Reanna Stevenson

I was raised by my grandmother, and she is a huge inspiration to me in fashion. She retired from General Motors, but every day I would wake up the same time that she would wake up in the morning and get ready for work. I watched her get ready for work every single morning. Even though she worked in a factory and had a really good job, she always took pride in her appearance. She always made sure that her clothes were neat, her hair was done, she wore makeup, she wore perfume. I always looked at that and even as a kid, I think I was thinking that's something that I want to do. I feel like when you look good, you feel good, and you're more productive with your day. My grandmother is my biggest influence as far as both careers, in property management and fashion. She taught me a lot about etiquette, and how to speak, and how to present myself.

The best career advice that I've ever received was don't be afraid. Don't be afraid to ask questions. There is no question that is a dumb question or anything like that, because there's an answer for everything, and always have someone that can mentor you. Always want to learn, always be willing to learn, because the more you learn, the more you can grow. And it doesn't necessarily have to be in that particular career, it can just be in life in general.

I would give them advice to follow your dreams. Follow your dreams and don't second-guess yourself, just go with it. I would always say pray, pray about it first, but follow your dream. You never want to be older and say when I was younger I wanted to do X, Y, and Z, and you never tried. If you don't try, you never know how far you can go. Everybody has a gift, and I believe that the universe and God didn't give you a gift just to sit on it. So follow your dreams, follow your heart, and just go with it.

The biggest challenge for fashion is that a lot of things are based in the larger cities, such as New York and LA, and I'm Ohio-based. For me, it's kind of like I'm not able to be there right away when they need someone. That's a big challenge for me, and that's something that I kind of had to accept, but it doesn't mean that no other opportunities have arised. I just had to put in my mind and say that if that was for me, it would just flow. I've not missed out on opportunities that were not for me. I would just say that will be one of the biggest challenges, is just location-wise, as far as fashion.

The most important values in my work and personal life are being a good person and treating everybody with respect. Being that I oversee 9 people in property management, there are different personalities. I try my best to understand where everyone is coming from, and I always try to show appreciation to my staff. Even the simplest thank you can go a long way. I'll get them lunch, I'll get them donuts. I'll just show some type of gratitude, and I feel like when you show gratitude towards people, they work harder for you.