Meet Na’ziya Lewis

We recently connected with Na’ziya Lewis and have shared our conversation below.

Hi Na’Ziya, appreciate you sitting with us today to share your wisdom with our readers. So, let’s start with resilience – where do you get your resilience from?

My resilience is something that has always been with me. Growing up as a kid from a city like mine, you have to learn how to be. That’s no option. Here, you’re not exposed to as many opportunities as you’d find in big places like, New York, or maybe Atlanta for instance. Living in a place like Flint, you get exposed to alot at an early age, and constantly feel you have to live in fight or flight mode. You have to know how to withstand the pressure, you HAVE to know how to keep going. I used to have people tell me what I “won’t” be able to do, just because everyone believed it wasn’t possible coming from a place like mine. But I had to learn not to let other people’s restrictions, restrict what I know I could become. When I want something, I don’t stop, even AFTER I get it. I was always the sassy, bold, “can’t take no for an answer” or in other words, the “i’m going to make a way” type of kid. Giving up for me has never been an option when it comes to anything that I really want, no matter what it is. I don’t think anything is impossible, at all. Being that I never was around too many people who had the same interest as me, didn’t grow up with many friends, always the odd one out… During that time alone, I used that chance to learn about myself, learn what it is that I truly like, and what I aspire to do, what I aspire to be. To remain resilient, I had to learn how to “fall in love with failure” I’m not scared to fail. Because one thing I’ve learned through my journey, is you only fail when you don’t try. Everything else is just a teaching experience for you to come back and do better the next time. Your mindset plays a huge part in how strong your resilience can become, that’s why it’s so important to me to keep mine as strong as possible.

Thanks for sharing that. So, before we get any further into our conversation, can you tell our readers a bit about yourself and what you’re working on?

Working as a fashion designer is just one, of my many occupations. My brand, Nailuxe came about only a few months ago, and since, has been expanding across so many different places. I am not only a fashion designer, but also a model, dancer, music artist, youth mentor, working with a major goal of instilling confidence in kids like me, and even letting those older than me know, it’s never too late to start chasing your dreams. I started making barbie doll clothes from my socks when I was only 6 years old. From there, the passion only grew stronger, and my skills grew greater. Since sharing this story to my social media, I have had so many people reach out to me about mentoring their young girls, teaching classes, or simply giving advice to get started in some of the same areas. So when I can, I teach 1 on 1 sewing lessons, to help those who are interested in learning get a head start. Last year, I was gifted a sewing machine. This allowed my creativity to flow ever more considering that I no longer have to sew everything by hand anymore. In November of 2023, I went to my first casting call to model. A few weeks later I received a call back that I had been casted. I was beyond excited! This was the start of my journey designing for runway fashion shows. My first fashion show was with Adriana Lanice, producer of 810 fashion, c.e.o of labellewerk modeling agency. I had such a great time and made so many new, life-long connections that I decided to come back for a second show, this time I applied as a designer and model. This was such a big leap since I still didn’t know much about the fashion world, and there’s so much I’m still learning, but I felt I was ready. She welcomed me in as a designer with open arms, not a doubt in mind…even considering my age, so that meant the world to me. In the midst of working on designs for the 810 spring fashion show, I was also invited to be a designer for another show, in Pontiac Michigan, produced by Jacob Sidok. So at this time, I was working on designs for two shows in one week. Both were successful and I had a BALL! From there, everything else has just been a stepping stone since I started putting myself and my work out for everyone to see. Working behind the scenes at shows as a designer includes, completing fittings for models, last minute adjustments if needed, collecting each model’s measurements to ensure a perfect fit, along with a few other things. Switching between model and designer mode, for me, is a breeze. It’s fun to run double duty.

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?

Three qualities I would say were so important on my journey are, confidence, reliability, and patience. I had to learn so much patience along this journey. There were times i’d get discouraged because I felt I wasn’t where I wanted to be yet, just starting out, forgetting that i’m still so young and everything will fall in place with the right timing. That was probably the biggest thing I had to work on. As for confidence and reliability, these two qualities alone are so important to have. As such a reliable person, it has opened doors to so many opportunities, created so many genuine and positive connections, simply because, people know I’ll show up, they know i’ll give my all and they know I can be depended on to get whatever needs to be done, done. There should never be a catch to anything you do. move with purpose, move with love and most of all, be true to not only yourself, but others as well. Your authenticity should never have to be questioned. For anyone looking to improve or develop these traits, I will definitely say stay consistent with trying. Especially on the patience note, it’s not an easy thing to build, but don’t quit the first time it doesn’t work, or it never will. As for confidence, it’s important in anything that you do because if you are not confident in yourself, or confident in your work, it’ll be hard for you to persevere in the long run and you will miss out on alot due to uncertainty.

What has been your biggest area of growth or improvement in the past 12 months?

My biggest area of growth within the past 12 months, I will definitely say is evolving as a fashion designer in fashion shows. Since the start of my journey, I have had so many people reach out left and right with opportunities, people I never even knew were watching, From grammy award winners, to other well known designers and even tv show producers interested in my work. It feels great to know that so many take interest in my work and just to hear the impact I have made on inspiring others to pursue their dreams, always makes me smile as that has, and will always be one of my biggest goals. Since starting, I have already knocked down major goals that I set for my business. Only 9 months into my designer journey, having a design featured in a photoshoot with savvi kids magazine, one in a New York photoshoot, reaching over 15 different cities/states with designs so far, including 3 COUNTRIES! One of which being Africa. As of December 2024, I will have completed my 10th show as a designer and that’s only from this year alone. Not only this, but improvement in myself and my surety as well. From being too nervous to talk to new people, try new things or even accept orders, to being fully booked from march all the way to december, creating new connections and trying things I never would have done before. I have improved so much not only as a designer, but as a model as well, especially in the area of confidence. Since the start of modeling with my 810 fashion family, my confidence has been higher than it’s ever been! I have learned so much from them and we continue to learn and teach each other. With being apart of such a strong willed, and like minded team, it has opened me up to being willing to take more chances, playing a huge part in the growth of my confidence.

Contact Info:

• Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/naziyalanai_/
• Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/profile.php?id=61556871758971

Image Credits

Mas photo by Morgan Andrew Somers
Bisoup photos
Will Holden productions
Jbl shoot
S.M.T productions by Aaron poole
4thejoycollection