Meet Tyniece Gutzmore

Alright – so today we’ve got the honor of introducing you to Tyniece Gutzmore. We think you’ll enjoy our conversation, we’ve shared it below.

Hi Tyniece, you’ve got such an interesting story, but before we jump into that, let’s first talk about a topic near and dear to us – generosity. We think success, happiness and wellbeing depends on authentic generosity and empathy and so we’d love to hear about how you become such a generous person – where do you think your generosity comes from?

I have always been extremely generous. Growing up, I always felt like things (or people) were constantly being taking away from me and it created an emptiness that eventually lead to loneliness. Because I know what it feels like, I never want anyone I love or care about to ever feel how i felt. Anything my family or friends needed from me, i was happy to give them. There’s no cost in being generous.

Let’s take a small detour – maybe you can share a bit about yourself before we dive back into some of the other questions we had for you?

Since childhood, I have always had a keen eye for fashion and I was extremely blessed to have a family around me that supported me. To a point, my mother asked 4 year old me “what you think about this” in a clothing store. From there, I knew I wanted to style individuals. For younger me, My dream was always to style celebrities when they walked the red carpet. I doodled outfits here and there but it was never serious because I didn’t know how to sew. Then, I went to college for Fashion Design and now i know the ropes of it, but still have challenges because I was still wanting the clothes already made and i just help put it together. So, i applied to F.I.T to help me get a better understanding on what a Fashion Stylist does. In 2023, i opened my styling buisness, Sojonee Designs, and was blessed to work with both men and women clients who were happy with my work. That is the most exciting part about it – when people have events or just need a change in wardrobe, they think of me to help get them there. I am truly a sucker of making people happy and so far that’s all I’ve been doing. My brand is to just make someone feel like a better them. I’m never the entrepreneur who says “yuck let me make you over” I’m the “you’re beautiful, how can i enhance it? Type of worker. Also, I love working at my own pace because life is ruthless sometimes but i still put 200% behind my clients needs whenever and wherever. I’m still a small business but my goal is to make this a multimillionaire company.

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?

The three qualities that I feel are my BEST are my personality, patience, and attentiveness. My personality plays a big part because without it, my business would fail. I have always been told my warmth, comfort, and pure-heart draws people in, and sure enough It helps bring clients as well. It builds a level of trust and fun when working with me. It is important that I have this relationship with my clients because I am coming into their lives and enhancing their style. They would need to trust that I got their back and if they really enjoyed my services, they can recommend me to someone. Having patience helped a lot because everyone has their own style. Sometimes, people want to dress one style for one night and then change their style into something completely different for another night. For most, that would be annoying having to start from scratch, but some can handle it, like me. Additionally, that has also taught me people can be unpredictable. It takes a lot of discipline and determination if/when you disagree on things. Luckily, I do not have that problem because going into this as a career, you would need to make sure you have patience first. Lastly, being attentive is a major key because you need to know what your client wants. I have worked with women who desire cold shoulder shirts and dresses and women who loves puffy sleeves and ruffles. it is their desired style that makes them, them. Paying attention to those details makes the client happy and your job easier. Now, do not get me wrong, it is not always going to be cold-shoulder and puffy sleeves. As I mentioned before, sometimes they would like to try something completely new, and that is completely fine too. Just be kind, be patient, and pay close attention to those details.

What do you do when you feel overwhelmed? Any advice or strategies?

Fashion is an overwhelming industry because there is always a lot going on all at the same time. As an Entrepreneur who is also balancing life, a day job, marriage, family and friends, it takes a lot out of you. Personally, I enjoy checklists. When I start to feel overwhelmed, I make a list of what needs to be done and start checking them off as they go. It gives me so much relief and helps me track tasks so I do not miss or skip anything. I do want to say, it is ok to give yourself time. I have been blessed and lucky to have clients who ask for my services WELL in advance. It gives me time to plan out time for them and then time for me because this is a hard job to manage. What i don’t want is to give my clients the bare minimum because its too much. I want to make sure they always know they are the most important at the time they need me. If life is life-Ing and you just don’t have the time or you are busy on the day they need to be dressed to impress – be HONEST. Honesty and communication is a MUST in ALL relationships. I promise they will respect you more if you are just upfront about it. As much as their needs are important, just never forget that your needs are important too. Take care of yourself best and your clients will take care of you.

Contact Info:

• Instagram: sojoneedesigns

Image Credits

To my beautiful clients, Sonji K. Grandy, Nicole B. Simpson and Generation X Communtity, thank you!