Style Symposium - Lorane Rhoden Interview

Thank you so much for joining us with the style symposium .

We have a lot of different business owners that will be joining us .

One of which today , I'm so excited to introduce you to Lorraine Rodden .

She is very , very excited to be joining us live from Jamaica .

All right .

Thank you so much , Lorraine for joining us .

She is the founder CEO and owner of Hot People .

Can you tell everybody what exactly it is that the lifestyle brand hope people is all about .

Hi , everyone and I'm gonna greet to you like a true Jamaican .

I'm gonna say so I pretty much just said what so so hot people is our lifestyle brand .

It's based here in Kingston , Jamaica .

We cover fashion , entertainment , beauty and we also have a feature called on campus and that is for university and college students .

So we also cover events and we also offer services like social media management , social media consultation .

And that is the brand in a nutshell , holistically , it's a lifestyle brand .

Nice .

Well , so today we wanted to talk about how to position yourself for greatness in an alternative field and how that really translates itself into bringing forth your personal style in your leadership role for your company .

Now , you have been really , really excited because this year celebrates the 10th year of your brand .

And so let's talk about you kind of in that evolution from just starting out to where it has built itself to like , how do you feel you've evolved with your brand ?

I definitely evolved as a person and as a brand starting off , I had no idea that I would make it to 10 years , much less a year .

And here I am 10 years later .

And definitely , as you shared my style evolved , I love fashion .

I love clothing but didn't have a style that was unique to me .

So my style is a bit edgy , classic chic .

I love black .

You can never go wrong with black as you can see .

So it's classy , it's edgy and of course , it's chic .

So with the brand , I , I didn't know a lot about blogging and it was definitely still new in Jamaica .

But um my favorite show at the time was I think it was Laguna Beach .

So after every episode , they would say watch um read the MTV blocks and like , what is this blog that I used to read ?

So I went , I read it , I like , so it's a relatable down to earth way that we can communicate with each other .

It makes the , the celebrities more human and relatable .

We can literally reach out to them by reading and commenting on the post .

So I have a Bachelors of arts degree in language communication , which is a linguistics based degree .

I love writing and I love fashion .

So I literally just merged the two and then Hope People was born .

Interesting story about the name .

We had a store in Kingston that we would go to in high school .

And fun fact , we wear uniforms in Jamaica .

You're not allowed in your uniform in stores , but we still kind of went there .

Yes .

Yes .

Yes .

So it was called and they had the most fabulous things and I just loved going in there after school and they allowed us to go in there .

We didn't miss anything else .

So that's how I got the name .

I just love , I remember that feeling that that brand gave me of sophistication being classy , high quality and that's how , that's like a little bit of , of how the name came together .

It was definitely .

So that's nice people it came about .

That's great .

Well , so you have been going 10 years strong .

So what exactly when you think about your personal style , the classy yet edgy , um you know , can't go wrong with uh you know , black .

Um you know , thinking about how that translates into having a phone call with different vendors or going to New York Fashion Week for the first time to cover it like you did for fashion mingle .

Like what do you think about when you're like , ok , I need to make an entrance .

I need to make a statement .

How is , you know what I'm wearing going to affect my confidence or my presence when I'm on the job ?

Like what do you go through when it comes to prepping an outfit getting on the scene and really letting yourself shine through beyond the clothing ?

Mhm .

Ok .

So a lot of people tend to confuse fashion with style fashion , sorry , fashion is just clothing .

It's just clothes you see in the store and you buy it .

But style to me is that you infuse your personality with the clothing and that's how you get your style .

So my style am a bit of an eclectic type of dresser even though I still love black .

So black is definitely the foundation .

It can never go wrong .

You can quickly transform that look from casual to dressy or whatever the occasion is .

And um for me , like in the later years , I have been using local designers versus going in store to purchase items because those are not one of a kind that's in my opinion versus supporting a local designer .

And then also inspiration comes from whatever I'm watching .

So I've been watching a lot of Dynasty lately with Dominique De .

I'm like , wow , you way back , way back , way back .

I love it .

Yeah .

Yeah .

And sometimes I remember it was Designing Woman .

That's another old show from way back and you know , they had the shoulder pads , everything was just structured and everything was tailor made and it looked amazing .

So definitely trying to figure out your signature style .

That's what I used to build that foundation when creating my look , so to speak .

Well .

So what exactly do you think is something that would be your power ?

Look right when you want to make that like , you know , I mean , business kind of a statement .

What do you , what's your go to my go to ?

I literally fold my dream jacket this year as I call it actually a blazer .

It looks like b but it's not actually Balmont .

So it's , it's a white , it has just enough padding in the shoulders .

It has really nice gold buttons and um I was able to snag the matching pants .

So that's a whole look .

Imagine stepping into a room in full white in a bic inspired blazer .

I mean , everybody has to stop and look , they're gonna say who is she ?

She knows what she's doing .

I wanna be like her .

I want to talk to her .

So definitely my power look all white , opposite of all black , which is great .

So when you think about what , when you step through the door and you've got that power power look going , how do you , you know , over the years with , you know , whether it's writing or um you know , thinking about what you have coming out in the near , near future which is an ebook on influencer marketing .

Where do you get kind of that like the voice to represent the , you know , the style that you're , you know , oozing , right ?

Because I think a lot of times when we think about how fashion and beauty um can impact , you know , our leadership style , it's kind of like , ok , well , I've got the look now , can I back it up with whatever it is ?

That is my expertise , if I'm going on stage to speak or if I'm going into a room to pitch , you know , a V C firm , you know , my , my business or whatever it is .

How do you develop that side for your business to make sure that when you look the look , you can still talk the talk , you know , like you're walking the walk .

But are you talking the talk ?

Like , how exactly do you really get into developing that leadership to back up the look ?

Right .

So reading helps a lot and definitely being in the know , I always say it's good to know a lot about everything because I can go in a room and there's a bunch of guys who they're football fanatics and I would know just enough about football to get that conversation going .

You have to be well read , you have to be in the know and it helps to know a little bit of , of everything .

I definitely ensure that he's back to all and you're not just thinking of stuff because people see right through you and that's how the impostor syndrome creeps in because a lot of people have that .

And sometimes sometimes there's a , a little thing that's missing to make you whole .

So , you know , just be in the know and what you're talking about .

And also also ensure that I'm constantly learning .

Master class is one of those things that recently came out .

You have a , a win to all of these amazing people are on it .

So just ensure that you're always learning so that you can evolve , your thinking , ensure that you are learning because when you are learning , you'll evolve .

And so it's , and you brought your brand will evolve with you as well .

Nice .

Well , so I always think about who inspires , you know , some of the greatest , right ?

And so who is inspiring you when you're thinking about how to position your brand ?

Um are you thinking about different fashion icons ?

Are you thinking about business leaders ?

Are you kind of how do you have like your picks among all the different industries ?

Like who are you following that ?

Maybe we all should be following on either social media or reading right now ?

Ok .

So starting out it was definitely Arianna Hoff from Huffington Post .

She was definitely up there because I love how she just started the brand she evolved .

And then when she realized that , you know , she was at this stage , she really needs to step back and you know , get some rest .

But recently I would say Nicole Cain , she was um Nicole Bey .

No exo ex sole .

I love the evolution of her brand because she started out as a celebrity gossip site which she grew from a tiny little room in her aunt's house , which was amazing to this million dollar industry she had already spa , she tore it all down and started over and it has just been amazing to watch her grow and her evolution style wise and brand wise as well .

Of course , Lauren Conrad because you know Laguna Beach .

Yes .

So Lauren definitely inspires me .

I love the way she dresses .

It's not like she's trying too hard , but it's , she's really well put together .

The pieces are well thought out and um I like Olivia Palmero as well .

She was also on the heels .

I love her style .

Classy chic reminds me of Audrey Hepburn in breakfast at Tiffany's uh that movie that is , that's oh and here in Jamaica or version of Anna Wintour is Novia mcdonald White .

So she's a top boss .

She has a rev rev revolutionized fashion in Jamaica and the Caribbean .

So I looked at her for a lot of inspiration .

She as well has a signature look and style kind of similar to Anna Wintour .

If you realize a lot of these women , they have a signature look .

So when you see them , you know , this is Anna Wintour , this is Lauren Conrad .

This is Novem mcdonald White .

So those are the people who have inspired me personally and business wise .

Nice .

Well , so I mentioned earlier that you have something in the works that's coming out very , very soon .

Um So I'm just prepping everyone to keep your eyes peeled for her new ebook .

It's going to be coming out very soon .

It's on influencer marketing .

And can you tell me , I know obviously you have this degree in communication .

So you have all this writing experience from university , but also from hope people for the last 10 years .

And then now you're positioning yourself in this other author space .

And so how did that come about that again ?

Was being in the right place at the right time .

And of course , I'm gonna use a digital marketing term A B testing .

So , yeah , so I've been having a series of live videos , I would say like in the past month and every time when I have A Q and A , somebody is asking me about influencer marketing because um other than my brand , I work in digital marketing .

So I have both sides .

So I'm , I don't like to call myself an influencer .

So I'm the blogger and I'm the brand that's hiring the blogger and the youtubers and all of these creative people .

So I would , I , I definitely , I would say I have expertise in this area and I realize that a lot of people , they're getting into influencer marketing , but they don't really know what it is exactly because a lot of people think that once you have a large following , you're automatically an influencer , which is not true .

Definitely not true .

So I just want to talk about influence and marketing and what it is , how you can grow , definitely how you can position yourself to create your own brand .

So that's how it came about .

So it , it's just like the basics , but it's a step up from the basics .

Nice .

Well , so you have this um the ebook coming out , but you also publish , I think you said you have one issue a year that comes out of hope people as a magazine .

Is that right ?

Perfect .

It's a digital publication , right ?

Exactly .

So when , when is the next magazine coming out ?

So that should be coming out between the 22nd or the 23rd .

There are both because that's our anniversary and you know , September is actually fashion season .

So it just made sense .

Everything just need to , you know , full circle .

So of course , they have to be September .

Yes .

Well , that's why we are doing this right now .

It's September 1st .

We are right in the thick of what it means to be on trend .

Um But also what it means to be a little bit ahead of the game because Fall happens .

Um The first day of Fall is September 22nd .

So you have that um amazing day where everybody's going to be talking about .

It's fall .

Now , what do we do ?

And you're gonna be like , buy my book ?

Exactly .

Right .

So , so we will definitely , um , put a link into um , the pro the private Facebook Group for College of Style when your ebook launches so that everybody can make sure to go and click on that and purchase it .

Um But also what exactly do you have up your sleeve ?

Um For 2022 I always love to ask .

Uh I can say I have a couple more digital products coming out .

Uh You might see a redesign of the blog , you might get a podcast , you might get a youtube channel .

Amazing series .

That's a lot of stuff .

Well , I think when , when we all kind of , you know , uh were forced to stay in the house um whether you're in Jamaica or here like I am in L A , we got down to business .

So a lot of people really went to work and so I can see from all of these , you might see seedlings that you're planting , that you've got a lot of things that you've been working on .

So I really appreciate you taking time to visit us here for this very special style symposium and um for everyone who wants to um take a look at her blog , it's at the Hope People dot com and you can visit her today .

Thank you so much for joining us and we will see you on the next one .

Thank you .