Kesha McLeod discovered her love for fashion during her time in college. For this Queens, New York native, attending Katharine Gibbs School for Fashion Merchandising solidified her interest in the world of styling and visual architecture. She was inspired by the opportunity to help people represent and express themselves through clothing. She did just that! Kesha began her journey in the music and entertainment industry working with record labels and artists as a fashion stylist. It was only up from there. As she continued to collaborate with different artists and agencies, Kesha further established her brand and business in the industry. She then transitioned into the sports industry where she continued to raise the bar. Over the years, she has styled some of the industry’s top athletes such as Serena Williams, James Harden, and P.J. Tucker, and has also worked with an array of brands such as Nike, Vogue, and Parkwood Entertainment. She doesn’t stop there. Recently, Kesha wrote and published her own book—The Essential “How To” Guide: Styling and Understanding Your Business—where she shares advice for the next generation of stylists and fashion creatives to be successful in the space.
How was that transition of going from college and working with an agency to having your own business in personal styling?
For me, working with that agency and then going on to another agency to work as a junior stylist was really great. To become my own personal brand definitely had it’s growing pains, but it was definitely worth it once I realized who I was, what my self-worth was, and how to build myself up. I feel like that alone was about seven years in the making. There is always the intern or styling space where you are on top, but separating yourself and having that distinction of knowing what you are great at is important. Once (you) have that, you can touch and do any and everything. For me, I know that anything that I touch and I work with is gold, so I can now write about it and share (my experiences) with the next generations coming up. I have always believed that you can’t take away what God has placed in front of me, so all I can do right now is just share my blueprint on what I have done. I think you see that in any kind of success story—where (people) write about their journeys five, ten years into their careers to inspire the next person.
"Just listening to them, looking at who they are, and understanding their goals (inspires me). Understanding and really knowing what they want to accomplish, motivates me to make everyone happy by fulfilling their (visions).
- Kesha on her sources of inspiration and motivation throughout this journey.
Could you share more with us about the process of writing your own book? What were some of the challenges that you faced early on as you embarked on this journey?
One of the things that you do need is someone to proofread your book and help you format it. I fortunately had a really good friend—who is a journalist—and my cousin help me format, develop the graphics, and everything else for the book. All I had to do was really put my all into the writing. I think it took over a month for me to really just sit there night and day and write (it). For me, my goal was to cover a lot of the questions that people had about me and my journey. I wanted to (highlight) the steps that I took—to give them a map of the journey that they are going to (embark on). There are always different ways to get there, but I wanted to give them a map that would guide them in the right direction.
Throughout this journey, what are your sources of inspiration and motivation?