Meet Chiara Sinclair

We were lucky to catch up with Chiara Sinclair recently and have shared our conversation below.

Chiara, thank you so much for joining us today. Let’s jump right into something we’re really interested in hearing about from you – being the only one in the room. So many of us find ourselves as the only woman in the room, the only immigrant or the only artist in the room, etc. Can you talk to us about how you have learned to be effective and successful in situations where you are the only one in the room like you?
I love this question. I believe that I learned to be effective and successful when I am the only one in the room who looks like me by learning to love me, my personality, and what my image/likeness represents. As a Black woman, I am at times the only one in the room who looks like me when I enter certain professional spaces. I use this to my advantage because in the field that I am pursuing, it is good to be unique. For example, I am a model and social media micro-influencer. I am signed to an agency that is not “Black-owned,” and last summer, a lot of us went to Tampa, Florida, for a content creation and red carpet event. The house that we all stayed in was filled with White women, and our meetings sometimes included Black and White men. I was literally the only Black woman who attended this 4-day event. Instead of feeling the pressure to fit a stereotype (acting or talking “Black,” being loud, being aggressive, etc.) or combat the stereotype (acting or talking “White,” being overly nice and passive) I remained in my true identity, which is bubbly, nice, talkative, kind, sophisticated and fun. My dialect didn’t change, and I didn’t engage in code switching in any way. I wore my natural hair some days and my added ponytail other days. Because I have learned to love myself on the inside and out, I was able to recognize the environment I was in and proactively respond to it. I decided to do exactly what I would do if I were in a room full of me’s. This naturally caused me to gain attention from visiting photographers and even make friends with some of the other agency members. It ended up being one of my favorite events of the summer.

Thanks, so before we move on maybe you can share a bit more about yourself?
I am a model and event planner in Hampton Roads, Virginia. I enjoy putting on events that further the social media and entertainment thumbprint of creatives and aspiring influencers in the area. I am passionate about this because I truly believe that Hampton Roads is overflowing with talented people, and I long for the day that this area is recognized globally for it the way Los Angeles, Atlanta and New York are recognized. My business is Chiara e Dolce, Ltd., and under it, I run Couture x Coiffures Fashion, Hair & Music Expo, Shark Shack Influencer Meetups, and most recently, Balloon Pop or Fall in Love, which is a speed dating game on YouTube. All of these entities are fun opportunities for people who want to make a mark in the entertainment industry.

Couture x Coiffures is my largest success so far. I was able to produce this fashion show for two years in partnership with Team Lamb, and clips from it have gone viral multiple times on social media. My goal is to one day have it streaming on large platforms like Prime Video or Netflix. My proudest aspect of this show is that we team up artists to perform together on stage. They have to collaborate to come up with an epic performance, and we have done this about 28 times. We put musical artists with designers, dancers and models and have them all work together to create a scene that fits the overall theme of the show. As a result, some of these artists have worked with people they’d never met previously and have continued to work with the same people at other events afterwards.

If you had to pick three qualities that are most important to develop, which three would you say matter most?
I would say that three important qualities that are most impactful on my journey are confidence, innovation, and people skills. Without these things, I don’t think I could ever successfully do the things that I love. Confidence gives me the courage to execute ideas, even when they are new or if things don’t go as planned. Innovation allows me to get inspiration from other sources and springboard to create something of my own or make it something of value for the people of Hampton Roads. The things that I produce are not original; they are all inspired by another person, but I use my people skills because I know that in Hampton Roads, people are very careful. They don’t often want to try something new unless they’ve seen it done before. By understanding this, I use the inspired ideas as examples to show the citizens of Hampton Roads something tangible that they can believe in. Also, my customer service and care for stakeholders is top notch.

Okay, so before we go we always love to ask if you are looking for folks to partner or collaborate with?
I would love to collaborate with event organizers to produce events and even scale the ones that I currently produce. Each of my ventures involve teaming up with someone likeminded to create high-level opportunities for the greater good. If I could join forces with someone who has the resources or network that I lack and vice versa, we all win.

Contact Info:

Image Credits
Beauty & Barber Magazine, Shajuan Thomas, Lafayette Keitt, David “Israel” Leader, Kori Wiggins, Taariq Ali, Duct GFL, Tiara Lee; Photos by: Keith Snead and Domio

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