Meet Laurie, a Bridal Designer from Project Runway Season 14
Expert insight from inside the wedding industry, plus grants and job opps for WOC!
TL:DR
🫶Intro Laurie and the Educator Series
✨Meet Laurie Underwood, Designer of Laury Bride
🚨Jobs, Grant, and Networking Opportunities for WOC🚨
✏️New Publication Alert: Washington Post
Sneak Peek at Bonus Newsletter 👀
🫶Intro Laurie and the Educator Series
Welcome to February, y’all! You know what that means in the commercial marketing world? Lots of love and pink hues and pandering to Black audiences for a a whole 28 days! Woohoo. I want to take this time of year to continue to do what I’ve been doing (aka, promoting Black women owned businesses) and try something that’s a little different and seasonally specific. Here’s what’s coming down the pipeline:
Because Valentine’s Day is this month, I’ll be highlighting different business owners that work within the business of love, like Laurie Underwood, a wildly talented bridal designer that showcased her work on Project Runway, Season 14.
I’ll also be testing out an Educator Series that starts this month. Imagine some of your favorite contemporary educators sharing their insights on mainstream topics that are in the media today. First up will be Christina Brown (if you’ve been on Black TikTok for 5 minutes you’ve definitely seen her). But that’s for later this month so stay tuned!
Now that that’s covered, let’s hear from Laurie about her journey into bridal and any advice she has for people looking to enter the wedding industry.
✨Meet Laurie Underwood, Designer of Laury Bride
Let’s start at the beginning. What inspired you to become a designer?
I've had a lifelong passion for fashion. Since I was a little girl, I've dreamt of becoming a fashion designer. Although I have a love for fashion, I never thought I would end up in the wedding industry. Through my experience on Project Runway, I learned a great deal about my design skills and myself as a woman. After being challenged on the show, I decided to continue challenging myself in real life with bridal design. Despite my earlier declaration of never going into bridal or evening wear, I knew that if I took the plunge, I had to make sure it was done on my own terms - from design to traditions, marketing, and entrepreneurship.
When did you start your business? What was going on in your life before you launched?
Back in 2017, I began my journey designing bridal and three years later, I launched Laury Bride. By day, I worked in corporate marketing and by night, I was a mom and designer. When the pandemic hit in 2020, I didn't panic. Instead, I decided to embrace the change and create ready-to-wear bridal pieces for micro weddings. This transition from simply being a designer to an entrepreneur forced me to really get to know my business and my clients inside and out - from understanding my numbers, to developing strategies that supported my goals, to creating content, to build awareness of my business online.
As someone who definitely panicked when the pandemic hit, I have so much respect for your calm through the initial chaos! I noticed that in your own wedding, featured in Essence (high key amazing, by the way!), you choose to wear a black gown and your husband had a colorful ensemble. What encouragement would you give to a bride that's nervous about stepping outside the box for her wedding?
When it comes to your wedding, it's always important to do what you feel is right for YOU. I was a bit apprehensive about wearing black at first, especially with my religious Christian background - but I knew my intentions and remained faithful to them. It's normal to care what others think, but you have to remember that you should do what will make you happy. My family was definitely surprised when they saw my black gown, but they were so supportive and ended up loving it just as much as I did. The most important opinion I was interested in, was my husband, Damon; and without hesitation, he said, "go for it!"
I'm also so curious about your time on Project Runway. What was the audition process like? Do you remember the moment you got the news that you were in the cast? What was that like?
As a proud believer in manifestation, I write down my visions and imagine myself already being in the place I aspire to be. In 2015, I told my then-boyfriend (now husband) that I wanted to have an amazing photoshoot for my birthday in New York. I didn't know how it was going to happen, but I had faith that it would. Surprisingly, that's exactly what happened – I ended up on the Project Runway show to do photoshoots! Even more incredibly, the auditioning process was relatively simple. I had the necessary skills, ambition and – according to the producers – 'personality' for television. Let's face it, at the end of the day with these types of shows, you still have to be engaging for television, no matter how good you can design.
When I received the email confirming my casting, I was overwhelmed with excitement – but also nervousness. To solidify my time on the show, I made it a point to be intentional with it. Although placing first would have been great, it was not my priority. In my opinion, being casted meant that I'd already won.
Has being on Project Runway changed your life and/or your approach to your business?
Being on the show, really just changed my perspective in believing in myself doing the work required for my vision, which is monumental in building my business.
As far as I know, there aren't many Black women in the bridal industry. Do you agree or not? Could you share your feelings as to why you think that is/is not the case?
As we work toward greater diversity in the bridal industry, I'm delighted to see that Black women are beginning to blaze their own trails and make their mark. Black women make up a significant portion of the industry's consumers, with an abundance of potential for Black wedding professionals who can fully connect with the culture, body types, and the unique style essence of black brides.
Do you have any advice for women of color, especially Black women, who are interested in entering the bridal industry but don't know where to start?
If you’re a Black woman looking to break into the industry, my advice is to take some time to understand the history and evolution of the industry, and then decide where you want to take it. The world of this industry is ever-changing and there are no longer any set ‘rules’ - so use this to your advantage and blaze your own trail!
What is a lesson in love that took you a while to learn?
Look forward and embrace the woman I am becoming. My present self will always find a way to disappoint me.
What is a piece of art (can be a song, a painting, a dance performance, anything) that taught you a lesson in love that you can share with our readers?
Sharon Foster's Passing by Samaria is a gorgeous love story of self-discovery. This book is sure to captivate you as you follow the characters on their journey of self-realization.
Here's your time to brag about yourself and/or your business. Any awards? Accomplishments you're particularly proud of? Big events coming up? Etc. We want to know!
Not only do I design for the bride, but I go beyond the aisle with my sister brand, Laury Home, offering luxury home goods and accessories that will assist you in indulging in your femininity as a wife and queen of your home.
Where can we find you?
www.laurybride.com | www.lauryhome.com
Instagram @laurybride
TikTok @laurybride
🚨Jobs, Grant, and Networking Opportunities for WOC🚨
🚨A long time friend of the newsletter, Michael, sent me list of resources specifically for women entrepreneurs of color that include training, grants and funding opportunities, networking, and literally every type of resource under the sun for us! His sister-in-law, who’s based in Oakland, won a grant through this program that helped her bakery, James and the Giant Cupcake (they do wedding cakes, cupcakes, and more, for anyone who’s interested). These resources are all through Wells Fargo’s Small Business tab (I promise this isn’t a sponsored post at all). Check them out, apply to all the ones you can, and leave a comment for which ones you applied to :)
🚨Green Dreamer, “an independent, community-supported podcast and multimedia journal exploring our paths to collective healing, biocultural revitalization, and true abundance and wellness for all”, is looking to hire two fully remote positions:
A production management intern
A researcher / editor
If you’re interested, go to greendreamer.com/opps
🚨The Rumpus, a highly-acclaimed magazine is looking for essay submission between now and the February 28! Their twitter post says March 1st but submission form says Feb 28 so submit by the 28th, just to be safe! Their fiction submissions will be open from Feb 15 to March 15, so, if you’re interested, definitely mark your calendars. Unfortunately, their poetry submissions closed on January 20, 2023. They also accept book reviews so if you’re on #booktok, definitely apply! The editor who’s looking at most of these submissions is Davon Loeb. He’s a brilliant memoirist who’s particularly interested in “braided narrative and flash essays by marginalized voices.” They pay and having The Rumpus on your resume is a great way to get your foot in the door of the writing world.
✏️New Publication Alert: Washington Post✏️
Also, I’m officially getting published in the Washington Post in the next few weeks so this year is starting off STRONG. The first draft has been sent and I’ll be talking more about that in the Bonus Newsletter.
Also, if anyone has any specific questions you’d like me to answer about how you can start your career as a freelance writer then ask in the comments! I’ll answer them in next week’s free newsletter :)
Sneak Peek at Bonus Newsletter 👀
Continuing off of the love theme, I want to share with you all some of videos in my “No Less Than This” folder. That’s basically a folder full of nuanced love and relationship advice, and examples of healthy, thriving couples that give me hope and a marker for what I want in my person. Generally, it’s easier to identify what we want in a relationship when we’ve seen an example so I’m collecting examples AND I’ll be sharing some of them tomorrow so you can start your own “No Less Than This” folder.
If you haven’t subscribed to my newsletter yet, it’s would be super cool if you did! Plus I’ll be sharing more opportunities for women of color entrepreneurs so subscribe, share with your friends who want to get a piece of this bag, and comment any questions you have!