The Dallas Millennial Club hosted the monthly Millennial Debate and Speaker Series Monday, April 2. Fashion and Lifestyle was the topic of the evening at SPACES on McKinney Ave.
The event was divided into two panels. The first panel consisted of Uncommon Man founder Kyle Shiels, SuitSupply regional manager Travis Kern, Unbranded co-creator Matt Alexander, LoveTanya founder Tanya Watters and Men’s Fashion Week Dallas owner Mahiri Takai. Each panelist answered questions about launching a business, raising capital and building relationships with clients.
One audience member asked how to raise enough capital to launch a business.
“Instagram and LinkedIn have singlehandedly funded most of my events,” Takai said.
The panelists discussed the importance of networking and using social media as a tool to build relationships. Alexander discussed the significance of knowing exactly what one wants their business to look like before getting started.
Takai closed the first panel on an inspirational note.
“When you start to manifest destiny, nobody can close that door,” Takai said.
After cocktails and hors d’oeuvres, the audience returned to their seats in preparation for the second panel.
This panel consisted of influencers, including The Daily Slay founder Christen Marie Lockett, Millennial Wives Club founder Tia Davidson and Natalie and Sarah Knowlton, who founded We the Birds blog and We the Birds Macarons. Each panelist successfully uses social media to grow their blogs and/or businesses.
One question that sparked conversation among the panel was how to quit the 9-to-5 job and chase their passion.
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Natalie Knowlton worked in finance before she and her sister started lifestyle blog We The Birds. She discussed how to let go of a fixed salary in order to start a dream job.
“You will know when it’s time, but you have to save money for it and you have to plan it. Listen to your gut,” Knowlton said.
Christen Marie Lockett is the youngest panelist to ever join the Dallas Millennial Club. She founded her blog The Daily Slay while in college at Texas Christian University and discussed how to remain authentic while growing followers and essentially a fan base.
“After trying to be so many different people, I realized being authentic is the best thing to be,” Lockett said.
She discussed how many times she fell or made a weird face before she finally got the perfect picture posing for an Instagram or blog post.
The evening was filled with stories of failures, successes, and most of all, inspiration to all young entrepreneurs and influencers.
