How College Girl Aliyah Rae Already Has A Clothing & Hair Extension Line
Aliyah RaeyΒ is a 22-year-old business owner and YouTuber born and raised in Jacksonville, Florida.
Aliyah grew popular on Instagram due to her bomb ass pictures and fashion sense. Since growing in popularity, Aliyah has capitalized on it while being a full-time college student. If you’ve ever wondered how she does it all, check out our interview below:
What business(s) do you own and what made you start them?
I am currently the owner and creator of Meeting Attire, which is an online contemporary womenswear boutique. I also have a signature hair line that sells luxury hair extensions. I’ve always had a love of both fashion and beauty and combining them was always my passion. I believe that any woman has the ability to be great as long as she pushes herself, and what better way to do so than by using my platform?
When did you decide to become your own boss and why?
I decided to become my own boss my second year in college. I decided that working for someone else and building their dream was just unrealistic. I worked many part time jobs in which I could only hold a Β “regular job” for about four months at most, then I would constantly find myself at a cross roads with the desire of more out of life. I knew that I couldn’t work for someone else forever. In order to fund my businesses I continued working for companies so I could later invest the money into myself.
What advice do you have for anyone looking to start their own business?
For someone looking to start their own business I would suggest that they use their unique strengths to help them. For example, I know that one of my strengths isΒ having the ability to influence others, I used that strength to get me where I am today. If a person is willing to learn their own unique strengths to their advantage, they will be able to thrive in anything they decide to do.
What’s “The Reality of Raey” and what made you start it?
The Reality of Raey is my YouTube channel that I decided to start about a year ago. I decided to create a Youtube channel to not only motivate others, but to also give a deeper insight on myself rather than just what my followers could see via Instagram.
If you weren’t an entrepreneur what would you be doing right now?
If I weren’t an entrepreneur I would probably be doing the same thing I am doing right now. Although being an entrepreneur is my most important layer, there are still many other layers that play a role. My family has extremely strong values they’ve instilled in me. Education was one of them, I am currently pursuing my bachelors in fashion merchandising as well as working full time and running my business. I believe in that sense I would be doing the same thing, minus my business of course.
What do you love most about your career and what stresses you out the most?
I think the thing I love most about my career is the pressure, although pressure can be too much at times, I absolutely love being under the pressure of having my business in my hands. I believe that under pressure I thrive the most, pressure makes diamonds. The thing that stresses me out the most is trying to balance school, work, running a business, and building my brand. I have to strategically plan my day in order to be successful at all three and sometimes thats overwhelming.
What’s your favorite clothing brand and why?
My favorite clothing brand is Tom Ford. I am such a shoe girl and the quality of his products are amazing. The simple silhouettes and colors of his shoes literally fit with any outfit in my closet.
What’s something that sets your brand out from the rest?
I think the thing that sets my brand apart from the rest is the fact that I’m relatable. I try to make my pieces practical as well as realistic. I think that a lot of times when you have a successful brand or platform you can sometimes become unreachable or unrealistic, I instead use my platform to let women know not only am I real, but I also face some of the same challenges that they do on a daily basis and I am not afraid to admit that.
What made you become a blogger and what’s your favorite things to blog about?
I started my blog because I wanted to display not only my love for fashion but my love for life. I decided to incorporate not only fashion, but beauty, food, and inspiration as well. My favorite things to blog about would have to be beauty and food. I love great restaurants.
Tell us about Meeting Attire and why you decided to start your own clothing line.
I decided to start Meeting Attire because I’ve always desired to turn my love of fashion into a business, I wanted to use my platform to be able to bring a different style to the normal flood of boutiques online. I wanted to bring a new fresh sense of style while playing off the name, Meeting Attire, which depicts the everyday city girl trying to make it to the big leagues.
What would you like to see your companies and endeavors do in the next few years?
In the next few years I would like to see my business expand overall, both the Rae Royal Signature Hair Extension line as well as Meeting Attire. I would like to open a small boutique in California and branch out to locations such as London or Italy.
What’s your favorite beauty products and why?
Some of my favorite beauty products are as follows: MAC Blunt Powder, Too Faced Lip Plumper, and Sephora Brand liquid Tan Foundation.
What advice do you have for anyone looking to start their own hair company?
Make sure you have a good distributor. Quality is everything and in such a fast paced industry, it is important to take time to find good quality extensions. I would also advise them to find a reliable partner to help them conduct business such as shipping or processing orders.
What’s a fun fact about you?
A fun fact about me is that I have played golf for years. I was taught golf when I was 15 years old and have loved it since!
