Meet Anna Livermore

We were lucky to catch up with Anna Livermore recently and have shared our conversation below.

Anna, so great to be with you and I think a lot of folks are going to benefit from hearing your story and lessons and wisdom. Imposter Syndrome is something that we know how words to describe, but it’s something that has held people back forever and so we’re really interested to hear about your story and how you overcame imposter syndrome.
Imposter syndrome, to me, is something I hope to never overcome. It means to me I am stretching myself further than I think I can go. I love to do things that scare me, that make me feel uncomfortable, like I do not belong, I feel imposter syndrome all the time but one if the first times I can remember was when I was speaking at FIT for a program they had put together for designers. I had flown from Chicago, and automatically assumed being from Chicago made me less then a New York City designer! I also reviewed my presentation briefly with the person that invited me to which he responded “No, this is not what I had in mind at all”. Well, what do you do? I can not change it, I flew here just for this presentation, so, I forged forward and gave the presentation I had prepared. When I present I always try to keep the new designer in mind, make my talks approachable and not intimidating. I remember feeling so scared and unmotivated after sitting in others talks early on and leaving feeling I could never do it. So, I made promise to never do that to my audience. After my presentation the designers all came up to me and thanked me and told me how much they enjoyed it. Since this seminar I have probably given 100s and I always remember, if I can reach one person in the audience, it is worth it.

Great, so let’s take a few minutes and cover your story. What should folks know about you and what you do?
I started V.Mora started with one goal: to ensure the success of designers by giving them the kind of quality service and insider expertise that they won’t get from anyone else in the fashion industry.

I pride myself on paving my own roads and, when necessary, breaking the rules in an industry where too many are too often afraid to take chances. The result; V. Mora is a bold firm with a nimble and forward-thinking approach that’s based on real-world experience and total dedication to clients.

What started as a one-woman operation in my Chicago apartment has grown to a fully staffed company in New York City with clients all over the world. I love my employees and my clients. I am honored to be surrounded by them everyday!

I have a free live seminar each week at 12:30 EST on linked in, youtube and facebook. Tune in and learn essential knowledge of the inside secrets of the industry.

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?
1. Unemployable

Yep, I am completely unemployable. I have been fired from many (almost all) of my jobs. I also had no back up plan, no safety net, no savings, no generational wealth. So, I had to make it work.

2. Solution focused

Things go wrong, a lot. And in order to move forward I never dwell on the why it happened, who’s fault it was or complain. I work out a solution, use my team for help and move forward. This helps to keep me and my team solution based and learning as we go. They see me always in solution no matter what the problem and this inspires them to do the same.

3. Leadership

Creating a team that is an extension of me, a team I can rely on has been essential to the growth of my business., I can not so this alone. Being able to trust my employees, let them mess up but watch them fix it and build confidence has been one of the best assets V.Mora has.

My best advice is to know things go wrong, that IS part of being a business owner. It is how you handle it, how you pivot, that will set you apart from the rest and set you up for success.

Alright so to wrap up, who deserves credit for helping you overcome challenges or build some of the essential skills you’ve needed?
My grandmother was paralyzed from the neck down. She caught polio when she was 26 years old, having three young daughter to raise. She was always my example of strength. Growing up she owned our family bakery and was able to do everything needed because she could move the fingers on her left hand being able to control a phone. One of her favorite sayings was “You feel sorry for yourself you have no shoes but what about the man who has no feet?” And she lived that in the most practical way. So when I went to start my own company I always remember she ran hers from her bed, I had no excuse as to why I too couldn’t do this!

Contact Info:

Suggest a Story: BoldJourney is built on recommendations from the community; it’s how we uncover hidden gems, so if you or someone you know deserves recognition please let us know here.
Resilience
Where do you get your resilience from?

Resilience is often the x-factor that differentiates between mild and wild success. The stories of

Productivity
Beating Burnout

Often the key to having massive impact is the ability to keep going when others

Leadership Development
Finding Your Why

Not knowing why you are going wherever it is that you are going sounds silly,