Meet Grace Slansky

We caught up with the brilliant and insightful Grace Slansky a few weeks ago and have shared our conversation below.

Hi Grace, 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?

There’s a misconception that efficiency or work ethic or cramming so many things into a day equals success, but at the end of the day, it much more likely comes down to interest and dedication to completing a task no matter how long it takes.

My work ethic definitely just comes from being excited about what I’m working on and giving myself the space to do it on my own timeline. I like to make big brain-dump lists of everything I have to do in a day, a week, a month, or for a particular project and I spend a little bit of time every day pulling out the things I want to do or that I have to do to meet a deadline.

For instance, I have a massive intimidating list of all the things we can and/or should do as my business partners and I develop So Rude Apparel. I look at that list every day and try to pull out at least one thing that I’m excited about and have the time to accomplish and the ball keeps rolling. Every week or two we have a team meeting and divide and conquer all the items, but on our own, it’s just about doing one or two things that you’re excited about and trying not to lose the momentum.

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?

So Rude Apparel was created by me and my best friends August and Lauren first and foremost as a way to pad our closets and create apparel we thought was so funny or strange it had to exist. We started it because we genuinely wanted to wear these strange, unsettling, wonderful clothes. We wanted to create shirts, tanks, and hats that make people double-take, giggle, blush, etc. They make the mundane errands endlessly more fun.

As a dancer and former bartender myself, with my two business partners who are also nightlife veterans, the concept was to make apparel that evokes the feeling of being showered in compliments by strangers in a club bathroom. It’s light-hearted, it’s fun, it’s provocative, and, hopefully, it’s funny. One of the most fun parts has been taking that initial concept and running with it, turning it into a social media series of people taking daily shots in the bathroom, whether that be tequila shots in a nightclub, a wellness shot in the afternoon, or pre-workout at home before going to the gym!

The market is certainly saturated, and one of the biggest challenges has been finding our audience, but we’re steadily building a community that responds well to our brand of humor and the quality of the group is everything! Experimenting with social media trends, creating a clear brand voice, and tapping into my experience and fan base as a dancer have all been very helpful in creating that momentum, and it’s so exciting to see it pay off!

So Rude is not everybody’s cup of tea, but it’s so rewarding to click with the right audience! It always seems to find the delightfully weird people who really resonate with our brand!

If you had to pick three qualities that are most important to develop, which three would you say matter most?

1.) Determination has been my biggest friend as we build this brand, and in general as I navigate my career. I’m so thankful that I’m not easily discouraged, and I think a lot of that comes from growing up as a dancer. I was taught the value of hard work, and, more importantly, that just because you’re not seeing immediate progress or measurable improvement doesn’t mean it’s not happening. Progress is not linear and that shouldn’t discourage you.

2.) Context! I’m not saying I’m the most self-aware person out there, but I try to consciously consume media to make sure I understand it in the context of the world around me. I read a lot, and I watch TV shows that I find witty or clever and I really try to reflect of them later. Yapping with my friends about the books we’ve read or the competitors that are doing well around us really helps to frame what is and is not working. I think analyzing pop culture gets a bad rap, because we think it’s obsessive or a waste of time, but in small doses, it’s the only way to really understand the market and the reaction you’re going to get. Some of our apparel is certainly NSFW, but we try to make sure it doesn’t sound tone-deaf.

3.) Community! Build your community and nurture it. I’m happy to have a close network of people who are willing to build a business with me, but also the greater network of people who have worn our stuff, recommended us to their friends, collaborated with us, and put us in touch with such cool people. I’m such a big believer in tapping into your community and asking for help! So Rude has really found its footing with the dancers/SWs community and the nightlife workers, and we try to make sure that doesn’t go unnoticed. We sponsor local events, donate product, and put out discount codes all the time.

Thanks so much for sharing all these insights with us today. Before we go, is there a book that’s played in important role in your development?

The Phantom Tollbooth… I know it feels a little silly to recommend a children’s book when the content of our site is clearly not for kids, but I just reread it and I can see so clearly how it has impacted me as an adult and the way that I interact with the world.

It taught me the importance of choosing your words carefully, common sense, and reframing a situation. I think everyone should read it and then read it again a year later.

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