Rejection is hard, but it shouldn’t harden you. Or at least that’s the sage advice fashion phenom Brandon Blackwood is offering.
In an interview with the podcast Me, Myself, And Blackwood shared the early beginnings of his brand, which weren’t always a crystal stair.
“Don’t take things personal,” he shared. “Don’t—because if someone says no to you, that should not be a f—ing vendetta.”
He continued: “Be professional. Accept it for what it is, even if it does hurt your feelings, because you do have, like, actual feelings. Learn to separate that. Don’t take your no so personally. It’s not your time yet. If I was given a yes for things I wanted too early, I would have f—ked up every opportunity. So, sometimes those no’s actually are the right time. And no does not mean it’ll never happen. On the flip side of that, when you are especially, trying to build yourself, your name, everything, you need to be mindful that.”
Blackwood knows of what he speaks.
Before striking gold with his handbag line and its marquee “End Racism” design in July 2020, just a few years before he was studying neuroscience. In just eight years, Blackwood’s brand is a favorite among influencers, celebs and fashion’s elite.
In a report by The Insider, Blackwood launched the brand with $7,000 in 2015 with four bags named after his loved ones but no stores were willing to distribute them because “his name wasn’t big enough and e-commerce sales were slow because nobody knew who he was.”
He kept forging on and earned his success stride by stride.
After finding immense success with his premium-crafted handbags, he expanded his brand to shoes and now swimwear in time for summer. He owes it all due to perserverence.
“I think the success we’ve seen with my brand and I think successful people in general that I’ve met, I think to this date, there’s people that can outdesign me easy. You know what I mean? There’s always someone that can do your job better,” he said.
He added: “It’s about consistency. You can probably be way better than me, but you’re not as consistent as me. You don’t work as hard as me, and you probably won’t. I care about everything I do. Do it all with intention and see your s—t through even when it doesn’t look possible to see it through. I think every successful person I know has literally said the same thing. Just keep going, and it sounds cheesy. Keep f—g doing it. And, like, you kind of outlasting everyone else is. Like, that’s almost as important as your work.”