We’re excited to introduce you to the always interesting and insightful Sarah Navarre. We hope you’ll enjoy our conversation with Sarah below.
Sarah , we’re thrilled to have you sharing your thoughts and lessons with our community. So, for folks who are at a stage in their life or career where they are trying to be more resilient, can you share where you get your resilience from?
I developed resilience from my family background. My grandparents were Dutch immigrants who came to the US right after they were married in the 1920’s. They didn’t have much but they were incredibly resourceful and had a strong work ethic. They knew how to garden, they could sew well and my grandpa was skilled in woodworking. In later years they would spend all year gathering dolls from thrift stores and they would clean them up, make beautiful new clothes, or a handmade wooden doll cradle, and give to the grand daughters at Christmas time.
My dad’s family was also quite poor and he spent quite a bit of time on a ranch in Idaho with his cousins and extended family. They worked very hard, had very little, but they grew a garden, baked bread, they preserved food for winter, they worked very hard and had a simple life. Yet both of these families lived a life of resilience in so many ways, through many hardships, through rations during war time or very little during the depression era. They taught me to be self reliant, to work hard, do the best you can with what you’ve got, and to be grateful for the simple things in life we so often take for granted. I’m forever grateful for the wisdom and skills they taught me as they have helped me to become resilient to today’s challenges and all the curve balls life throws at us.
Appreciate the insights and wisdom. Before we dig deeper and ask you about the skills that matter and more, maybe you can tell our readers about yourself?
As a lifelong creative, I have taken my creative energy and put it toward building the VanderRose brand that is rooted in empowerment. We do not limit our work to women, but find women often suffer from their self esteem and sense of identity shaken. Our focus to empower and encourage people from all walks of life, and help them to see themselves in a new, beautiful and powerful way.
The way we do this is by giving women the opportunity to wear a stunning gown, and experience a photo shoot with us that not only is memorable, it also results in stunning photographs that are works of art that is personal and unique.
Our photo shoot experiences provide people a memorable experience where they have the opportunity to feel beautiful and powerful. We often have a glimmer of this part of ourself deep down but society can place a lot of pressure on both men and women, or people have experiences that leave them forgetting how beautiful they are. We give them an opportunity to rekindle this inner flame of strength. It can be a beginning step in a journey of self discovery, or a milestone to celebrate a healing journey.
Another empowerment aspect to our brand is that we give opportunity for those interested in modeling, a chance to build their portfolio, and gain experience in an encouraging and supportive environment. We offer photoshoots including full wardrobe and accessories for individuals, plus best friends, siblings, mother-daughter, or any other combination. We also offer themed shoots and have an extensive collection of accessories such as fairy wings, phoenix wings, giant angel wings, and beyond to create any magical setting. We also have a full line of gowns with extremely long trains that are exquisite with the wind blowing; the results of shoots like this are really incredible art.
A few exciting things we’re working on is our continued passion of designing gowns and showing them on fashion runways. We were at New York Fashion Week last February and continue to challenge ourself to create inspiring collections. In addition, we launched VanderRose Magazine this year and it continues to grow with fashion editorials, artist spotlights highlighting renowned photographers from around the world. Plus publishing the magazine also gives models how work with us the opportunity for publication, so it’s adds value to those interested in building a portfolio or exposure. We are always on the lookout for compelling stories and anything related to empowerment and building confidence in general. Finally, we are adding content onto Patreon with several options for patrons to receive additional content, early access, and updates on new collections we’re creating, or gowns we have available for purchase.
Looking back, what do you think were the three qualities, skills, or areas of knowledge that were most impactful in your journey? What advice do you have for folks who are early in their journey in terms of how they can best develop or improve on these?
Three qualities, skills or areas of knowledge that have been most impactful are first to have patience with the process. Meaning that it takes time to develop a process, a product or service; don’t rush the process if you can help it to give time for it to evolve.
The second most important quality is doing a ton of researching and learning all you can to build your knowledge base and build networks,
Third, stay focused on the goal. It’s’ so easy to get distracted by things that could sidetrack your business. Don’t worry about what other’s out there are doing, and just focus on staying on track toward your goals; every decision should bring you a step closer to where you’re trying to go. It’s easy to get sidetracked and off course, which spends resources that could have been better spent.
Do you think it’s better to go all in on our strengths or to try to be more well-rounded by investing effort on improving areas you aren’t as strong in?
A lot of times people feel they can take on all aspects of building or creating a successful business. Yet, everyone has unique skills they are proficient in. Instead of trying to develop every skill, we can collaborate with other’s who have different strengths and skillset as that creates more synergy.
One example with VanderRose, I tend to be the creative behind the brand and so anything relating to this creative side of the business comes to me. For example, I take ownership of gown design, fabrics, designing a runway show. My partner, Mike Wolf, owns the logistics or anything relating to contracts. Luckily we both have extensive experience and skillset, but dividing and conquering of elements we each have strengths harmonizes the progression of VanderRose. It also has a synergistic property as we collaborate and talk through ideas together, more creative ideas and synergy come from the partnership.
Contact Info:
- Website: www.vanderrose.com
- Instagram: @vanderrose_gowns
- Facebook: @vanderrose_gowns
- Linkedin: https://www.linkedin.com/in/sarahnavarre/
- Youtube: https://www.youtube.com/@VanderRose
Image Credits
Models listed in order; Crystal Palmer Maddy Lyman Heidi Voss Sarah Navarre Tawna Kelley Sarah Navarre & Mike Wolf Krystal Elen Noelia Antweiler Heather; IG@heatherandcolour Lizzy Mickelsen Heidi Voss Jennica Anusua
