We recently had the chance to connect with Hayley N. Chow and have shared our conversation below.
Hi Hayley N., thank you so much for joining us today. We’re thrilled to learn more about your journey, values and what you are currently working on. Let’s start with an ice breaker: What is something outside of work that is bringing you joy lately?
I spend most of my time interviewing and being inspired by artists, mainly filmmakers, on film festival red carpets – however, I feel so lucky to have found my own artistic outlet as well. I’m an author and poet outside of my work as an entrepreneur, and most recently, I’ve found joy in performing spoken word shows and writing daily. After many years, I’m so blessed that my self published poetry book has found a home on the shelf of a local indie bookstore called Poets Books – a bookstore that caters to poets. Making time to escape from the hustle and bustle of my work to practice my own artistry has really helped me form a healthy work/life balance.
Can you briefly introduce yourself and share what makes you or your brand unique?
history, undressed fosters a sense of community based one singular thing: Our love and dedication to preserving the Classics. With historical preservation comes historical education; and here, we provide that with enthusiasm daily. Along with advocating for the preservation of historic costumes, we aim to fight for the historic theatres that we have left. We work to continue to make experiencing the silver screen in theatres readily accessible to the public both locally and nationwide.
We also work diligently with private collectors of Old Hollywood costumes, historic clothing museums, and other costume preservation sites to educate the public on how to properly collect, tend to, and store archival clothing.
In recent years, history, undressed has made a name for itself in the film festival circuit, aiming to highlight and showcase stories of filmmakers nationwide. Some film festivals that we’ve worked diligently with include the Oscar Qualifying Dallas International Film Festival, Asian Film Festival of Dallas, It Came From Texas Film Festival, Cinecon Film Festival Los Angeles, VideoFest, and more.
Thanks for sharing that. Would love to go back in time and hear about how your past might have impacted who you are today. What relationship most shaped how you see yourself?
As frivolous as it may sound, my relationship with me, myself, and I has shaped the way I view myself in the most impactful way. Learning to love yourself to the highest extent is a learned skill. Life oftentimes likes to test us in the most harshest of ways, but to endure the storms and come out stronger than ever – that is truly something special.
A lesson I learned the hard way is that when everyone around you is against you, you then have to become your biggest cheerleader. Love in the face of hate is powerful, and is what leads to the peace that is self love. There is nothing more empowering than reclaiming the narrative of your own life story – especially when you find yourself surrounded by people that try so desperately to write the narrative for you.
Was there ever a time you almost gave up?
Of course there were times I’ve almost given up. I’ve had my business, history, undressed, for ten years now – therefore, I’ve been posting consistently on our main platform, Instagram, for that amount of years. It can genuinely get exhausting spending hours at a time editing and posting, as well as working festivals back to back. Many a time, this can lead to burnout. However, when I find myself in this state of mind, I remind myself of why I started this business in the first place – simply because of my love and dedication to film and fashion history. Creating was always for myself, not for others. It started out as, and is still a creative outlet for me. At the the end of the day, I am reminded of how thankful and humbled I am to have built the vibrant and loyal community that I have.
I do also have to remind myself that it’s okay to take a break if needed – as they are necessary with this line of work. Oftentimes when I take a little break, I simply retreat to my other creative outlet…poetry.
Sure, so let’s go deeper into your values and how you think. Is the public version of you the real you?
The public version of me will always be the real and true me. I pride myself on my authenticity with everything I do. I also think it helps me in the long run with my work, because all relationships I form are genuine and from the heart. To be honest, the artist in me doesn’t know how to be anything but authentic, so I couldn’t be anything else other than real even if I tried.
I’ve built my business based on a sense of community instead of just a follower count. That was always very important to me. I was never a viral sensation. history, undressed is turning ten this year – so that was and is ten years of hard work and dedication. I created a ‘Movie Club’ with my history, undressed community in which we watch and discuss Classic films together, alongside participating in film trivia games together on our YouTube channel: historyundressedchannel. My close friend and fellow Old Hollywood creator, Samantha, joins me in executing the enthusiasm of Movie Club with our participants. I hope to be able to nurture and maintain that sense of community as my page continues to grow and evolve.
Okay, so before we go, let’s tackle one more area. Are you doing what you were born to do—or what you were told to do?
I truly believe I am ever so blessed to have found my driving passion in multiple avenues. With my deep love for film and fashion history, I was definitely born to share my dedication of the Golden Age of Hollywood with the community I have built. I feel so blessed every day to have been given this platform, simply born, bred, and nurtured through passion and commitment.
I was born to have been gifted the opportunity to enjoy thought provoking conversations with filmmakers on the red carpets. I’m constantly inspired and I hope that I am a source of inspiration as well.
Lastly, I am confident that I was born to write. I feel like the luckiest girl in the world that poetry found me. Poetry has changed my life in a multitude of ways. It’s how I process life, it’s my therapy, it’s my escapism.
Contact Info:
- Website: https://historyundressed.substack.com
- Instagram: https://instagram.com/historyundressed
- Youtube: https://youtube.com/@historyundressedchannel
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