Jazmin Veney of ARCH: 5 Things You Need To Create a Highly Successful Career In The Fashion Industry

The Power of Knowing Yourself — This industry is a wild ride. It will require almost everything from you for you to be successful. In order to ride the wave without crashing, it’s very necessary to know who you are at your core. Your values, faith, perspective will all be tested. Stay true to yourself every time.

As part of our series about the 5 things you need to succeed in the fashion industry, I had the pleasure of interviewing Jazmin Veney.

Jazmin is a fashion marketing professional, turned entrepreneur building a global women’s footwear brand, ARCH NYC. Living in New York City for almost 10 years, she’s built an impressive resume of working with high profile and luxury brands, while using her voice to advocate for diversity and culture. Now, the visionary behind a brand that celebrates women, she’s working to carve out her own space in the industry as a designer.

Thank you so much for joining us in this interview series! Can you tell us a story about what brought you to this specific career path?

I was a senior in Highschool working at American Eagle and I feel like at the time I was the only one of my friends working a job during the school year. I had no reason to work other than I just liked being there and making my own money. I loved my job and I was so good at it but I had no idea fashion was a “career” I could pursue by going to college for it. That wasn’t taught at my high school. A woman came in as we were about to close and I was helping her with her purchase. As I was ringing her up, she complimented my outfit and asked if I was in college. I told her not yet, but I was in the middle of applying. She told me to go to fashion school and I replied, “what’s fashion school?” She told me to go home and google LIM College and the rest was history. (Nobody else in the store recalled this woman the next day — I’d like to think she was a guardian angel or something sent to me).

Can you share the most interesting story that happened to you since you started?

When I was a freshman or sophomore in college, I was an intern for a stylist that worked with Lupita Nyong’o (when she was on the rise to being the famous woman she is now). I had no idea who the client was at the time but I remember running all over the city, taking multiple buses, and carrying garments up apartment steps to make sure she had her pieces for her fitting. Later on, when I saw the clothing I ran throughout the city with on red carpets and magazine covers — I was shocked! At the time, I had no idea what the pieces were for or how huge Lupita would be. It’s a nice full-circle moment for me.

Can you share a story about the funniest mistake you made when you were first starting? Can you tell us what lesson you learned from that?

When I was a freshman in college, I went to a Gala (not the Met) and I had borrowed a dress from one of my friends in high school. She wore the same dress to her to senior prom and I thought it was so beautiful. A black gown — from the entire waist down was feathered with a sweetheart corset top. Someone asked “who are you wearing?” and I said, “I don’t know actually I-“. The guy immediately cut me off and said never say you don’t know, make something up but never say you don’t know. You must always know. He walked away from me and I was so stunned and a little embarrassed but I genuinely didn’t know where she got the dress from — I never asked. LOL.

What do you think makes your company stand out? Can you share a story?

I think ARCH is an industry game-changer. We are an accessible luxury — targeting millennials who want quality, valuable pieces that will last them a long time without spending 65% of their paycheck.

Which tips would you recommend to your colleagues in your industry to help them to thrive and not “burn out”?

If it’s possible, don’t take meetings before 10 AM and give yourself 30 minutes to an hour in the morning before you check an email, respond to a text, or answer a missed call. Something about having the morning to yourself to just breathe for a second and move at your own pace is really helpful to me. The mornings don’t always look the same but mine include some of the following: face masks, daily devotional, Starbucks or homemade tea/hot chocolate, Maxwell Pandora Station, reading a chapter from my current book, and my favorite — snoozing my alarm and sleeping for an extra 30 minutes. After working from home and surviving a pandemic for two years, I recognize that sometimes slower is better.

How have you used your success to bring goodness to the world?

I am a firm believer in “reaching back”. I do my best to answer all the inquiry emails or LinkedIn messages from women who want to coffee chat or have an informational interview. I think knowledge is power and helping someone for 30 minutes could help fast track their career paths or dreams more than you know. Giving back, uplifting, and encouraging other industry professionals is always part of my process.

Do you have a favorite “Life Lesson Quote”? Can you share a story of how that was relevant to you in your life?

I’m Enough. Everything that I need is already in me, already mine — I’m Enough. My fashion background and college experience does not direct me to the path of owning a shoe company or becoming a footwear designer. Yet, I am thriving at it. I have imposter syndrome sometimes because I’m not sure how I got here, but I am here on my own. I am a self-made footwear designer and entrepreneur who did not study design and did not draw growing up. But I’m enough to have ARCH recognized by huge media publications, enough to have raised $20K from my supporters, enough to produce shoes overseas and secure retailers. I have to remind myself of that constantly.

Do you see any fascinating developments emerging over the next few years in the fashion industry that you are excited about? Can you tell us about that?

I love the way we are seeing technology and fashion work together and feed off one another. I’m excited to see how the “Metaverse” trends impact fashion as we know it.

Thank you for all that. Here is the main question of our interview. What are your “Top 5 Things Needed to Succeed in the Fashion Industry”. Please share a story or example for each.

1. The Power of Knowing Yourself — This industry is a wild ride. It will require almost everything from you for you to be successful. In order to ride the wave without crashing, it’s very necessary to know who you are at your core. Your values, faith, perspective will all be tested. Stay true to yourself every time.
2. Discernment — Every table, seat, job, party, person is not for you and that’s okay. It’s okay to say no sometimes and trust that what’s for you won’t pass you and there will be another opportunity. Know when to pivot and when to stay.
3. Hustle — You have to do the work. Don’t take shortcuts because it shows and we can see it and we will talk about it (lol, jk but not ☺). And you will feel so much more rewarded when you know you’ve worked so hard. Don’t take a door shut as the final answer — there’s always another option.
4. Passion — It’s so cliché but the passion for fashion saying is so real. It should make you happy, you should have a true connection to it — whether it be how you express yourself or how it comforted you in times of need and despair. I’ve been expressing myself with clothes, shoes, beauty for as long as I can remember and it wasn’t until I was an adult that I recognized how much of a factor it played in life. Not having to get dressed for two years essentially, really had my inspiration and creativity feeling blocked. Clothing does that for me, seeing a great outfit excites me, when I see amazing shoes my heart flutters — literally. That is passion.
5. Tough Skin — This is not for the weak and it is not a drill. You can get yours handed to you on a silver platter as an intern, entry-level worker, or even a manager that didn’t have coffee that day in the fashion industry. It’s tough and there’s little room for mistakes in an industry like that. Go home and try again tomorrow if you need to, but come back tomorrow. I remember crying in the bathroom of one job I absolutely could not stand because my dream position at the time denied me via email after my interview. It happens. I wiped my tears and went back to my desk because I had to nail a presentation at my then-current job 20 minutes later

Every industry constantly evolves and seeks improvement. How do you think the fashion industry can improve itself? Can you give an example?

I think fashion could do a better job of celebrating talent and making new, progressive opportunities accessible. We are in an era of “hype beast” — which produces great conversation and inspiration, but so much talent that has been working so hard for so long is often overlooked. Or doesn’t have the reach to be recognized.

You are a person of great influence. If you could start a movement that would bring the most amount of good to the most amount of people, what would that be? You never know what your idea can trigger. :-)

I would love to be a part of ending world hunger. I’ve seen artists begin building food pantries in their hometowns and locals setting up outdoor refrigerators and free donation areas to provide food for those in need. I’ve been ideating on how to continue this movement on a larger scale and I think it starts with continuing these efforts in the most poverty-stricken areas and growing from there.

How can our readers follow you on social media?

ARCH NYC — @shoparchnyc on Instagram

Jazmin — @jaxlively on Instagram

This was very inspiring. Thank you so much for the time you spent with this!