Trying to building a fashion business and balancing it with school work is difficult for any student.
Few students understand that better than Madina Sidow.
With a passion for fashion, the 18-year-old business and administration marketing student is an entrepreneur-in-the-making who wants to gain as much experience as she can, and as soon as she can.
Sidow offers her fashion services to young adults. She started her YouTube channel nine months ago — Awkward Royalty.
“It’s an outlet for my fashion, so I can teach people tips and tricks about fashion and makeup,” Sidow said.
Her inspiration is her sister, Faduma Sidow, who is a fashion designer. Her older sister was also an influence and Sidow’s passion for business fashion flourished.
Sidow wants to grow as an entrepreneur, adding onto her skill set from the business and administration marketing program. She believes that it has been a good college to learn her goals, and it was conveniently located near her house.
And with the amount of school work, she tries to stick with a schedule to keep herself on track.
The number of views spiked after the launch of her YouTube channel, but over the time it gradually dropped. Yet she is still working to find her voice within the industry and finding ways to expose herself to the public.
The support from friends who still keep up with her content online encouraged her to keep on going.
“It was a refresher and a motivator to keep going because there are people watching,” said Sidow.
Her developing website, awkwardroyalty.com, helps clients to reach out to her and see the packages that she offers. They can see her blog post and be updated with the content that she’s producing.
The fashion styling business that she is creating is to help individuals find their own style through her advice.
Sidow has styling sessions and offers three different packages: princess, duchess and countess packages. For students, she offers discounts.
It can include a closet detox, shopping trip, fashion consultation and other fashion tips. Clients can also customize their own package as well.
Sondos Kataite, 17, was one of Sidow’s first clients. They both went to high school together and Sidow suggested some fashion advice to Kataite.
“She helped me find really affordable clothing that matched my personal style along with the season it was in,” said Kataite.
“It might also spice up someone’s wardrobe and help people step out of their comfort zone, like I did, and find new amazing pieces.”
She hopes to run an event at the college to launch herself further into the business and to let students know what she has to offer. Sidow wants to present how they could properly dress for the weather or at a meeting.
“I’m not here to judge. I’m here to get your fashion personality out there because your body’s a blank canvas. What you want to project out to the world is your personality and confidence,” said Sidow.