Modern Fashion: Renata Feyen of Seadbeady Blogs On The 5 Things You Need To Lead a Successful Fashion Blog Today
An Interview With Candice Georgiadice
You also have to try out a lot of different things before you can get to a great result. That’s why the second one would be determination. You have to get out of your comfort zone and if the outcome is not what you wanted, never give up, but keep trying until you find your way.
Many in the fashion industry have been making huge pivots in their business models. Many have turned away from the fast fashion trend. Many have been focusing on fashion that also makes a social impact. Many have turned to sustainable and ethical sourcing. Many have turned to hi tech manufacturing. Many have turned to subscription models. What are the other trends that we will see in the fashion industry? What does it take to lead a successful fashion brand today?
In our series called, “5 Things You Need To Lead a Successful Fashion Brand Today” we are talking to successful leaders of fashion brands who can talk about the Future of Fashion and the 5 things it takes to lead a successful fashion brand in our “new normal.”
As a part of this series I had the distinct pleasure of interviewing Renata Feyen.
Renata is Blogger, Influencer and her blog niche is Fashion and Lifestyle. In 2017, she set up Seadbeady Blogs to initially promote her beadwork, but it became so much more. She loves doing shop reviews and started out by doing Etsy shop reviews. During these past 5 years, she has worked with several shops in the Fashion and Lifestyle space.
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 childhood “backstory”?
I’m the middle one of 3 girls, and was born and raised in Antwerp, Belgium. I have always been very creative, and spent most of my free time on drawing, and singing. Because I was very shy, and also a striver, I didn’t have many friends in school. On top of that I had to start wearing glasses when I was about 6, so I got picked on a lot for being different. Ever since I was a todler, I was also very sensitive, so I cried a lot, which made me the cry baby of the family. Safe to say my childhood wasn’t always the most happy time, but it made me into the strong women I am today. It was only a few years ago I realized I had all the trades of someone highly-sensitive.
Can you tell us the story about what led you to this particular career path?
At the age of 44, I started having a lot of joint problems. I was taking piano lessons, singing lessons, and was the singer in a band. Because of a few surgeries together with lots of back problems, I had to quit my music, and needed to find something I could do on my lazy couch. It lead me into a depression, until I discovered the art of beading. I became a regular beadaholic, and opened an Etsy shop to sell my beadwork creations. In order to promote my Etsy shop, I started my blog — Seadbeady Blogs. The Etsy shop closed because it wasn’t worth the effort, but the love for blogging stuck on me. I am not in it for the money, because I don’t earn anything by writing, I just enjoy it a lot.
Can you share the most interesting story that happened to you since you began your career?
In the beginning of my blog career, I found it hard to find shops to feature. That’s why I decided to share a post in a Facebook group with Etsy sellers, saying I would make a blog post on anyone that would apply, free of any costs. At first only a few shops applied, but when I started sharing my blog post, they just kept coming. If the moderator wouldn’t have disabled the comments it would have been lots more than the 35 reviews I did. Still it felt good to help those people.
You are a successful business leader. Which three character traits do you think were most instrumental to your success? Can you please share a story or example for each?
I would say empathy and a sense of humor at first. The one thing I think is most important is that I try to put myself in their shoes. What would I like if I were them, so I try to be detailed in my descriptions, but still put a lot of humor in it. Another important thing is my creativity. My drawing lessons taught me how to make a composition, which feeling I try to incorporate in the pictures I take.
What do you think makes your company stand out? Can you share a story?
I suppose the work I put into it makes me stand out. I always browse the website of the shops I feature and try to take out what I think my readers would find most important. My blog posts are very detailed, but personal at the same time. Making great pictures and finding the right keywords is also crucial.
Do you have a favorite “Life Lesson Quote”? Can you share a story of how that was relevant to you in your life?
I have my own quote, which is — Be happy, be smart, let the Sun-Shine in your heart. It says a lot about how I try to live. Even though I have a chronic illness, I try to focus on the things that make me happy. No matter what happens, never give up on yourself.
Ok, thank you for that. Let’s now jump to the primary focus of our interview. Do you see any fascinating developments emerging over the next few years in the fashion industry that you are excited about? Can you tell us about that?
I notice that there are a lot of people that have become more conscious about their ecological footprint. There is a huge overproduction and overconsumption of cheaply made clothes which has an enormous impact on our planet. I hope people will get more aware of this in the future.
Can you share how your brand is helping to bring goodness to the world?
On a regular basis I share gift guides on Fashion and Beauty with an occasional DIY or Handmade gift guide. I think it’s important that people still give shops, especially the new ones, a chance to be on a blog post without having to pay for it. You can also find interviews about Fashion Designers, Fashion Stylists and Fashion Influencers on my blog. I don’t ask anything in return for those either. It’s only when you want a full blog post, that I ask for a free item in return.
Can you share with our readers about the ethical standards you use when you choose where to source materials?
I am not the one sourcing materials. However, I only feature shops on my blog that have something interesting that my readers might want to know.
Fast fashion has an advantage, that it is affordable for most people, but it also has the drawback that it does not last very long and is therefore not very sustainable. What are your thoughts about this? How does your company address this question?
I love reviewing sustainable items and sharing post on slow fashion, and have a lot of followers who are a fan of my blog posts on this topic. When I see that shops are making efforts, I always point this out to my readers.
Thank you for all that. Here is the main question of our interview. What are your “5 Things You Need To Lead a Successful Fashion Brand”. Please share a story or example for each.
The first one would definitely have to be creativity. My drawing lessons taught me how to make use of this in my photography.
You also have to try out a lot of different things before you can get to a great result. That’s why the second one would be determination. You have to get out of your comfort zone and if the outcome is not what you wanted, never give up, but keep trying until you find your way.
A third one would be time. Lots of people think starting a blog is easy, but it takes a lot of time and determination to get your blog seen. You need to be consistent and post regularly. You also need to take time to do research on the shops you feature on your blog.
Number four, and this is also crucial. You have to make sure your blog is easy to read. People will get annoyed if your blog would be full of spelling and grammar mistakes.
Last but not least, believe in yourself. Have faith that you did everything you could to make your blog post good enough for your public to read. If you have read what you have written more than once, and made sure everything is in the right place, go ahead and publish it.
Every industry constantly evolves and seeks improvement. How do you think the fashion industry can improve itself? Can you give an example?
I think we all need to make steps to make that ecological footprint smaller, and that doesn’t only apply to business, but it starts with yourself. Start by using less plastic wrappings, and make use of recycled materials if you can.
You are a person of great influence. If you could start 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. 🙂
Oh wow, that’s a hard one. The one thing I am most sensitive to is animal abuse. Animals are not something to play with and throw away when it’s not cute anymore. The love of an animal is unconditional, so don’t make abuse of that. We should all put in more efforts to protect all animals around the world.
How can our readers further follow your work online?
You can follow Seadbeady Blogs by clicking this link https://seadbeady.blogspot.com/
Or on Instagram https://www.instagram.com/seadbeadyblogs/
Thank you for these fantastic insights. We greatly appreciate the time you spent on this.
Modern Fashion: Renata Feyen of Seadbeady Blogs On The 5 Things You Need To Lead a Successful… was originally published in Authority Magazine on Medium, where people are continuing the conversation by highlighting and responding to this story.