Oh Hey Girl is going to be your new stop for all things street style
Oh Hey Girl is a new womenswear brand that wants to shake up the fashion industry by offering up East Asian-inspired street style for the empowered, aspirational woman.
So far, the brand includes oversized and asymmetric looks – basically, everything that’s on-trend right now, but with a touch of that runway vibe. “The brand resonates most with those who have a soft-spot for urban culture and think mainstream is boring,” says Oh Hey Girl.
The founders consist of two young women, Jade Douse and Symone Mills. The duo want to push creative boundaries, kill stereotypes, and promote uniqueness – these are the ideas behind the brand and the women who created it.
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Jade and Symone first met in college 10 years ago, and have been good friends ever since. While working in a creative industry, Jade actually started selling East Asian style clothing on Depop.
The founders, Jade and Symone
After seeing a huge hype around her shop’s unique style and the growth of her budding side hustle, Jade brought the idea to Symone, with the desire to develop the Depop store into a brand and ultimately, a business.
Symone came from a business background and immediately saw potential in the brand, and that is how Oh Hey Girl started. They built the brand from the ground up, with no investments and no aid.
“I was bored of mainstream style. Everything is so similar and everyone looks the same. It’s so important to be different and put your own stamp on the world, however you may choose to do that,” explains Jade of why she started her store.
The women have now made it their mission to inspire their female customers through empowering, relatable content and inclusive campaigns (can more brands be doing this?!).
“I’ve always had an entrepreneurial spirit and wanted to explore how far I could take it. It’s important to me to affect change, not just in the industry, but also in people. Starting a business is just a great way to communicate your message and grow as an individual,” Symone says, on why she joined Jade on the Oh Hey Girl journey.
As for their advice for any other woman out there trying to make a business like them? They have a few simple pieces of advice you can follow.
1.
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Don’t be put off by business plans, not having money, and all that. Everything you think that is required to start a business is not necessarily true. We did this with no plan and no money and not really any experience of running a business.
We made mistakes, yes, but we learned a lot and managed to get through them. We will continue to make mistakes, but that’s part of the journey.
2.
Celebrate every achievement, no matter how big or small. It is important to recognize the small wins to remind yourself you are still moving forward.
3.
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Don’t be a perfectionist. No one’s first draft is perfect, so why should you expect yours to be? Put it out there as best you can and work out the rest later.
4.
Learn to take a break, and don’t give up! It’s ok to feel frustrated – sometimes a break is just what you need in order to have a breakthrough.
5.
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Know the difference between “fault” and “responsibility.” Circumstances may come about that are out of your control, however, it is your responsibility to control how you react to those circumstances. Ultimately, you are responsible for your own happiness and success.
6.
Just because you can doesn’t mean you should. Part of running a business is knowing how best to leverage your time. Learn how to delegate tasks to free up your time to learn something new or go to that networking event.
7.
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Be creative in your problem solving. Just find a way to do it, not an excuse as to why you can’t. Most problems require only a pivot in thought to be solved.
8.
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SAVE CASH. Cash flow issues are what will kill your business. Save as much cash as you can so that you have that contingency money if anything goes wrong – because things will go wrong.
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9.
Accept failure as a part of the process. It will happen probably more than one hundred times, so just get over it. The most important thing is to learn from each mistake/failure, and you may find that some may even be blessings in disguise.
10.
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Do what you love. It’s going to pretty much take over your life. There will be no days off. It’s highly stressful, and you will have to be on the ball thinking of new ways that you can stand out from the rest, so make sure it’s for something that you love. This way, you can actually put your heart and soul into it and get the best results.
7.
Enjoy the journey!
