Rivky Itzkowitz is a 24 year old fashion designer living in NYC. As a practicing Orthodox Jew, she was frustrated at not being able to find modest special occasion wear that actually fit, so she set out to create her own. Impact Fashion, the brand she founded two years ago, is the only size inclusive modest fashion brand on the market. Every style is fitted to perfection and is available in sizes 2-24 because there’s no reason why it shouldn’t be. Rivky grew her wholesale business to over 25 boutiques nationwide and has also launched a retail website.
Where did the idea for Impact Fashion come from?
I have dressed modestly my entire life, and have loved fashion for just as long. I was always frustrating with the serious lack of fashionable modest options so I decided to create my own.
What does your typical day look like and how do you make it productive?
My typical day starts a little bit late (I’m a night owl) and always includes some admin work, time on instagram interacting with my followers and dealing with customer service inquiries. Depending on the point in the design cycle I’m in I’ll also spend most of the day designing a new collection, or reaching out to my wholesale accounts. I also make time every week for my own continuing education, usually around digital marketing.
I keep it productive by taking half an hour over the weekend to plan out my week, and delegating certain tasks to certain days. I use those goals to make daily lists which keep me on track.
How do you bring ideas to life?
It’s all in the planning. Whether it’s product launches, a new collection, or a sale things need to be planned to be executed properly. I take the time to plan things out and then waste no time getting to it.
What’s one trend that excites you?
We are slowly moving away from fast fashion, and beginning to appreciate owner fewer pieces of higher quality. I’m excited ti see where that takes us.
What is one habit of yours that makes you more productive as an entrepreneur?
I am fabulous at out sourcing the things I don’t enjoy or are terrible at. It keeps me sane and gets a better overall result for my company.
What advice would you give your younger self?
Take a deep breath, it’s all gonna be ok.
Tell us something that’s true that almost nobody agrees with you on.
There is no one right way to be an entrepreneur. You don’t need to complete a day’s worth of tasks by 10am after waking up at dawn. If you find what works for you, block out the noise and just do that.
As an entrepreneur, what is the one thing you do over and over and recommend everyone else do?
Take 5 minutes to yourself every day. Even if it’s for something as simple as taking a nap.
What is one strategy that has helped you grow your business?
Work on the metrics that actually bring in sales. Don’t grow your follower count just to get a bigger number, focus on a super high quality of audience.
What is one failure you had as an entrepreneur, and how did you overcome it?
In my first season, I made way too much inventory without a real plan for how to move it. I overcame it by not doing that again.
What is one business idea that you’re willing to give away to our readers?
Go with info products in a field you know a lot about. They’re cheap to amke and can run off of digital downloads.
What is the best $100 you recently spent? What and why?
It was a bit more than $100 but I hired an amazing graphic designer to freshen up my welcome series. Those are all now email templates with graphic elements I use in other marketing.
What is one piece of software or a web service that helps you be productive?
Hubspot has a free CRM tool that I have been loving to manage my wholesale contacts.
What is the one book that you recommend our community should read and why?
Anything by Malcolm Gladwell. He’s got great insight into how people work that I’ve found to be both interesting and helpful in my marketing.
What is your favorite quote?
You can have it all, you just can’t have it all at once. – Oprah
Key Learnings:
- Do what works for you.
- Plan ahead.
- Take time to invest in and recharge yourself.
Connect:
impactfashionnyc.com
instagram.com/impact.fashion.nyc
facebook.com/impact.fashion/nyc
Carlyn runs the day-to-day publishing operation here at ideamensch and interacts with our awesome customers and entrepreneurs. She is likely editing this with a cat on her lap.