Darlene A. White
Mia Ray describes herself as an ambitious go-getter who has always dreamed of starting her own company.
Ray, 38, a mother of two and a Detroit native, is the founder and CEO of Glam-Aholic Lifestyle, a multi-million dollar company that sells affordable luxury accessories. But the path to entrepreneurship was not always smooth.
In 2009, while unemployed, Ray created a fashion and lifestyle blog. And that was his only job: to keep his blog updated.
“I was sitting there one day and I thought blogging is fun,” she says. “I love talking about hair, beauty, fashion, but I wasn’t making any money so I feel like something has to give.”
Ray knew that a friend of his was involved with a factory and one day he asked him to make him a bag.
“He said, ‘Why don’t you do it?’” she says. “I told him, I don’t know anything about making a bag and he told me to go home and figure it out.”
Ray did just that and researched how to create her own bag. His original intention was to develop a bag that would allow him to connect with the readers of his blog. His goal wasn’t to gain an Instagram following, because he didn’t have any when he started his Glam-Aholic brand 13 years ago, but to gain something else.
“I knew I wanted to have a brand presence like Kimora Lee Simmons has with Baby Phat,” says Ray. “I wanted to feel that ghetto fabulousness. I wanted to show that to the world and let women who were like back then, who looked like me, who were from where I’m from, be okay with having affordable luxury. That’s what my blog was based on, it was based on how to take what you have and make yourself feel like a million bucks.”
On his blog, Ray demonstrated creative ways to remix clothing. He would take a photo of whatever dress Beyoncé or Kim Kardashian was wearing and recreate it with pieces from department stores like Forever 21.
“I had to work with what I had,” she says.
While trying to build the Glam-Aholic brand, Ray says she had no business experience. She had no knowledge of the business industry.
It was just me, God and building my business, says Ray.
“I can say that my biggest setback was not knowing,” she says. “I’m a college dropout, I don’t have any experience running a business. I went to Cass Tech, the best high school in the world, so business administration was my high school major, so a lot of the things I learned in high school helped me get to where I am today.”
According to Forbes, entrepreneurship among black women has experienced explosive growth. Black women-owned businesses grew 67% between 2007 and 2012 and 50% between 2014 and 2019.
Typically priced between $40 and $250, the Glam-Aholic Lifestyle bags are on track to bring in $25 million in revenue this year.
Ray’s designs include monogrammed metallic totes, roomy toiletry bags, passport holders and travel sets.
As the fashion industry continues to evolve, Ray says she keeps her ears to the streets to keep up with the latest trends.
“I paid attention to what girls or women like me wanted to wear, what we had in mind,” she says. “A lot of people call it in the fashion industry, fashion forecasting, seeing what’s to come, seeing what other designers are doing and holding on to that.
“So if bucket bags are in at the moment, I’m making myself some bucket bags or if crossbody bags are in, I’ll make them. Just going with the flow.”
Ray has earned the title of “Marketing Queen” on her Glam-Aholic Instagram page as a result of her recent celebrity video remakes, including Kanye West’s “All Falls Down,” which incorporates her travel luggage. brand, and Beyoncé’s “Single Ladies,” featuring her Glam-Aholic tights.
“If I’m selling tights, I need to show my legs and who shows them better than Beyonce in the ‘Single Ladies’ video,” she laughs.
During quarantine, Ray launched his Glam-Aholic luggage collection, which sold out in 10 minutes. She says that it took her two years to create the luggage design.
“I made about a million dollars off the launch,” Ray said with a smile. “I couldn’t believe it when they told me it was over and everything was sold.”
Ray, who has always loved pop culture, MTV, and all things ’90s, decided to pay homage to the movie “Clueless,” this time for the Glam-Aholic Christmas collection.
“I had the idea to recreate the movie ‘Clueless,’ which is one of my favorite movies, but I’m 38 and I can’t be Cher and Dion, and I felt like the Comb sisters were the perfect trio to bring that to life.”
Sisters Comb, Chance and twins Jessie and D’Lila, daughters of rapper Diddy, have been chosen as the new faces of Glam-Aholics for Ray’s holiday collection.
Brandi Walker, 34, of Detroit, remembers when Ray started his business and is happy about his accomplishments.
“I remember when she sold her bags out of the trunk of her car,” Walker says. “Mia invited us into her life and we watched it all happen. Detroiters are incredibly pleased to call Mia ours.”
Debuting on November 25, Black Friday, the new Glam-Aholic holiday collection will feature new products such as duffel bags, cosmetic bags, and tote bags.
Now through January 21, Ray’s Glam-Aholic pop-up store in Detroit, 1020 Woodward Ave., is open in time for the holidays. Hours are noon to 5 pm on Sundays and 10 am to 7 pm Monday through Saturday.
For more information on the Glam-Aholic lifestyle, visit www.glamaholiclifestyle.com
Source: news.google.com