Keep it Positive, Sweetie - From Harvard to Fashion Bomb!!!

Episode Date: February 8, 2026

In this episode of the Keep it Positive, Sweetie Show, host Chrystal Renee speaks with Claire Sulmers, the visionary behind Fashion Bomb Daily. Claire shares her journey from Atlanta to Harvard and eventually to the heights of fashion journalism. She discusses the challenges she faced in accessing the fashion industry, the importance of resilience, and the critical decision that led her to create Fashion Bomb Daily. The conversation highlights the ongoing struggle for inclusivity in fashion, maintaining personal perseverance, and the significance of ownership and creating one's path. Claire also reflects on the importance of rest, self-care, and her future aspirations, including writing another book and expanding her brand.See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

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and maximize game performance with enhanced overclocking. Win the tech search. Power up at Lenovo.com. Black history lives in our stories. our culture, and the conversations we still having today. This Black History Month, the podcast, I didn't know. Maybe you didn't either. Digs into the moments, perspectives, and experiences that don't always make the textbook. Let me tell you about Garrett Morgan.

Brough had to pretend he didn't even exist just to sell his own invention. Listen to I didn't know. Maybe you didn't either from the Black Effect Podcast Network on the IHard Radio app, Apple Podcasts, or simply wherever you get your podcast. Podcast. 1969, Malcolm and Martin are gone. America is in crisis. And at Morehouse College, the students make their move.

These students, including a young Samuel L. Jackson, locked up the members of the Board of Trustees, including Martin Luther King Sr. It's the true story of protests and rebellion in black American history that you'll never forget. I'm Hans Charles. I'm Manilic Lamouba. Listen to the A building on the I-Heart Radio app,

Apple Podcasts, or wherever you use. get your podcasts. Hey, I'm Jay Shetty, host of the on-purpose podcast. On a recent episode, I sat down with Nick Jonas, singer, songwriter, actor, and global superstar. I went blank. I hit a bad note, then I couldn't kind of recover. And I built up this idea that music and being musician was my whole identity. I had to sort of relearn who I was if you took this thing away. Who am I? Listen to On Purpose with Jay Shetty on the IHeart Radio app, Apple Podcasts, or wherever you get your podcasts. Calling all my sweeties to the forefront.

I'm your host, Chris Renee Hazett, and this is the Keep It Posit Sweetie Show. Welcome to Keep It Posit, Sweetie, the place where we heal, grow, and learn together. Today's guest is founder, media executive, and the visionary behind Fashion Bomb Daily, Claire Somers. Claire Somers is the visionary behind Fashion Bomb Daily,

a platform she built long before digital media became mainstream. Today's conversation is about longevity, leadership, and the quiet discipline required to evolving and staying true to your vision. Kioseli, please give a very warm welcome to Claire Somers. Claire, we finally got you here. You're looking fabulous. Thank you. It's giving a bomb, honey.

Thank you. Take off my glasses because I... I mean, you really could have kept them on because it was given the whole look. I love it. Oh, I missed the shoes. Yes. Oh, honey. Listen.

I tried, I oiled up my legs, but I try not to do it too much because I had this incident on Tamarman Hall show where, because it's like, you don't want to be ashy on national TV. Yes. I definitely overdid it and I look like a grease ham. And all everybody in my family could talk about was how my legs were so shiny. So I tried to tone it down. But they look good. What did you use?

I use this Vaseline, like, oil sheen. Mm-hmm. Yeah. I need to get that because that looks good. Thank you. Yes, you got some nice legs. All right. Get them insured, girl. Get the legs insured.

So, Claire, you are actually a native of Atlanta, George. I had no idea. Well, I was born in Brooklyn. Okay. That's how you got back to New York. Yeah, I was raised in Atlanta. So I moved here in 1990. I was nine years old.

Wow. And went to high school, junior high, everything here. Yes. So raised in old Atlanta. Because it's new now. It's new now. Everybody who was here back then is always like, man, old Atlanta is way better than this new Atlanta. It was just different, man, like Buckhead and going to Lennox Mall and Freaknick.

I mean, have you been, have you, I mean, I was too young for Freaknik. I was too young too, but yes, I heard stories and scene footage. But like, we had to drive through Freakneck going home from school and I was just like, wow. It was something to behold. It was just different. And this was Atlanta, obviously, before, like, reality TV, before the housewives. So it was just like, I remember going to Lennox mall seeing Usher.

Usher would be, like, shopping at Foot Locker. Wow. TLC would just be shopping. Germain Dupree. They would just be, you know, hanging out with us. And it was just, it was just different. Yeah. It was just a cool time.

A different time. I love that. What a time to be alive. It was. Man, I've heard the stories. I'm like, dang. I got here at 3. towards the end of that era where I feel like,

oh, the New Atlanta started to creep being around the time I moved here. Big difference. But you have a degree in romance languages and literatures in African-American studies from Harvard University. First of all, how did we get from, okay, so you're from Brooklyn, Atlanta, to Harvard. Because you don't hear that a lot,

especially in our community. So I would love to know how you got there and what that journey was like for you. Yeah, so my mom is a teacher. Okay. And she had me and my brother reading since we were three years old. Wow. And it was really kind of the culture of our house, reading, every book you could put your hands on, writing.

And she was always very insistent on us going to the best schools. So I went to the Westminster schools of Atlanta here. And I just remember, like in junior high school, I was kind of joking around all the time. We were doing dances in the bathroom. Like if TikTok were out, we would have been TikTok stars for. sure. But I just remember we had the ceremony and people are getting certificates to be on, because they made the honor roll. They got good grades. And all these kids got called up and there was like one black kid. It was a majority white school. Right. And only one black girl, you know,

made honor roll. And me and my friends, we were just laughing in, in the crowd. And one of them was like, I don't care about honor roll. I'll never be on honor roll. But for me, I was like, something clicked where I was like, I want to be up there. I'm not okay in general in life with not being exceptional. And so I just decided that I was going to make honor roll and I went for it. And so every year I made honor roll. I was in all the AP classes, all the honor classes. But I didn't ever think of going to Harvard. I think now people are more aware maybe, but I'd never thought of going to Ivy League school. It's really my brother who is actually the true smarty pants in our family. And it's interesting because I was just spending the weekend with my family here. And he picked me up. He's

using all these SAT words. We go home. He's playing classical music on the piano. And because I've been away from it for so long, I didn't realize this man is a genius. My brother is a freaking genius. And he has me as a little sister. And I'm kind of like always dancing and singing and you know, not as serious, but it was my brother who first went to Harvard. Wow. And he was like, you should apply to Harvard. I was very active in school. I, you know, did well in terms of my grades.

I was getting A's and B's. And then I was tennis team, cheerleader, track. I played the viola. I was a French club. I was just very involved. And my brother was like, I wanted to go to Columbia. I just wanted to move to New York. But my brother was like...

Which is a great school as well. It is a great school. I applied to all the schools. I didn't want to be in Atlanta. Yes. But applied to all the schools. And my brother was like, you should apply to Harvard. You should apply early admission.

He read over my essay. He recommended I do an extra credit essay, which I did. I went and I met with the regional direct, like the regional admissions director for the South. And I got in early. Wow. And I said yes. Oh, my goodness. So I can only imagine what it's like to go to school at Harvard.

What was that experience like for you? You're coming out from Atlanta going to Harvard. Like, what was that like? It was very interesting. It was a lot of imposter syndrome. I can imagine, yeah. Because the kids in my class, these are kids who like spoke at the million man March. They're the salutatorian and valedictorian of their high schools.

I was none of that. I was just a girl who did well in school. I went to a great school, but I was not particularly, I wasn't valedictorian of my school. I definitely wasn't the smartest. And so just coming to terms with like, I deserve to be here, it really took me a really long time to understand why they said yes to me. And then, you know, coming from the South,

I'm here smiling and happy, I'm like, hey! And they're just like, you know, and people you can meet the night before, they won't talk, they'll like literally look right through you the next day. And so it's just like a northern thing. Yeah. It took me a little, it took me a little while to get used to that. And the weather, of course, the snow days. Like, you can get snow up to your waist. And they're still having class. You're like, oh, snow day, they're like, no. No, in Atlanta, you have like a little dust of snow. They'll be like, everything shut down. Literally shut the city down. Yeah, but those were just a few things, but I can say that it was a really unique experience.

I have some of the best friends I've ever made from going to Harvard. I think that's one of the amazing things about going there aside from an amazing education, an amazing alumni network. And I know I have that work ethic. Yes. Because of Harvard. Yeah, I love that. Speaking of work ethic, you launched Fashion Bomb Daily in two.

2006. This is a time when digital platform was still finding its footing. You were really ahead of your time. What sparked that and made you say, hey, going from Harvard, because you studied, you did not study fashion? I did not study fashion, y'all. They do not have a fashion major at Harvard. It's okay. It just doesn't. So where did that come from? I've always loved to shop. I've always loved to write. My mother sewed clothes for me growing up. My grandfather was a master tailor in Nassau, Bahamas. He would make tuxedoes, wedding dresses. He could make anything.

And he taught my mother how to sew. And I remember growing up, I was kind of bigger than the other girl, so she would make clothes for me. And so fashion was always one of those things that I loved, but I never thought it could be a career for me. And so initially after I graduated, I was just like, okay, I like to write. So let me be a writer. And my first internship was at Upscale Magazine here in Atlanta. And I really excelled. They only had an opening in the fashion department.

I wanted to write politics. I wanted to be serious. They had an opening in the fashion department, and it just worked out. Wow. And while I was there, I was writing captions, and then I was writing cover stories. They were like, wow, you're really bright. You're really talented. And so by the end of it, I was, you know, modeling in the magazine.

I was writing all this stuff and they wanted to hire me. But now I knew that I wanted to be a journalist and be a writer. And so I was like, let me move to New York, which is like the home of publishing in media. Yeah. And I did, I found all the paid internships I could find. I ended up at New York Magazine. I was an intern there making $5.15 an hour. Mind you at upscale, it was completely unpaid.

New York Magazine, $5.15. since an hour working like three days a week. So super broke, super poor. And then I got a job at Real Simple Magazine. I just wanted a full-time job. It was like a year and a half of interning for like no money, no health insurance, et cetera. In New York.

In New York. Oh, my gosh. And like staying with friends and staying with family. But then I got my first full-time job, but it wasn't the perfect job. So I was a researcher reporter at Real Simple Magazine. And while I was there, I was doing the fashion and I was doing beauty. I was like researching for their stories, but they, I could not get into the fashion department. They would have, they would be like, oh, yeah, we're searching for a fashion editor, but they would hire somebody else or they would find somebody from outside.

And I was like, oh, can you create a position for me? Can you create a fashion researcher position? And they were like, no. I love that you're bold enough to ask, though. I always asked. I'm sure I was wearing them out because I was like, can we do something? Can I get a raise? Can I get a promotion? And they were just like, sit right there and do what you're supposed to do. And so I was kind of looking around seeing where else I could go, sending my resume to Vogue, trying to get informational interviews at Vogue. They told me they did not want to see me because I was not a candidate that they would be interested in. I was not getting anywhere with the Harvard degree and the internships I had done. I just could not get it. even entry-level job at a fashion magazine. So that's when I decided at the recommendation of one of my Harvard friends who helped me make a website, she was like, you should start a blog.

Wow. And at the time, I was just writing about myself and me going shopping, and it was extremely boring until somebody wrote in and they were like, where? They sent a random picture. They were like, where can I find these socks? And because I was a researcher, I found them. And then I was like, oh, people want to, people were sending me questions about what are these bandaged dresses girls are wearing? What are these red bottom shoes people are wearing? And so, you know, I was like Christian Lubutan shoes, you know, the Urbeiliger dresses, which were big. And I really just found a niche for women who look like me and you, women and men who look like me and you, who were not being covered in traditional media. And it took off. It did take off. That was 2000.

Wow, 20 years later. 20 years. It'll be 20 years in August. Oh my God. You got to do something big, Claire. I know. Years? Yeah.

That is no small feat. Like, I'm proud of you. I didn't realize it had been that long. Yeah. And what started off as knows from people that you probably look up to and wanted to really work for is what started your own brand. I love that. I don't want people to miss that because a lot of times we feel like we had to wait on

other people to give us the opportunity when we can build it ourselves. Shout out to your friend that said, we're going to build this website. Yeah. And I was afraid. I was afraid to do it. I was working a full-time job. I had heard people getting fired from their jobs for creating blogs. So it was really a risk.

That's so true. Yeah. And I really just had a great boss who looked the other way because Lord knows I was definitely blogging from my desk. I did take my lunch breaks to blogging over the weekends. I would, you know, schedule a bunch of posts over the weekends. But, yeah, it took off an event. I mean, I'm really condensing this story.

It probably took about two years before people started stopping me on the train, like, hey, you can have my seat. Your fashion bomb. Okay. And I was like, I can't do this. I can't work. I can't go to work every day. I can't commute every day when we get out of here.

So two years from starting is when you realize this is like, and I can give it my. 100%? That's not when I started doing it full time, but that's when I was like, I need to shift and I can't go to this job every day anymore. Because after two years, that's when I had snuck in, okay, so I was sneaking into all these things. I had read Comorley Simmons book, Fabulasi, which was my only blueprint for what to do to get into fashion. I was not getting invited to anything. The best I could do is go to a museum and cover it, but I was not privy to any fashion events. But because I worked at a magazine, I did know when New York Fashion Week was coming.

And I knew, like, when the baby fat show was going on, there were editors at my magazine who weren't invited, but I didn't have an invite. And Camoralee was like, gate crash the show. And you're like, bit. So I'm like, okay. I'm going to crash the show. But the crazy thing, is I was the only blogger. Like I was one of the first bloggers at New York Fashion Week. So the bigger platforms at the time, like Young Black and Fabulous, Concrete Loop, Bossip, they would link back to me because I had these exclusive pictures. And I didn't even know, I didn't know, I had no idea that me and my digital camera were like the first bloggers at Baby Fat. And I was so, so green. I was so excited that I was taking pictures with everybody.

Like you should, you can go back and look at the picture. It's like me and Monica, me and Tiana Taylor, Serena Williams. I'm literally like doing this with everybody because I'm like, if this is the last fashion show I go to, I'm going to make sure I take pictures of it. I love it. Yeah. I want to know what were some of the, the roadblocks that you ran into as you were building fashion bomb daily to what we know it to be now.

It's access. Always access. It's still access. I'd say, is that still a thing? It's still a thing. Wow. Yeah. What do you think that is, Claire? Hmm. You know, sometimes it's that I'm not asking the right way. Like this morning, because sometimes I'm like, they're racist. You know what I mean? But then sometimes it's like, you didn't ask. So this morning I was like, okay, let me apply for press accreditation. For New York, they don't do that. anymore, but for Paris and Milan, they do do that. Okay.

So I'm like, let me apply for press accreditation, do it the right way. Same thing with the Golden Globes. Same thing with CFDA awards or even the Met Gala. I don't think I applied for press accreditation until like this year. Oh, wow. And it happened. And it happened. You did the Met.

You did the Golden Globes. Right. Oh, my goodness. But, you know, in the past, I have reached out to brands and they're not always receptive. They don't always understand our audience. They don't, I don't know if they don't know our buying power because obviously our buying power is high. Very high. But I feel like they don't feel the need to cater to us.

Like they don't need to have a black woman in a Chanel ad for black women to buy Chanel. You're right. Like we will patronize these brands even if they don't necessarily. respect our dollar or respect us as consumers. Right. I think things are changing. Like I did see Louis Vuitton. Their recent ambassadors are like all black.

Yeah, I saw that. I was like, wow. It's like skepta and some footballer. I'm like, okay. Like I think Louis Vuitton definitely gets it. Obviously with Farrell and Virgil Ablo and like all the black creative directors they've had. Yeah. They get it.

They do. But I don't know if a lot of brands have always gotten it. Right. Yeah. But now they're starting to understand. And I hope that Fashion Bomb Daily was a part of the reason why they're starting to shift and be more inclusive. Because when I first started, it was not like that at all. Right.

I can imagine. I can imagine also leaving you with a sense of defeat. I just feeling like, man, I've climbed this ladder. I'm here. My brand is known worldwide. and I still can't get in certain doors. Yeah. You know, like I, even for me, like as an actor, I'm like, millions of people watch me on TV.

I'm on the number one show. And I go to my own networks events and it's like, I'm like, wow, it's not a good feeling. You know, when you've worked really hard to get to where you are and thinking that you would have access. And not in a, like, oh, I need to have access to all these things, not in that type of sense. But I've worked really hard. And you think that comes along with. with it and it doesn't sometimes. Yeah, but you know how good God is?

Talk about it. Because nothing can stop his plans for you. No man can stop his plans for you. We have paparati photographers right now in Paris who are sending us footage, inviting us to collaborate for all these different shows. There are people like Jeremy who send us footage from the show. So it's like, I don't need to be in there

as long as we're getting the footage. Getting the content. So there is a way. I've found a way around it. I love that. Yeah. And that's a good way to look at it, too. Yeah.

And also when I first started, I focused on black-owned brands because, you know, we're a black-owned, we are a black-owned brand. So I was like, okay, the only shows I'm going to aspire to go to are baby fat, Tracy Reese. They're only a handful, you know. And now it's kind of still the same way. But, you know, always hoping to expand, hoping people can feel our presence. And I feel really good about this year. I feel like this is going to be the year where like hopefully all the doors open up.

Yeah. And now that you're putting in those credential submissions, I'm sure. Because I'm glad you're like the way I was asking. And sometimes I like the way you had to, you reflect it like, wait, let's take inventory and figure out what is really the issue here. Is it because they don't want me there or is because I'm not asking the right way? Right. That was good. Sending the emails or the DMs is not necessarily how everybody operates.

For sure. Like some in France if they perhaps if they know that I'm accredited press then then they'll let me come and then some brands you have to just be a consumer. Yeah. You have to buy the brand and then they'll give you a ticket. Yeah. Yeah, no, that's true as well. In the heat of battle, your squad relies on you. Don't let them down.

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I'm Hans Charles. I'm Inalek Lamoma. It's 1969. Malcolm X and Martin Luther King Jr. had both been assassinated. And Black America was out of breaking point. Writing and protests broke out on an unprecedented scale. In Atlanta, Georgia at Martin's Al-Mermata,

House College. The students had their own protest. It featured two prominent figures in Black history, Martin Luther King Sr., and a young student, Samuel L. Jackson. To be in what we really thought was a revolution. I mean, people would die. In 1968, the murder of Dr. King, which traumatized everyone. The FBI had a role in the murder of a Black Panther leader in Chicago. This story is about protest. It echoes in today's world far more than it should, and it will blow your mind. Listen to the A-building on the I-Heart Radio app, Apple Podcasts, or wherever you get your podcasts. Hey, I'm Jay Shetty, host of the unpurposed podcast.

On a recent episode, I sat down with Nick Jonas, singer, songwriter, actor, and global superstar. The thing I would say to my younger self is congratulations. so you get to marry Priyanka Chopra Jones. And also, you know, your daughter is incredible. That's beautiful, man. Yeah, thank you. That's so beautiful. I can see that got you a little.

Yeah, for sure. Our daughter, she came to the world under sort of very intense circumstances, which I'd not really talked about ever. Growing up on Disney in front of a million, how did that shape your sense of self? I went blank. I hit a bad note, and then I couldn't kind of recover. And I had built.

up this idea that music and being musician was my whole identity. I had to sort of relearn who I was if you took this thing away. Who am I? Listen to On Purpose with Jay Chetty on the IHeart Radio app, Apple Podcasts, or wherever you get your podcasts. What is one thing about love you've had to unlearn? That it's earned. That it needs to be forever for it to count. February is the month of love. Whether you're in a relationship, casually dating, or proudly single. It's a great time to reflect on yourself and what you want. I'm Hope Woodard, host of the Boy Sober podcast, and each week this month, we're looking at love from every angle.

I don't know how to tell my partner, like, what I want in bed. The thing about romantic fiction, I would say more than any other genre of culture, is that it's always put women first. My marriage stopped making sense. The connection started to feel off. The behavior started to feel different. This February, get in touch with yourself, by listening to Boy Sober. That's B-O-Y-S-O-B-E-R.

I'm like, I would love to not hate the man I'm sleeping with. I don't know what that's about. Listen to Boy Sober on the I-Hart Radio app, Apple Podcasts, or wherever you get your podcasts. When you look at look back at the version of you now, what do you feel most proud about, whether it's professionally or personally? What do I feel most proud about? Because this is 20 years, baby. Yeah. A lot has happened.

Just overcoming a lot of adversity. Yeah. You know, and refusing to be better, refusing to accept no, creating my own seat at the table when they wouldn't give me a seat at the table. Just like the fact that I didn't quit. Yeah. Because a lot of the brands that I mentioned that were around when I first started, they're not here anymore. Or they didn't go on to Instagram.

They didn't, you know, they wanted to stay in the blog. in the blog space or they literally just quit. Like we know so many people who are like, I'm not doing this anymore and I'm going to start something else. And so I think just my tenacity, my perseverance, I'm not going to quit. Sometimes I want to quit. But I've learned when you want to quit,

just take a nap maybe, learn to rest, but not. Sleep on it, for sure. Because I do want to find, I mean, my goal was to have an exit. And 20 years would be beautiful, right? But if it's not happening, like, I'm always down for God's timing. Like, whenever it's God's time for me to stop, then I'm ready to do that. But until that time, then I'm going to keep rocking with Fashion Bomb. No, for sure.

Now, Fashion Bomb Daily grew from a blog into a business, spanning editorial, e-commerce, brand partnerships, and live events. When did you realize this was bigger than just content? Hmm. When did I realize it was bigger than just content? I think maybe with fashion bombshell of the day, when people started submitting for fashion bombshell of the day. But then also, I think I had my first, I used to call it cocktails with Claire. Now it's called combos with Claire. But I had my first cocktails with Claire. And people, I was just like, oh, you know, let's have readers come and we'll meet and greet and we'll have cocktails. and every event would sell out. We'd put out the tickets and people would just buy them, you know? And just seeing that event, bright notification, go off.

So, yeah, I think that first event that we had in 2013, I was like, there's something here. And just always continuing to diversify and seeing, like, what is the void in the industry? Yeah. Okay, there aren't models of color on the runway. Let's have our own runway show. There aren't designers, black designers showing during New York Fashion Week, the bomb fashion show.

Okay, there are people who come to New York Fashion Week. They don't have anything to do. So let's have an event. Yeah. You know, or, you know, black designers don't have mentorship or young, let's say emerging designers, they don't have mentorship. Let's create an e-commerce platform. So always trying to be the solution.

When I see problems in the fashion industry, I try to be that solution and use my platform to try to elevate and uplift. other people. I love that. I love that. Now, I know for me as a content creator, in the beginning, I was doing everything on my own. I was writing. I was editing. I was shooting it, everything. How was that shift from going, this is just Claire, to now I have a team helping do all. You got people across the world. We do. You know, like, what was that shift? And like, as a person, this is your baby. What was it like, okay, now I'm going to allow other people to have a hand. this thing that I built from the ground up.

From the beginning, we had interns. I remember we had intern contests at first. Wow. So every year we would do, it would be a reader competition for who could be the next fashion bomb intern. And so really kind of from the beginning, I had people helping me. Yeah. And then we started to find different contributors.

Like there are two girls from Brazil who run our Instagram page. So I run the Instagram page kind of in the morning, late at night. they run it in the evenings, and then we have a different team that does advertising. We have a different team for events. But I think as the needs come, you know, you kind of fill in where you can. And then just get the best people that you can afford as you continue to scale. Right. How did you learn the difference between being like hands on and holding on too tight?

Or are you one of those people that are like, no, I don't want, I need to be a part of every little thing. No, I can't because I need to have a life. Mama's got a love a life too. You know, I don't want to be on my phone all day. I don't want to, I mean, I really don't want to be a 50-year-old woman. I mean, not to say that there's anything wrong with that, but I'm like, I want to be sitting down somewhere on a beach. Listen, put me on the beach. Right.

You know, like I don't, I don't, like, and I do think it's important to mentor the next generation, to try to bring up some. someone else who's interested and thankfully because of our platform and how many people that, you know, all of our followers, we have a lot of people who are always willing to do red carpets for us, help us for social media. We always have, like, people who are willing to help. And even, I keep going back to this photographer in Paris who's sending us all this content. It's not perfect. He, you know, he mixes up the him and her.

I think he called Jaden Smith, the her the other day. I'm like, no. Like, the pronouns are all wrong, but it's content. So I'm like, and we like to have the perfect grid as well. Yes. But I'm just like, people don't care. People don't even read the captions. Like, you can literally be like, she is wearing the point.

And they'll be like, where's it from? I'm just like, love points. Right. But, you know, I think I cannot be obsessed with perfection. Like, it's impossible. It's unattainable. And at the end of the day, we put our readers first. So whatever they want to see, that's what we're going to give them, even if it's not tied up in a pretty bow.

And sometimes it's better that way. I feel like the social media is moving more and more further away from the perfect content. Right. They want to see the real. They do. Yeah. Yeah. One of my most popular posts was me with no makeup on.

And I'm like, really? Yep. Yeah. So. I love it. Somebody was talking. I did a interview the other day and they were like, you taught me how to put a wig on. And she was like, I would never get online with, like, putting my hair.

And I'm like, I mean, it is what it's real. This is real life. People love that. Yeah, no, for sure. What does ownership mean to you? I know in our culture, I feel like in the most recent years, we've been driving home, ownership, own your things, build it, creative, because that's what everyone else is doing. We need to own our own things as well.

What does it mean to you, especially in this space? Hmm. What does ownership mean to me? I think it's important for us to maintain this infrastructure going on between businesses. Like I think back to Black Wall Street and how powerful that was and all the black-owned businesses that were raised to the ground. And I'm just like, I want us to keep it in the community if possible, but obviously always welcome collaborators. I mean, our team is multiracial, international. I love that, yeah.

You know, but I think it's important for us to own our story and our narrative because we do have a unique point of view and a unique take and how Vogue might cover Farrell's Louis Vuitton show is different from how we would cover it, you know? Like, I think I saw a video. It was Farrell's final walk for Louis Vuitton, and it was like classical music, and I'm like, okay, on Fashion Bomb Daily, we're putting front in.

You know, because it's just, you know, our music, our style, like the way that we see the world is different. And that's okay. It is. Yes. You know, but you can't just keep, not taking our culture, but it's like we should have a say in how we're represented. No, for sure. The sounds and the vibes and everything. So that's really important to me.

Very. I love that. Now, you're running a brand that is everybody knows when they simultaneously, you're, Fashion Mom Daily and Claire Somers is like hand in hand. People don't know me though. Really? No. I feel like they do.

You don't think so? People are like, I didn't know you were a woman. I thought you were a man. People don't know anything about me. They think I live in Atlanta. What? Because you are here, I feel like you are here like a lot. I am here quite a bit.

I was just here like 10 days ago. Literally. Yeah. Are you seriously? I guess because I know I feel like everybody knew like this is your jam? People don't know me. I'm like, I'm in the, if you go to their profile description, I'm right there. Right there. They don't know. Some people do. Yeah. So the people that have, have you been able to separate, like, this is who Claire is and this is the business. I guess you

really haven't had a hard time with that because you don't think anybody knows. I think more people know than you think. People don't know me. I mean, I do think that this year is the year of the pivot where I'm going to focus more on my personal brand and the things that I want to do. I have another book in me. I want to do TV. I want to do more books, more projects, just like do more Claire stuff. Have my own podcast. Yes.

You know what I mean? Combos with Claire. Yeah. There's so much more that I want to do. And so, you know, I think a slight separation of Claire and fashion. and bomb daily is underway. I won't abandon my baby until it has a good home, obviously. But yeah. I love that. Now I want to know more a personal tip. You are very busy. I feel like you're, you've always got something going on. How do you, as women, one boss woman to

another boss woman, how do you pour into Claire? What does that day to day look like from running this business and then also taking time for Claire? I don't take time for Claire. I'm like, I'm kidding. I'm like, okay. Okay, every morning I do try to work out. At least 20 minutes. If I don't have anything to do all day, I will be in the gym for like 90 minutes. I got my little Apple Watch here. I'm going for it. I'm lifting weights.

I'm running. I'm doing all the things. That's why the legs looking like. Oh, thank you. Yes. I mean, for example, for my birthday, what did I do? Okay, my birthday was a day after the Golden Globes. I slept in.

I had a nice dinner with my boo. A little bubble bath, you know. But I need more of that. I definitely need, like, a spa day. I need a massage. I need all those things. And I feel like you're really good at doing this. I'm not good at doing it.

Yeah. Like, I scheduled massages at least every other week. That's good. Like, because I carry all the stress in my shoulders. And I have to. Like, it's just one of those things where I have to, like, take care of Crystal. Right. You know, it's so much.

And then with working now, like, that's a part of the recovery. And I look at it as like this is what I'm taking care of my body, but also like having a moment to put the phone down. Right. Not respond, not answer. It's a reason to escape. So I would challenge you to definitely take time for that. I'm trying. My goal, one of my goals, I wrote down 300 goals this year inspired by Steve Harvey.

But one of my goals is to take a vacation because it's funny. I don't take vacations. I just don't. And I would have assistants who I'd be like, do this. And they're like, I'm taking a vacation. I'm like, how do my assistants have vacation time? Like, how do you have time to go on vacation? I don't have time to go on vacation.

Right. I think that, unfortunately, for some black boss ladies, like, we are pioneers in our field. We have a lot on our shoulders. So things that we're doing are not just for us. They're for the culture. Therefore, the young girls looking up to us. And so even though I can be exhausted or, you know, frustrated I didn't get to get into this show or that show, I'm like, I have to keep showing up because my job is not done. Wow.

You know, like the calling that God has put on my life, I have not completed that assignment yet. Yeah. So I'll take a day. Yeah, I'll go to no. boo and, you know, luxuriate a little bit, but then it's back to work. Back to it, yeah. Figuring out that balance is important. And so I'm still striving to do that.

Yeah. In that, have you experienced any burnout over the years where you're like, okay, I just, this is, I'm in over my head here. No, I don't burn out, honey. I just keep going. Like, I do take naps. I do sleep in. I do watch mindless television.

I don't even want to tell you what I watch on TV. It is terrible. It's like every housewife show, every reality show, every love after lockup. Love after lockup. That's your guilty pleasure. I love it. It gets worse. Okay.

There are these body cam videos, police body cam. It's like people acting up in the airport and getting locked up all during Christmas. holiday. I could not stop watching them. I was like, there's a TV show. No, it's all on YouTube. Oh, okay. And every YouTuber who's reviewing the reality shows, like, that's kind of how it's like mindless entertainment. Maybe I'll laugh a little bit. But that's kind of how I relax. But burnout, I just, I don't know. I just really feel like I have something to do. And we don't have a Vogue. We don't. We had, we had Swade Magazine that shut down. We had vibe fixing. That doesn't exist anymore. We don't have anything for us. Yeah. So I don't, I'm, I'm, I'm just like holding myself to

the task that you have to keep going. Even if you're tired, take a break, take a nap, and just keep, keep it going. Yeah. You know. You talk about the books. You talk about, I want to get into TV and film. You talk about magazines. Is a magazine something that is a goal for fashion bomb daily? No. I think print is done. Print is done.

I think that fashion bomb can keep going as it is. I mean, I think having like some sort of, everybody's telling me what I should do a fashion police style show. Or everybody's telling me we should do. There's nothing like that anymore. No. Not for us. It'll be good.

And get like a whole mind. goodness you should do that. There's so, I have so many ideas, Crystal. Like, you, oh, and I could, oh, Ms. Lawrence. I get to you, Ms. Lawrence and like somebody else. All the y'all get together. Ashana, can you see that? Where is Ashana?

Yes. I'm serious. There is, I think, Fashion Bomb Daily as a vehicle because of the red carpets, because of the litany of celebrity events that we see, like, there will always be a place for that day-to-day, you know, your fix of celebrity style and news. But I think it's really about how do we expand upon this platform?

Yeah. How do we continue to bring, you know, interesting and new things, unique things to our followers? I love that. That's what I can understand why you don't stop and why you keep going because there is so much in this space and so many voice to be filled. So I understand. And we need it. We do need it. Like black people in fashion, who's going to cover, you know, like Vogue?

Vogue they've done it. I hate to keep bringing in Vogue. God bless Vogue. They're great. But they don't cover date achieves and dusty or. No. Like there are people in our culture who are amazing. They have great style.

Yeah. And, you know. That's so true. So on the platform for them, hopefully. Oh, man. I love that. As you're looking ahead. to everything that you want to do.

What are you most excited about? My book. The book. Okay, can you tell us like what the book is going to be about? Well, okay. Did you do the 2016 challenge? The 2016 challenge? Yeah, I did.

Yeah, I did. You did? Yeah, I posted. So I was actually shocked. Because you know, you go back and you're like, oh, Lord, like the, it's always something like, what was I thinking? Yeah. I was actually proud of 2016 Crystal.

I wore a lot of superhero costumes. It was like a lot of capes. I'm like, what are you doing? What is that? What are you wearing? I think I had a cape too. I got to go make. I had like a few cap.

I had a cape. It was like a jumpsuit with a cape. I'm like, Claire, my friends are standing right there. I'm like, how could you let me? They probably had a cape to. The house. But I wrote my first book in 2016, I self-published. So this time I want to get a publisher for it.

But my first book was a memoir, self-help book called The Bomb Life, My Brand, My My Terms. And it was just about my oral. origin story. You know, how I started Fashion Bomb and if you want to follow in my steps, you can too, and some pictures, et cetera. So there have been a lot of things that have happened since then. I cut my locks. We were disabled. Then we got our page back. You know, the Matt Gallo CFD Awards. A lot of things have happened. So it's really like a part two to that. I forgot about the logs. You forgot about my locks? Yes. Yeah, I had blonde locks. You sure did.

People still ask me about them. They're like, I missed the locks. I just. I just. It has been 10 years. I see it right now. Wow. Yeah. Yeah. They're stuck on those lots, honey. And 2016 was our first award show.

We gave an award to Tiana Taylor and Justine Sky and Tracy Reese. First award show. I did it with Ty Hunter. Michelle, Ty. Yeah, I love Ty. So I'm like, we need to keep doing it. We just need to keep going. Yeah.

Keep getting bigger and better. I love that. I love that. Well, we are excited to support you. however we can in the Kips community. I'm excited for you. Thank you for coming to sitting down with me. Yes, absolutely. This episode was a reminder to always have the audacity to dream big. Thank you guys so much for tuning into another episode of the Keep It Positive Sweetie show. Be sure to subscribe, share this episode with someone who could use a little positivity.

And as always, stay blessed, stay encouraged, and keep it positive, sweetie. I'll see you guys next time. In the heat of battle, your squad relies on you. Don't let them down. Unlock elite gaming tech at Lenovo.com. Dominate every match with next level speed, seamless streaming, and performance that won't quit. Push your gameplay beyond performance with Intel Core Ultra processors. For the next era of gaming,

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