SHOW UP LIKE A BAWSE: JONNELLE BIRD This Women’s History Month we’re honoring badass women in our community by sharing their stories and shedding light on what makes them so bawsey, because nothing’s better than the support of your fellow lady bawses. To start us off we’re talking to someone you may know as our Operations Lead, Jonnelle! By day she keeps the team on our p’s and q’s, while simultaneously facilitating strategic planning to scale the business. By night (and weekends) she’s running her fashion and lifestyle brand called jonnellebird. After knowing Jonnelle for a week you will realize she is one of the most determined, strategic, and forward thinking people you will ever meet. She has fashion sense out of this world, turning silk belts into stylish bow scarves, AND mixing prints like only the most fashion forward Italian designers can. But the most noticeable thing about Jonnelle is her extraordinary confidence and self love. It’s so apparent it’s contagious - you can’t help but to take a page out of her book and begin writing your own. I had the opportunity to steal her away from her busy schedule and take a closer look into jonnellebird. Here’s what she had to say: Q: What is jonnellebird? Jonnelle: Jonnelle Bird is what I call my fashion and lifestyle brand. I promote body positivity and confidence through a mix of styling, modeling, and blogging. Q: Why did you start your fashion and lifestyle brand, jonnellebird? J: I have always loved fashion and had a talent for curating styles in a way that communicated my unique perspective. Throughout the years, I have helped friends, family and others shop, style and make wardrobe decisions. That feels like the perfect transition into being a stylist, right?! Wrong! At the time, I never really thought of fashion/styling as a career path, and instead went to school to be a packaging engineer. Fast forward... after 8 years of being an engineer, I was laid off due to corporate downsizing; a blessing in disguise! As I navigated unemployment, I took time to immerse myself in the Detroit community and experiment with who and what I wanted to be and do next. On that journey, I started attending a bunch of networking events. At these events, everyone commented on my style and started to ask if I was in the fashion industry. Ultimately, I was inspired to turn my passion into a company called jonnellebird. I envision jonnellebird as a way to connect with other women and help them curate a wardrobe that focuses on maximizing their confidence, body positivity and self love by embracing exploration and empowerment. I am also inspired to share a message that size does not define beauty (or really have anything to do with it). Beauty is finding inner confidence and living authentically! Q: Were you always this bold and self-assured? J: No, I’ve always been a plus sized woman, or fat, whatever you want to call it, I don’t really care. Since I was a kid I’ve always been bigger than those around me and was targeted for my weight. My experiences with boys made me feel less than. I was confident in my intelligence and personality, but not in body/appearance. Finally being able to leave my small country town, where I didnt fit the norms, I was suddenly exposed to the diversity of the world while in college. I saw so many people that looked different and walked to the beat of their own drum that I started to find my sense of self. We all have a place. You just gotta find your tribe. Once I figured out what worked for my body it became irrelevant what others thought of me and more about how I feel. Am I doing the things every day that make me most confident and proud of myself? That individual style allowed me to express myself and helped me build my confidence, but it’s a continual journey. There are going to be days where you are not confident. There are days I look in my closet that I've curated as a stylist and hate everything. When I’m in those days I often tell myself: You are not perfect and (important to note the use of
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Julie Andrews, Circa 1965.
