Female Disruptors: Christina DuVarney of Beautiful Disaster Clothing On The Three Things You Need To Shake Up Your Industry
An Interview With Candice Georgiadis
You will never know exactly what you are doing. This could not be more true! You can either spend your time preparing and over thinking or you can invest your time DOING. You must be prepared to fail, if you do not have the backbone to be continually knocked down then entrepreneurship is not the right path for you. BUT if you know that you will stand up more times then you get knocked down, then take that risk! I had no idea what I was doing when I started this brand and business, I just knew I had a purpose backed mission and that is all I needed, everything else is figureoutable.
As a part of our series about women who are shaking things up in their industry, I had the pleasure of interviewing Christina DuVarney.
Christina DuVarney is the proud owner of Beautiful Disaster Clothing. Beautiful Disaster is a multi-million dollar brand that distributes confidence and self-empowerment through apparel with a purpose.
They are not just a clothing brand, Beautiful Disaster is an Identity.
Thank you so much for doing this with us! Before we dig in, our readers would like to get to know you a bit more. Can you tell us a bit about your “backstory”? What led you to this particular career path?
I was raised by a single mother and abandoned by an alcoholic father. My mother didn’t have a lot of money or help, but what she did have was a strong work ethic. She raised me on her own while working 3 jobs at the same time. I watched her fight hard and work her butt off to provide me with the best up-brining possible. I watched how hard she had to work to earn just enough for us to get by. That stuck with me.
I can remember from a very young age that I had a hard time connecting to trendy clothing brands and nothing ever felt like it was right for me. I had an understanding at an early age that what we wore was a reflection of who we are. I would cut my t-shirts, tie knots in them and often tie-dye or splatter paint my own clothing, so that it was something I felt pride in wearing. Looking back this was the very beginning of my career path towards creating a brand of clothing that had deep meaning for whomever was wearing it.
Can you tell our readers what it is about the work you’re doing that’s disruptive?
Being an outsider myself, and carrying with me a feeling of not fitting in, it was natural for me to lean towards doing things outside of the box and against the grain. In a world of who’s wearing what brand name, I felt it lacked substance and meaning. Every day you have to wear clothes and what you choose matters. I have never been one to choose something to wear simply because it was trendy or society told me that if I wanted to be a part of a certain status or culture that this was what I needed to wear.
I feel that Beautiful Disaster Clothing is a disruptor, not only in the apparel industry, but in the area of self-acceptance. Society wants us to wear a certain luxury brand to represent our value or virtue signalling some sort of status class and I think that is harmful to society and women in general. We disrupt that pattern.
When you wear Beautiful Disaster Clothing, you are making a decision to pull confidence out of your closet, you are slipping self acceptance onto your body and you are giving a message to yourself and to the world that you embrace your imperfections, you are trying, one day at a time, to love yourself and you are transforming your life to the best of your ability. You are a walking visual reminder to yourself and others that we all have a story and you are not ashamed of your past mistakes.
Self acceptance is more beautiful than any fancy brand name or societal “club” and finding a tribe of supportive, like minded women that are also a work in progress feels like home.
Can you share a story about the funniest mistake you made when you were first starting? Can you tell us what lesson you learned from that?
I’ll only say this is funny now because of the gift of hindsight. At the time it was no laughing matter, but now that I know what I know, I can honestly look back and giggle. When I first started a clothing brand, I thought of a cute name (no it wasn’t always Beautiful Disaster) for it and immediately started printing T-shirts and Tank tops and various items. I would set up my little tables at various events that were local to me and one day I got a letter in the mail (a cease and desist to be frank) from the company who actually had the trademark for the brand name! I was clueless and it was a big mistake and caused me to have to change the name of the brand (blessing in disguise). It is laughable at how naive I really was and how little I really knew about starting a clothing brand.
The big lesson I learned was to seek legal counsel FIRST, so that I did not repeat the same mistake. It was an expensive, but important lesson in business. I am grateful that I made that mistake, learned the hard way and did things the right way from that point on.
We all need a little help along the journey. Who have been some of your mentors? Can you share a story about how they made an impact?
I am a self-development junkie. One of the smartest moves I have ever made was getting mentors very early on. From books and courses to groups and advisors, I have always known that I don’t know it all! I crave the knowledge of people more successful than me, more spiritual than me, and people much smarter than me!
One of the masterminds that I participated in was by Gary Vaynerchuk and it was a 2 day deep dive into my business and how to develop strategies that would help to scale our brand and impact more lives with our meaningful mission. Little did I know, this mastermind was more about me as a person than it was as a brand owner. I learned that everything starts within me and my mindset. It’s amazing how we can think that business is black and white or a list of tasks that you need to execute, but in reality the most important ingredient in any business is its people and it starts at the top.
In today’s parlance, being disruptive is usually a positive adjective. But is disrupting always good? When do we say the converse, that a system or structure has ‘withstood the test of time’? Can you articulate to our readers when disrupting an industry is positive, and when disrupting an industry is ‘not so positive’? Can you share some examples of what you mean?
This goes back to what I was saying earlier about society and the narrative of perfection that is running rampid. The fashion industry, particularly in the area of celebrity influencers, has disrupted our entire culture and in some ways it has some very nasty side effects. Keeping up with the Jones’ (or Kardashians) can disrupt a woman’s sense of self. I am witnessing it with my own eyes. The bigger the lips, the bigger the tooshie, the more liked you are. This is sad and dangerous. Seeking outside acceptance through trends and status symbols seems reckless.
At Beautiful Disaster, we prefer to flip that narrative on its head and promote imperfection, self-acceptance and authenticity. To love and respect yourself for who you are, what you have been through and encourage every woman in the Beautiful Disaster tribe to lean into what has really withstood the test of time and that is Self- Respect, Growth & Personal Power.
Can you share 3 of the best words of advice you’ve gotten along your journey? Please give a story or example for each.
● You will never know exactly what you are doing.
This could not be more true! You can either spend your time preparing and over thinking or you can invest your time DOING. You must be prepared to fail, if you do not have the backbone to be continually knocked down then entrepreneurship is not the right path for you. BUT if you know that you will stand up more times then you get knocked down, then take that risk! I had no idea what I was doing when I started this brand and business, I just knew I had a purpose backed mission and that is all I needed, everything else is figureoutable.
● Start right where you are.
100% Accurate. Arthur Ash said “Start where you are, use what you have, do what you can.” I have been guilty in the past of waiting too long to take a chance because of fear or feeling ill prepared. Nothing will ever happen without a start. I waited way too long to go “all-in” on this dream.
● You are going to die.
Sounds harsh right? Good it should! We are all going to die, that is certain. You do NOT have all the time in the world. You should move swiftly towards what brings you joy in life. If you are not moving further from pain and fear and closer to happiness and fulfillment, then in my opinion you are wasting time. Time is our most precious commodity. I lost the closest person to me in a horrific car accident and her entire life ended in the blink of an eye. She was only 33 years old, recently engaged, dreaming of becoming a wife and mother. She had just started her teaching career and assumed she had much more time ahead of her. We are all guilty of this. Be steadfast in the pursuit of what sets your soul on fire.
We are sure you aren’t done. How are you going to shake things up next?
We are just getting started. We have not even scratched the surface of reaching the millions of women around the globe who are looking for a tribe to love them and support them. A place to call home, a safe place to feel heard, understood, empowered and appreciated.
In your opinion, what are the biggest challenges faced by ‘women disruptors’ that aren’t typically faced by their male counterparts?
Honestly, I can’t say because I am not a man. As a woman, I have trailblazed this industry as a woman and have never encountered any issues based on my gender. Now, that may be because we are a women empowerment brand and have amassed a tribe of incredible warriors and aligned ourselves with vendors and partners who not only respect our mission, but believe in it.
Do you have a book/podcast/talk that’s had a deep impact on your thinking? Can you share a story with us?
Where do I begin?? Remember, I told you I am a self-development junkie! If I had to make one recommendation it would be a nook that quite literally changed my life it would be the book, Think & Grow Rich by Napoleon Hill.
Think and Grow Rich reveals the secrets that can bring you fortune. By suppressing negative thoughts and keeping your focus on the long term, you can find true and lasting success. Napoleon Hill details his philosophy through the following 13 principles:
● Desire
● Faith
● Autosuggestion
● Specialized Knowledge
● Imagination
● Organized Planning
● Decision
● Persistence
● Power of the Master Mind
● The Mystery of Sex Transmutation
● The Subconscious Mind
● The Brain
● The Sixth Sense
You are a person of great influence. If you could inspire a movement that would bring the most amount of good to the most amount of people, what would that be? You never know what your idea can trigger. 🙂
I’d like to think that we are already on the path to inspiring a movement by taking an ordinary decision of what to wear and making it an extraordinary experience. With every fiber of clothing it is our mission to empower the beautifully broken and perfectly imperfect. Helping women have a little more confidence and self acceptance is the mission of the Beautiful Disaster movement.
Can you please give us your favorite “Life Lesson Quote”? Can you share how that was relevant to you in your life?
What Doesn’t Kill You Makes You Stronger. This is relevant in my life and also a common thread (pun intended) in the lives of our Beautiful Disaster tribe. Life is hard and can throw daggers at us, sometimes on a daily basis. If we can begin to dodge the weapons that life throws at us we can experience growth. With each knick of life’s sharp edges we can heal and emerge stronger.
How can our readers follow you online?
Explore our collections at bdrocks.com and you can find us on Instagram, Facebook and Youtube under Beautiful Disaster Clothing. Our Twitter handle is @bdrocks and our Tik Tok handle is @officialbdrocks. If you would like to read the stories of hundreds of women in the Beautiful Disaster Tribe, you can explore our blog at www.bdrocks.com/blogs/tellingyourstory.
This was very inspiring. Thank you so much for joining us!
Female Disruptors: Christina DuVarney of Beautiful Disaster Clothing On The Three Things You Need… was originally published in Authority Magazine on Medium, where people are continuing the conversation by highlighting and responding to this story.