I strongly believe that at any age you can change your mind, Flora said."
She studied Mercedes-Benz Fashion Week and Brooklyn Fashion Week for a year before she launched; she wanted to create something of their caliber, a fashion house with Bronx flair. “Many [people] did not think I could pull it off or even believe I would get as far as I have. People told me I was crazy!" Flora chuckled. “There are alot of times I cried, but I'm not one to give up."
Flora started BFW with $200 from an unemployment check. “When you hit rock bottom there's no other way to go but up." Flora said.
Her mission was clear “to highlight all the beautiful things the borough has to offer." As a mother and a Puerto Rican woman, born and raised in the South Bronx, I needed to push the envelope and prove the naysayers wrong, the ones that claim that a size 2 is the only beautiful."
Her casting calls reach out to a wide range of prospective participants. Alot of her models had never walked a runway before modeling for BFW, but she's invested in training each one.
“Beauty should never be defined by the size of your hips, your age or the color of your skin; the only true definition of beauty is the [beauty] that comes from within," Flora added.
Four Years of Bronx Fashion Week in Photos
BFW's mission is to be one of the world's leading fashion events focusing on promoting local and international designers while providing exclusive access to residents of the Bronx and surrounding areas to one-of-a-kind fashion.
*All photos courtesy of Bronx Fashion Week
After every event, Flora and her team comb through the pros and cons, aiming to raise the bar each time. “We are always looking for ways to raise the standard and make it better. It could be something as small as the placement of a chair," Flora explained.
She recently started a blog FromtheKitchentotheRunway.com, where she hopes to share advice that will help entrepreneurs start with what have. Even if it's just $200.
“It's also about leaving a legacy for my own children, so they can be proud. What's my great great granddaughter going to say [about me]? I think about that," Flora said.
BFW's will host its upcoming event, “Legacy," on May 12, 2018, at the Mall at Bay Plaza, Bronx, NY. The fashion showcase will feature the beauty of women through inter-generational fashion.
For more information follow BFW's socials: Facebook: Bronx Fashion Week; Instagram: Bronx Fashion.
Takeaways:
1. Let the “Noes" motivate you. Sometimes you just have to build your own runway.
2. Make post event evaluations a staple after wrapping up events. Don't wait too long to take inventory. Talk about the little stuff and the big stuff.
Your Turn
What gems did you gather from Flora's story? Share in the comments.
