For many entrepreneurs and small businesses, social media can be an absolute game-changer! All it takes is one viral post and a business can suddenly take off.
At Like A Voss Social Media, we’re highlighting local businesses and entrepreneurs who are killing the online game. This week’s spotlight is on Antoinette Johnson, Owner of House of AJ!
Born as Chantelle Antoinette Johnson in Toronto Canada. Antoinette started her fashion career with her personal style and fashion review blog that was curated to plus size fashion. Yearning to create a safe space for the plus-size community Antoinette founded her first business Cocktails with Antoinette that teaches individuals to love themselves and the body that they’re in thorough fashion and conversation.
Following for her passion for style and body inclusivity, Antoinette wrote her first book called Curvy Girl Magic. Inspired by plus size fashion, Antoinette gathers plus-size influencers from across the world in one book to give style inspiration to everyday women.
After years of blogging and hosting events, Antoinette wanted to follow her dreams of becoming a fashion stylist. Currently, Antoinette’s work has been featured in Fashion Bomb Daily, The Curvy Fashionista, and New York Fashion Week.
Antoinette J Styles is about creating a space for individuals to feel express themselves and be confident in the skin that they’re in through fashion. Antoinette has her clients feeling fearless, bold, and stylish no matter what size they are.
Our CEO Mandi interviewed Antoinette about her secret to success in business and in life. We also got some awesome insights into what they think makes social media such an effective tool in business.
A Little Bit About Being a Female Entrepreneur
1: How long have you been in business?
I’ve been running my own business for around 3 years now.
2: What made you decide to break away from the 9-5 and start House of AJ?
I actually lost my job and I was already doing events and fashion styling for almost two years now, so I decided to follow the faith and take on House of AJ full time and it has been so rewarding.
3: What do you love most about being a female entrepreneur?
Getting to empower other females to follow their dreams. As a woman, we usually prioritize other people in our lives and their dreams and get imposter syndrome to the point where we don’t take the steps to make our dreams come true. I want females to look at my business and see that we can do anything once we set our minds to it.
4: What is the hardest thing you have had to overcome as a female entrepreneur?
Even to this day I still suffer from imposter syndrome, and I always have to remind myself of who I am and how far I come as a female entrepreneur. I also think the hardest thing for any entrepreneur is keeping your business consistent when you feel there is no result right away. This is where the individuals who are passionate about running really show cause they stay consistent no matter what the situation is.
5: What is one thing about working in the fashion industry that people would be surprised to learn?
The fashion industry is always portrayed as glamorous because of the amazing pieces that designers make, events like fashion week, and the celebrities who wear the pieces, but there is a lot of work into making the industry look glamorous. Like I remember one time, I styled a music video and for that project, I had to email multiple designers, boutiques and showrooms to pull from them. Once I was allowed to do the pulling I did a fitting with the artist and steamed the clothes before the shoot, and actually styled her on shoot day and returned everything dry cleaned. This industry is not easy but if you love it then it will all be worth it.
And Now Onto The Social Media Questions!
6: Do you have a favorite social media platform? Why?
I love Instagram and Tik Tok, the reason why I love both platforms is that as a fashion stylist image is everything and we get to showcase what we can do to our audience. With both these platforms, I can show my follower BTS of my life as a fashionperuner, and release content related to those projects that I’ve done. Giving them insight to the fashion world has helped me gain clients and work on amazing projects.
7: What made you decide to start using social media as a way to promote your company?
Well when I was in high school, I actually started my blog and was using social media to post the content anyways so I was already using social media to promote myself so when I started my first business (which was Cocktails with Antoinette) I did all of my promotion for the event on Instagram, so it came naturally to me.
8: How has social media impacted your business? Would you say that it’s an effective marketing tool?
Social media has impacted my business in such a positive way. Social media has opened doors for me to have people get to know me and see what I’m passionate about. Once people started to get to know me and my business it was all support from there.
9: What advice would you give to other businesses and entrepreneurs who want to use social media as a way to connect with customers?
This may sound like a cheesy answer but being yourself with your business can take you a long way on social media. Also being creative with the content you put out is extremely important because visuals are really important for the content you put on social media.
Connect with Antionette
Instagram
YouTube
Facebook
Website
Know Any Voss Babes?
Do you know a female entrepreneur who loves social media as much as we do? Contact us today – we’d love to tell her story!
