We were lucky to catch up with Anita Barber recently and have shared our conversation below.
Hi Anita, thanks for sharing your insights with our community today. Part of your success, no doubt, is due to your work ethic and so we’d love if you could open up about where you got your work ethic from?
I got my work ethic from my dad. When he wasn’t at his 9-5, he could be found tending to his garden, working in the yard, helping someone with a project or working on one of his own. He also served as the chief at the local volunteer fire department. As a child, I loved visiting him at the Winston-Salem Journal where he worked, setting the ads for the newspaper, helping him in his garden, and tagging along when he went to the fire department.
As a teenager, I got caught up in the “wrong crowd” and started skipping school, shoplifting, lying, and stealing from my parents – I was eventually expelled from high school. Needless to say, my parents really had their hands full with me. In my late teens & early twenties, I worked the local restaurant and bar scene, partied late into the night, and slept most of the day. Thankfully, I came to my senses after a few years of that, and realized that if I wanted the lifestyle I had envisioned for myself then I needed to get my life together.
By my mid-twenties, I got my GED, was working in retail (fashion and cosmetics), and went on to put myself through college, getting an Associates Degree in Accounting and a Bachelors in Business Administration with a Concentration in Marketing. My end goal was to become an Account Manager for a major cosmetics or clothing brand, but in the interim, I accepted an opportunity in the accounting department at Flow Automotive Companies with the intent of using it as a launching pad to jump start my career. After five years in the car business, I landed a store management position at a major women’s retailer.
Everything was going as planned until 2008 when I was laid off. While working various temp jobs, I took online classes to keep my skill set up-to-date, discovered a passion for fitness, and became a licensed Zumba Fitness and Group Exercise instructor. In 2011, after spending a year working a temp-to-hire job that disappointingly never resulted in permanent employment, I went back to work at Flow Automotive taking on various roles within the company.
For three years I held two, sometimes three jobs – Mon-Fri full-time at Flow Automotive, running and marketing my own business as a Zumba instructor in the evenings, and back at Flow Automotive on Saturday’s as a Greeter, just trying to make ends meet. In 2014, I landed a job as an Account Manager at Flow Marketing Services, Flow Automotive’s in-house marketing agency. Although I wasn’t passionate about the auto industry, I liked the people I worked with, was knowledgeable about the business, and figured this would be yet another stepping stone until I could find a similar position in the fashion or cosmetics industry.
I no longer teach fitness classes but I get to share my love of health & wellness, along with skincare and fashion, via the blog I started in 2018 – LiveFitFashionista. I began by sharing reviews of various products on Facebook and Instagram and tagging the brands in my posts. In 2020, I was sent my first “free” product from Charlotte Tilbury cosmetics in exchange for a product review and shareable content. I’ve stayed busy ever since working as a micro-influencer, content creator, and product tester, providing feedback and content to help major brands and start-ups market and improve their products.
My side-hustle keeps my hand on the pulse of the beauty, fashion, and wellness industries while also giving me the opportunity to try an array of products. I then share my experience with my followers to help them make a more informed decision when considering new products. For me, it’s not so much about influencing as it is providing a service.
There is so much advice out there about all the different skills and qualities folks need to develop in order to succeed in today’s highly competitive environment and often it can feel overwhelming. So, if we had to break it down to just the three that matter most, which three skills or qualities would you focus on?
I would say tenacity, an open-mind, and a desire to learn. Go after what you want and be prepared to put in the work knowing there will be hiccups along the way. Things don’t always go as planned because, well… life happens; be flexible but stay focused. Step outside of your comfort zone often and learn new things. Surround yourself with people who are smarter than you and learn as much as you can from them!
Before we go, maybe you can tell us a bit about your parents and what you feel was the most impactful thing they did for you?
I think it’s what they didn’t do that was the most impactful. As a teen and young adult, they rarely “bailed me out” of trouble (literally and figuratively). I learned the hard way that there were consequences to my actions. Their “tough love” style of parenting seemed harsh at the time but has served me well when it comes to forging my own way and being resilient.
Contact Info:
- Website: https://livefitfashionista.com/
- Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/livefitfashionista/
- Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/LiveFitFashionista/
- Linkedin: https://www.linkedin.com/in/anita-barber-5abb6238/
- Youtube: https://www.youtube.com/channel/UC1t6ceZKpctZY7U-YupeFCg
