As someone who’s always been very creative, twenty-four year old Yvonne Fyne-Nsofor despised being on someone else’s schedule day in day out. She would be at work creating new ideas and being unable to act on them except on a limited lunch break. Having a home-based business helps Yvonne wake up excited for what each day brings while executing her passion.
Prior to building her celebrity-inspired brand, Yvonne had typical part-time jobs that helped her by developing skills in the fashion industry. For a few months in college, she was a marketing intern for a restaurant. It was a competitive position so every week someone would be eliminated. It was a unique experience she ended up enjoying. While working as a manager at a popular clothing boutique, she was excited at the idea of jump-starting her own clothing company called O-Mara.
O-Mara is a clothing line. It’s a mixture of traditional Nigerian wear and Western wear. It is created to inspire people and have them know their worth. O-Mara comes from the Nigerian word Igbo word omaramma. Omaramma means “it is beautiful” and o mara can mean “do you know you’re beautiful?” Essentially the line is asking, “do you know you’re beautiful?” Growing up as an immigrant, Yvonne really struggled with being proud of her heritage. Through her struggles, she found ways to be happy about where she came from as well as help other girls be confident in their skin as well.
Every piece is custom-made and from the finest material in Nigeria. Yvonne curates ideas and her mother assists with sewing the pieces. Consumers reach out to O-mara with their sizes and Yvonne creates the looks effortlessly.
Since starting in 2015, the majority of Yvonne’s focus has been on social media due to the ability to reach the most people at one time. However, she still practices grassroots promotions, from pop-up shops in boutiques as well as being a vendor for some events along with participating in fashion shows. Yvonne knows that it is easy to become a hermit and stay home in your comfort zone, but she challenges herself every day to find new ways to promote her brand.
While Yvonne caters to many women who love her brand, her main consumer base are black women. The sub-culture has been an incredible discovery for her. All these women are so fascinated with tracing their roots and celebrating their heritage, which has been inspiring for her and keeps her grounded to her culture and traditions.
The greatest advantage of working from home for Yvonne is the convenience and how each room can be for a different task. There is a notion that there is a designated spot for an office which is something Yvonne definitely doesn’t follow. The dining table is usually set up to type out emails or as a sewing station, the garage is set up to be a place to make clothes officially. The bedroom is the place to look over paperwork. Having that flexibility has been amazing for Yvonne.
Yvonne has a vision for the next few years of having an open space studio/apartment. As the business grows, she hopes to still retain the homelike feeling.
